Taxe d'habitation still exists — on second homes
The tax was abolished on main homes, not on second ones. Notices arrive in the last quarter of the year. It is owed by whoever has a furnished home at their disposal, tenants included — and failing to declare a property carries a €150 fine per property.
Everyone has heard that taxe d'habitation was abolished, which leads to a common misreading: that the tax is gone entirely. On your main home it is. On a second home (résidence secondaire) it remains, under the name THRS.
Who owes it
It is owed by whoever has a furnished home at their disposal that is not their main residence — and the important detail is that this is not only the owner. The rules place the tax on whoever has the property permanently available to them: owner, tenant, or someone living there free of charge.
This is the case that regularly surprises newcomers: if you rent a small studio in another city — next to work, say — and it stays yours all year while you mostly live elsewhere, the THRS on it is charged to you. The rules do provide, though, that for a home near your place of work occupied for professional reasons a dégrèvement of the THRS can be obtained on application (réclamation).
When the notice arrives
Notices are sent out in the last quarter of the year. There may be no paper letter: if you have switched to electronic documents, the amount and the deadline will only be in your account on impots.gouv.fr. The notice sets out the calculation, the amount and the payment deadline — which can differ between taxpayers, so go by your own document rather than by someone else's date.
Who is exempt
The rules provide exemptions, notably:
- for people who have moved into an Ehpad or another care facility — on their former main home;
- for certain people returning from abroad under collective repatriation operations;
- for owners of tourist lettings and guest rooms in ZFRR areas — where the commune has voted for it.
Worth knowing separately: communes in areas with a tight housing market (zone tendue) may, by a vote of the municipal council, apply a surcharge (majoration) to the THRS. Two similar flats in different communes can therefore be taxed quite differently.
The duty to declare your property
Owners have a separate obligation — the occupancy declaration (déclaration d'occupation): who lives in the property you own, and on what basis. It is filed by 1 July when the property has never been declared or something has changed since the previous declaration, and it is how the tax authority knows whether a property is a main home, a second home or let out.
Failing to provide this information carries a fine of €150 per property. It is a penalty not for unpaid tax but for missing or inaccurate information.
What to check now
If you own a second home in France, or keep a rented flat you do not use full-time, it is worth looking in your online account at the status recorded for it: main home, second home, or let out. That status comes from your occupancy declaration, and if it is wrong the notice you receive will be wrong too — and correcting it after assessment is harder than fixing the information beforehand.
Fiscly is an educational tool to help you understand the French tax system. It is not a substitute for professional tax advice. Tax situations are individual — always verify with impots.gouv.fr or a qualified accountant (expert-comptable) for your specific case.