This year 2023, a new tax campaign has emerged: the declaration of occupation of real estate. Since January 1, private owners have had the obligation to declare their property for residential use. However, at the end of June, only 61% of the expected declarations had been filed in the centers of the tax administration. Nearly 24 million French people still have to pay this declaration.
Since this year, the residence tax has been abolished on main residences for all taxpayers regardless of their income. On the other hand, the tax remains in place for holders of a secondary residence. It can even be increased in municipalities with a shortage of housing.
Property owners must therefore declare online, for each of their properties, the identity of the occupants (owners, tenants, etc.) and their period of occupation. In concrete terms, the declaration allows the tax authorities to know for which accommodation you can benefit from the abolition of the housing tax or if you remain taxable. In order to make this declaration, you must connect to your personal space on the impots.gouv website and go to the “Manage my real estate” tab. Once done, the taxpayer can declare the situation of his property.
Check now if you have completed the declaration on the government website or if you are one of the 24 million French people late. Why are so many taxpayers not “in good standing”?
Why have so few French people completed the declaration of real estate? According to Pauline Mosset, lawyer at CMS Francis Lefebvre, “there has been little communication on the reason for this obligation”, reports Le Figaro. So some taxpayers are worried about the interest of sharing their personal data, in particular the identity of the occupants of their property. Moreover, the declaration is made online, with no real alternative. People who do not have internet access or prefer to use paper forms find themselves excluded from the system in spite of themselves. However, the deadline for filling in the document is approaching.
Faced with the large number of declarations not submitted, the Directorate General of Public Finances decided to postpone the deadline to July 31, 2023. But, according to Damien Robinet, national secretary of Solidaire-public finances, “it will be difficult to reach 100% of declarations, the one-month lag is a bandage on a wooden leg”, reports Le Figaro.
However, in the event of non-declaration, error or incomplete declaration, a fine of a fixed amount of 150 euros per property will be applied to the taxpayer from the second year of implementation of the system. In other words, this year, the tax administration will be lenient with latecomers and the sanctions will not come into force until January 1, 2024.
