French General Tax Code
In forceI. - Housing acquired with a view to rental, with financial assistance from the State or with a subsidy from the National Urban Renewal Agency, pursuant to 3° and 5° of Article L. 831-1 du code de la construction et de l'habitation or by means of financing provided for in l'article R. 372-1 of the same code, are exempt from property tax on built-up properties for a period of fifteen years from the year following that of their acquisition. The exemption period is extended to twenty-five years if the grant or loan decision is made between 1 July 2004 and 31 December 2026. The exemption provided for in this paragraph does not apply to housing acquired or improved and which has benefited from an exemption pursuant to articles 1384,1384 A and 1384 B of this code, this article and article 1384 F.
Also exempt from property tax on built properties for a period of fifteen years are dwellings referred to in 4° of Article L. 831-1 of the Construction and Housing Code which, with a view to their temporary rental or allocation to disadvantaged persons referred to in article 1 of amended law no. 90-449 of 31 May 1990 aimed at implementing the right to housing, are improved with financial assistance from the Agence nationale de l'habitat by organisations that are not engaged in profit-making operations and are approved for rental intermediation and social rental management under article L. 365-4 of the Construction and Housing Code. The benefit of the exemption is subject to the condition that the subsidy decision is made within a maximum of two years from the year following that in which the housing is acquired by these bodies. The fifteen-year exemption applies from the year following completion of the improvement works. The duration of the exemption is increased to twenty-five years when the subsidy decision by the Agence nationale de l'habitat is made between 1 July 2004 and 31 December 2026.
The duration of the exemption is reduced to fifteen years for housing acquired from the bodies mentioned in Article L. 411-5 of the Construction and Housing Code and by means of loans mentioned in subsection 3 of section 1 of the single chapter of title III of book III of the regulatory part of the same code.
The reporting obligations for persons and organisations falling within the scope of this article are set by decree.
II. - Housing owned, directly or indirectly through a majority-owned subsidiary, by the Etablissement public de gestion immobilière du Nord-Pas-de-Calais created by the article 191 of law n° 2000-1208 du 13 décembre 2000 relative à la solidarité et au renouvellement urbains lorsque ces logements sont améliorés au moyen d'une aide financière de l'Agence nationale de l'habitat et qu'ils font l'objet d'une convention avec cette agence ou avec l'Etat fixant les conditions de leur occupation et le niveau de ressources auxquels est soumise leur attribution dans des conditions définies par décret. The fifteen-year exemption applies from the year following that in which the improvement work is completed, for homes where the work has been completed since 1 July 2004. The duration of the exemption is extended to twenty-five years when the subsidy decision is made between 1 July 2004 and 31 December 2018.
To benefit from the exemption, the owner must meet the reporting obligations set out in I for the properties mentioned in 4° of article L. 831-1 of the French Construction and Housing Code. The declaration must specify the date of the decision and subsidy payment by the Agence nationale de l'habitat as well as the date of completion of the improvement works.
Dwellings which are the subject of an agreement with the Agence nationale de l'habitat and which will be subsidised by the aide personnalisée au logement after the transformation into a société anonyme d'habitations à loyer modéré of the société de gestion du patrimoine immobilier des houillères du bassin du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais retain the benefit of the exemption from taxe foncière sur les propriétés bâties under the conditions provided for in the first two paragraphs.
III. - The municipalities and public inter-municipal cooperation establishments with their own tax system within whose territory social rental housing, within the meaning of article L. 302-5 of the Code de la construction et de l'habitation, represent at least 50% of the principal residences may, by a decision taken under the conditions laid down in I of Article 1639 A bis and for their share of property tax on built-up properties, abolish the exemption provided for in I or II of this article.
When it is withdrawn under these conditions, the exemption continues to apply to housing acquired before the date on which the decision was made.
