Taxe foncière demands up 65%

COSTS for the taxe foncière have soared between 11 and 65 per cent across France over the past five years.

Paris is the hardest hit, with a 65 per cent rise, although it remains one of the least expensive cities, with an average payment of €500, against €978 in Amiens and €911 in Le Havre.

In Marseille, the tax has risen 45 per cent and Rennes 30 per cent.

The tax rises have hit 57 per cent of people across the country.

Taxe foncière is paid by property owners and is calculated against the rentable value of the property.

With separate regional, departmental and municipal shares, that can mean widely varying demands making up the total figure. One region, Languedoc-Roussillon, has raised its tax 90 per cent. Auvergne is up 70.97 per cent, Bourgogne up 60.09 per cent, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur up 59.46 per cent, Ile-de-France up 45.98 per cent and Lorraine up 40.72 per cent.

Elsewhere, regional demands have varied between Haute-Normandie 9.95, Poitou-Charentes 11.78, Aquitaine 17.41, Brittany 20.24, Basse-Normandie 23.31.

Uncovered in a study by the Union nationale de la propriété immobilière (UNPI), the figures also showed that the taxe foncière was taking in €21.8 billion, just short of the €30.3bn lost with the disappearance of the taxe professionelle.

The taxe professionelle previously funded a large part of local authority activity.

Both state and councils blame the other for the increases: the state blaming bad budgeting by the councils, which in turn blame a reduction in grants plus the imposition of new responsibility for transport, support for senior citizens etc.

Sixty conseil generals in the Association des Départements de France have also written the prime minister complaining about the lack of government funding for new responsibilities transferred into their budgets.

The Connexion publishes a PDF helpguide, priced €5, on local taxes in France. Download it here.