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Tax for non-residents

The occupancy declaration: the obligation that owners living abroad overlook

It is a recent obligation, silent and purely declarative, which is why it slips through: since 2023, every owner of a home in France declares to the tax authority who occupies it and on what basis. An owner living abroad often discovers it through an unexpected tax notice. This dossier says what it governs, who files it, and when to update it.

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The Maison Carrée in Nîmes, a 1st-century Roman temple, in the morning sun on its paved square
Nîmes, Occitanie

By Jean Mascla, founder of Home Select Updated · 5 min read

What the declaration determines

Since council tax on principal residences was abolished, the administration no longer knows, from tax notices alone, who occupies what. The occupancy declaration fills that gap: it states, unit by unit, whether it is occupied by the owner, let, lent, vacant, and since when.

It is what decides which tax you are sent, and the consequence is not small for a non-resident owner. A furnished home, ready to live in, used a few weeks a year, is a second home: it falls under the corresponding council tax, which the municipality may increase by 5 to 60 % in a tight housing area. A home empty of furniture and unoccupied for more than a year in a tight area falls instead under the vacant dwellings tax, at 17 % of the rental value in the first year and 34 % thereafter.

These two regimes look alike from a distance and look nothing alike on arrival. Absent a declaration, the administration decides on the material it holds, and the error is then corrected by formal claim, with supporting documents, from abroad. Better to make the declaration.

Who declares, and how

The obligation covers every owner of residential premises located in France, whether an individual or a company, resident or not. A life tenant declares for a property held in split ownership, and where a property is held in undivided shares any co-owner may declare on behalf of all.

The declaration is made online, in the owner’s account on the tax administration’s site, in the section devoted to managing property. Each unit already appears there, with its land registry references, and it is enough to confirm or correct the occupancy status and, where relevant, the occupant’s identity and the amount of rent.

A non-resident owner without an online account yet creates one using their tax number, the one that appears on the first property tax notice. It is the same identifier that then serves to view and pay local taxes from abroad.

When to update it

The declaration is not annual in the sense of a form to return every year: once the situation is declared, it rolls over tacitly. What triggers a new declaration is change, and it has to be made before the deadline set each year by the administration, traditionally at the start of summer.

The Maison Carrée in Nîmes, a 1st-century Roman temple, in the morning sun on its paved square

Nîmes, Occitanie

The changes that call for a new declaration

The situations that constitute a change are more numerous than people think:

  • a tenant arriving or leaving, and any change in the rent;
  • a move from a furnished second home to a home emptied of its furniture, which shifts the property from one tax regime to the other;
  • free occupation granted to a relative, which still has to be declared;
  • the sale of the property, and the acquisition of a new one.

Reletting after works also belongs on the list, which makes it one of the last steps not to forget when a project finishes.

Why this belongs to watching over the property, not just to accounting

This obligation attaches to watching over the property for a practical reason: nobody can correctly declare an occupancy status they do not know. A home believed empty that a relative uses occasionally, a tenant gone without formal notice, furniture removed during a move without the owner knowing, and the declaration becomes wrong without any bad faith.

It is the same logic that requires knowing exactly how to date the state of a property when damage occurs, a subject covered in what to do about a claim from abroad. In both cases, what protects the owner is regular time-stamped records rather than a recollection.

What Home Select organises for your occupancy declaration

Home Select is not a tax adviser, which is precisely why the question comes up early: before the offer, we introduce a tax lawyer or an accountant used to owners who live in your country, so that the way you buy and hold is decided with full knowledge.

After the signing, you know who handles each of your French obligations: the adviser for the returns, the tax representative where one is required, the concierge service for the post. Each acts under their own responsibility; our role is that you know, before signing, what the property will cost you every year.

Frequently asked questions

Who has to make this declaration?

Every owner of residential premises in France, individual or company, resident or not, including a life tenant and a co-owner in undivided shares. It is made in the owner’s online account on the tax administration’s site, in the property management section. A non-resident owner without an online account yet creates one using their tax number, sent with the first property tax notice.

Does it have to be redone every year?

Only where something changes. Once the situation is declared, it rolls over tacitly: it is a change of occupant, of type of occupancy or of rent that triggers a new declaration, to be made before the annual deadline set by the administration, traditionally at the start of summer. A sale, a letting, a tenant leaving or a shift from second home to empty dwelling are changes.

What is the risk of not making it?

A flat-rate fine per unit, and above all an assessment drawn up on an assumed situation. It is the second risk that costs most: absent a declaration, the administration may treat a lightly used furnished home as a vacant one, or the reverse, and send a tax that then has to be challenged by formal claim, with supporting documents, from abroad.

What does the occupancy declaration determine?

Since council tax on principal residences was abolished, the administration no longer knows, from tax notices alone, who occupies what. The occupancy declaration fills that gap: it states, unit by unit, whether it is occupied by the owner, let, lent, vacant, and since when.

How do you file the occupancy declaration from abroad?

The obligation covers every owner of residential premises located in France, whether an individual or a company, resident or not. A life tenant declares for a property held in split ownership, and where a property is held in undivided shares any co-owner may declare on behalf of all.

Why can an occupancy declaration become wrong without any bad faith?

This obligation attaches to watching over the property for a practical reason: nobody can correctly declare an occupancy status they do not know. A home believed empty that a relative uses occasionally, a tenant gone without formal notice, furniture removed during a move without the owner knowing, and the declaration becomes wrong without any bad faith.

Further reading

Preparing a purchase in France from abroad, or already an owner there? Describe your situation: a Home Select property finder answers within one working day, and the file starts with the right partners, in the right order.

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