If you rent out a property in France the first point to establish is whether your property is rented furnished or unfurnished as there is a significant difference between the two under French law.
A furnished rental is considered to be a commercial activity and must be managed through a company - either an SAS, SARL, SCI with corporate tax option or as a sole trader.
An unfurnished rental is not considered to be a commercial activity and can be managed personally or through an SCI company.
Each kind of legal status requires a specific form to be submitted electronically to the tax office by April 30 each year. You will find below a summary of the different scenarios that you may face and the forms to be submitted for each. In addition you are obliged to file a personal tax return with the tax authorities each year between May and June. The form number is 2042.
There may be options to these rules dependent on your situation. We recommend you take professional advice.
This column is sponsored by French Tax Online, a company owned by Géraud Nayral, a French Chartered Accountant. The bilingual team at French Tax Online assist English speaking clients who live or are invested in France ensuring they comply with French tax obligations and declarations and includes completing French tax returns online for clients. French Tax Online is only able to answer queries if retained on an advisory basis. See frenchtaxonline.com or call + 33 6 68 92 19 25
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