# Taxes for a construction land and house as non-resident



## blackarrow (10 mo ago)

Hello
We live in Germany and will buy construction land in France. Currently, it is just land (construction land of 1000 m2 along with 1000 m2 of the forest), on which we plan to build a really small house (20 m2) where we can spend weekends only. Our agent can't help us much when it comes to taxes, that is why I am looking for help here.
I understand there are notary costs as well as one-time taxes which have to be paid once the land is bought (around 10%).
However, once the land is ours and the house is built, we will be subjected to taxe foncière and taxe d'habitation which have to be paid annually.
Is there a way to calculate how much taxes we would need to pay?
Since the house is not our primary residence but will be used for weekends only, are we subjected to additional taxes, and if yes, how much is that?
Thank you.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Have you already found the land you wish to buy? If so, you will need to check the land use designation (i.e. residential, commercial, agricultural, etc.). I do notice that you say you are interested in building only a 20 m2 "house." This could cause some confusion because 20 m2 is the limit for building an out-building on a piece of property where there is a residential building. You would have to check with the mairie (town hall) in the town where the property is located to see what the specific requirements would be for building on the property.

Normally the taxes are based on the building that is on the property (with adjustments for the amenities and features of the building) and all that is reduced to a theoretical "rental value" based on the floor area of the home/residence. There is usually a tax rate for agricultural or forest land, but check with the mairie to see how they handle the taxes on unbuilt or unbuildable land. I know I own a parcel of agricultural land and another one of forest land (where you must keep a tree every 10 meters) and our town doesn't bother billing the owners for the land taxes because the parcels are all pretty small and the tax rate is minimal.

The rates for taxe d'hab and taxe fonciere vary from one town to the next (and can vary greatly from one town to the next) so your best bet would be to ask the seller for the taxe fonciere bill from last year. (Taxe d'hab is supposed to be going away soon - but you can always ask just to get a rough idea.)


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## blackarrow (10 mo ago)

It is residential land and the idea behind building a small house of 20 m2 is that we don't need a construction permit for that, we just have to declare the works. But, in any case, it will be a residential building that has to be connected to sewage, water, electricity, etc. so both taxes will have to be paid (fonciere and d'hab).
Our problem is that we are still not able to get some rough estimation for both taxes. Due to language barriers, it is hard to find any information on how to calculate these taxes. I am sure there will not be that high, in the end, it is a village in the middle of nowhere and it is a house that is really really small. Nevertheless, we would like to have some estimation on this.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

blackarrow said:


> the idea behind building a small house of 20 m2 is that we don't need a construction permit for that,


I know when we built our "barn" we built it as an "out building" of less than 20 m2 - and to do that we had to do a "declaration" of construction that turned out to require very nearly as much documentation as a "building permit" would have done. 

You can start here for general information about property taxes for non-residents: Are non-residents liable for local taxes ?

But to get an estimate of how much the taxes will be, you'll have to talk to the local authorities (i.e. the local mairie) to understand the local tax rates (which are set by the local jurisdictions - town, commune, district, region and departement). Take a look here for an explanation: Taxe d’Habitation - French Residence Tax and follow on to the next page which describes the taxe fonciere. As they note, the method of calculation is pretty complicated - and you need to get the rates for the town from the local officials.


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## ccm47 (Oct 15, 2013)

Connected Sewage? Are you sure? Round here nearly all the new builds are on septic tanks, even those only 30m from the main drains. Costs are around 8k, but you only pay for water going onto the property, not that coming off it.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I think ccm47's comment highlights the need to work with the mairie on this sort of thing to make sure you are sticking to the rules. We have a case hear us where a guy simply set up on a piece of property he bought that is clearly designated as agricultural land. He has constructed a tiny house from a pre-fab portable "room" thing, and I seem to recall him connecting something up to the sewer system as part of the deal. He now has something of a mini-farm on the property, built up over the years that he has been living there. He never applied for any sort of building permit and when his original caravan caught fire and burned down, he refused the town's offer of shelter because he didn't want to leave his animals.

In his case, the big difference was that he is a local and he lives full time on the property, which is in a fairly remote part of town that the town government doesn't really mess with too much. (One of the reasons we like living here, too.) For something that is going to be only a part-time residence, I'd be very sure to try working with the town on what and how to build and what permits or declarations will or won't be needed - even if you need to hire a translator to help you in your discussions with the town officials.


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