Does seller of a property have to pay both taxe d'habitation and taxe foncière in the year or sale?
I OWNED a property in France since 2004 which was sold on March 30, 2016. A few months ago I received a bill for the taxe foncière local property owners’ tax, which I queried and was told I was liable for this and paid. Then I received the bill for taxe d’habitation as well, which left me confused. Am I liable for both, as I understood that if I were the owner of the property on January 1, then I would have to pay one of the bills during that year. C.D.
TAXE foncière is charged on those owning property on January 1 each year, and the taxe d’habitation is charged on those using a property on January 1 each year.
Accordingly, both are due if you owned, and used, the same property on January 1.
It is customary for the buyer to pay a pro rata element of the taxe foncière on buying a property, but not the taxe d’habitation because this tax assessment shows the household income (and the tax may vary depending on it) which many deem to be too private to warrant claiming a proportional element.
So the seller does not have to chase up the buyer for their part of the bill, it is customary for the buyer to hand over a cheque for their part of taxe foncière at the time of purchase, based on the previous year’s bill.
But yes, both tax bills are due to be paid by the outgoing owner if he or she also used the property on January 1 (ie. as opposed to having rented it out).
