No notaire fee increase for 17 departments in France for property purchases
Higher fees in other areas result in increased cost of €500 per €100,000 when buying a home
Additional revenues of up to €1 billion are expected for local departments from increased notaire fees in 2026
Juli Kuznetsova / Shutterstock
Seventeen departments in France are yet to increase notaire fees for property purchases despite being given the option to do so at the start of the year, leading to reduced prices compared to their counterparts (all other things being equal).
The departments yet to increase the fees encompass a mix of rural areas and urban centres, and a number of France’s overseas areas.
While these areas can still opt to increase fees for the start of next year, their departmental council must vote to do so by November 1 for the rates to come into force by January 1, 2026, and seem unlikely to do so.
Following this, they can vote between January - April 2026 to levy the increased taxes (which will then come into force two months after the vote), or between May - November for a start date of January 2027.
A re-evaluation of the maximum rate of the taxes will take place in 2028, at which point the upper limit may be further raised.
The increase in fees applies to all property purchases in the department, but in most cases first-time buyers are exempt if the property is to be used as a main residence - buyers in this instance remain subject to the initial figure pre-increase (3.8% - 4.5% depending on department).
Departments can even choose to eliminate or reduce the rate, in favour of those who commit to keeping their primary residence for five years.
Only Savoie has chosen to do so for the time being, offering first-time buyers who commit to living in the property for at least five years a reduction on the fees (4% for first-time buyers, 5% for all others).
What are these fees?
Changes at the start of this year allowed for departmental councils to hold a vote on increasing some of the taxes that make up notaire fees for property purchases.
Notaire fees overall make up between 7% to 8% of the total cost of purchasing a property, and contain several different elements.
Specifically, the law allowed departments to increase the DMTO (droits de mutation à titre onéreux) aspect of the fees from a maximum of 4.5% to 5%.
This increase corresponds to roughly an extra €500 in fees for every €100,000 the property costs.
In Morbihan, a department which had previously kept a 3.8% rate (councillors had not voted to increase the rate to 4.5% when given the chance), approving the 5% rate led to buyers paying an extra €1,220 for every €100,000 spent on a property.
However, 17 departments have not yet increased DMTO fees. These are:
Ain
Hautes-Alpes
Alpes-Maritimes
Ardèche
Charente
Drôme
Eure
Indre
Lozère
Oise
Hautes-Pyrénées
Saône-et-Loire
Tarn-et-Garonne
Guadeloupe
Martinique
Réunion
Mayotte
Indre and Mayotte have retained 3.8% rate, with all others having a 4.5% rate.
Why are fees so important to departments?
Despite being part of the notaire fees of a property purchase, DMTO funds are a form of local taxes on property transfers.
They are collected directly by local authorities and represent a key source of revenue for local spending.
The chance to increase fees has been widely acknowledged as an opportunity amid a funding crisis for local authorities in recent years, which most departments made use of.
French tax authorities believe that the higher fees have brought in a cumulative €600 million for departments where they have been introduced, and in 2026 (when active for a full year) could see overall revenue increases of €1 billion annually.
This boost however may bring risk with it.
Tax authorities have stated that it is “insufficient given the worrying financial situation of the departments,” and have highlighted that by increasing fees potential buyers can be driven away, leading to an overall long-term reduction in revenue.
A financial report by independent MP Charles de Courson was brought forward to the Assemblée nationale last month, covering several factors including the change in DMTO fees.
Figures from the report show that while DMTO income is the second-largest revenue factor for departmental authorities, the property market slump following the Covid-19 pandemic significantly reduced revenues in this area.
The recovering – but far from stable – market does not bring enough confidence that previous revenue levels from the taxes (a high of €16.8 billion per year before the slump) will be regained, even with the increased figures.
At the end of 2024, national DMTO had dropped to €11.3 billion, meaning the estimated increases from the tax this year and in 2026 will do little to plug the long-term deficit caused by the slump.
Departments that are yet to raise the taxes are hoping that lower costs will result in more purchases, leading to higher overall DMTO income.
For his part, Mr de Courson argues that a new form of local tax should be reinstated to “restore fiscal autonomy to the departments while re-establishing the link between the citizen-voter and the citizen-taxpayer.”
The idea of a ‘citizen’s tax’ has been discussed several times in recent years, but a serious proposal on the matter is yet to be submitted.