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Taxe foncière: how to ask for delay, reduction, or cancellation of French property tax
Requests can be made even after the payment date has passed
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How to save money on your French tax bill by giving to charity this year
Gifts to good causes before January can be declared in your spring 2026 tax return
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Why am I suddenly being charged withholding tax in France?
Upcoming instalments can be viewed through personal space of French tax site
Is taxe d’habitation still due for 2019?
I recall President Macron was proposing to abandon the taxe d’habitation [a tax due by everyone with use of a property in France on January 1 of that year]. Is it still happening? Will we pay it this year? K.H.
The tax is being phased out and 2019 is the second year of the three-year operation. The intention is that next year will be the last year that most people will pay it.
The right to the reduction (abatement) is related to income and is separate from other ordinary measures which can exempt some residents on low incomes from the tax (exonération) or in other cases (plafonnement) limit it to within a set proportion of your annual declared income.
Mr Macron’s abatement involved a reduction of people’s tax by 30% in 2018. It will be reduced by 65% this year, and then 100% in 2020.
However, this is also means-tested and only applies within these income limits: €27,432 for a single family quotient income tax part (ie. single person), €43,688 for two parts (eg. a couple) and then +€6,096 for each additional half part (for example, a couple with one child is 2.5 parts).
Note that there are arrangements so that those whose income is just above the thresholds also gain some benefit. The government eventually plans to abandon the tax entirely for all main homes but at present this is not expected until 2023. The tax still applies for second homes.
