Hundreds of French communes impose maximum surcharge on second homes

Second-home owners face increased tax bills as hundreds of communes across France seek to impose the maximum surcharge on second homes this year, with local authorities looking to raise funds following the spring elections.

A total of 1,666 communes located in areas facing housing shortages have applied surcharges on the taxe d’habitation des résidences secondaires (second-home tax). 

Of this, 41% will charge the maximum surcharge (a 60% rate), compared to 40% last year. 

Bills for the tax will begin to arrive later in autumn, with payments due in December or spread across 10 equal payments if owners opt for mensualisation (monthly payments). 

688 communes apply maximum rate

As a reminder, taxe d’habitation charges are now solely for second homes, following major reforms during the tenure of President Emmanuel Macron. 

The bill is based on the theoretical annual rental value (valeur locative cadastrale, VLC) of the property, adjusted for inflation each year.

Local authorities then apply a rate to the tax, meaning the final bill can potentially increase (or in certain rare cases, decrease) higher than this base change, depending on the vote.

This is because the tax is locally collected and spent, with communes choosing how to allocate funds.

However, areas classified as a zone tendue (facing a housing shortage) can add an additional surtax. 

These are typically larger cities and their suburbs, coastal areas, and the Alps – all areas where housing availability is reduced.

This government search tool allows you to check if your commune is classified as a zone tendue and has the theoretical ability to add the surcharge onto bills.

Ranging from 5% to 60%, this taxe d’habitation surcharge acts as both a means of additional revenue for communes facing housing difficulties, and a deterrent to keeping second homes in these areas. 

A list of all communes charging this surtax, as well as the amount they are choosing to levy in 2026, is available on Le Figaro website. The list, around halfway down the article, is interactive and you can use the search bar to look for your commune. 

Departments across France have seen communes raise the maximum 60% surcharge, but certain areas feature more prominently.

A total of 63 communes in Haute-Savoie are set to charge the maximum 60% rate, responsible for nearly 10% of the national total.

Other departments to see a high number of communes apply the maximum rate include Calvados (33), Morbihan (30), and Savoie, Landes, and Vaucluse (29). 

Revenues dropped sharply last year

The increase is potentially tied to a drop in revenues recorded from the surcharge last year, following two years in which records show significant over-taxation.

The switch to the tax being levied solely on second-homes, and the introduction of the mandatory biens immobiliers property declaration in 2023 led to thousands of issues with second-home tax bills, many resulting in residents being asked to pay too much, or incorrectly seeing it levied on main properties. 

Bills are now mostly issued correctly – although it is always prudent to carefully check them – but major errors were recorded in 2023 and 2024. 

Indeed, local authorities collected around €1.8 billion in excess second-home taxes across these two years according to a 2025 report from state auditors the Cour des comptes, a number that increases to €2 billion when overtaxation of vacant homes is included. 

However, legal challenges over the issue were brought against the French state (it was tax authorities who made many of the errors), and refunds came from state coffers. 

With issues mostly ironed out between 2024 and 2025, local authorities saw a sharp drop in their revenues from the tax. In Paris for example, income from the surtax discussed above dropped 26%, according to real estate agency Green-Acres. 

Other cities to see revenues from the surtax drop were Lille (-57%), Grenoble (-56%), Nantes (-48%), and Rennes, Strasbourg, Toulouse, and Lyon (-47%). 

It is worth reiterating that this is only the amount lost in revenue from surcharges, a portion of the tax. However, for larger cities such as Lyon and Toulouse this represents around €10 million less in surtax receipts from 2025 than 2024.