Local tax rises kept in check
Majority of mayors and departments choose not to raise impôts locaux
RESIDENTIAL taxes for the coming year are being kept roughly in line with the past year as mayors and departmental councils have reined back increases in the taxe d'habitation and taxe foncière.
The Association des Maires de France told Le Figaro that "across the board, mayors have chosen not to raise taxes" in 2012 and the Assemblée des Départements de France had the same message.
However, that does not mean impôts locaux are staying the same.
Local taxes are levied on the theoretical potential rental value of the property, a value which is set at national level each year, and that has been increased by 1.8%.
This means that households will face a minimim 1.8% rise even where local councils have decided to maintain taxes at the 2011 level. Some communes, such as Paris suburb Issy-les-Moulineaux (Hauts-de-Seine) and Châtillon-sur-Seine (Bourgogne), reduced their local taxes so the increase will be less.
The Assemblée des Départements de France said that even where local tax rates had been increased this had been done moderately, between 1% and 2% - although Haute-Garonne raised its by 2.8% while Maine-et-Loire has set a 5.1% rise.
