Proposed tax on second homes scrapped

Good news for people looking to buy a holiday home in France; the French government has abandoned plans to levy a controversial new tax on holiday homes owned by non-residents. This has been worrying many people although, as it turned out, if this new tax had been imposed, it would probably only have amounted to a few hundred pounds a year on the average holiday home.

Up to 360,000 homes would have been liable for the tax under the proposals and it is thought that President Sarkozy backtracked when it was pointed out to him how many French nationals living abroad would also have to pay the tax. The French have a tendency, thanks to their inheritance laws, to hang onto property over generations and so a huge number of French people own second homes, including many who now live and work abroad.  The government was also said to be worried about the effect the tax would have on tourism to France. Moreover, it was suggested that this new tax could have been unlawful under European laws designed to allow the free movement of Capital.

Whatever the political ins and outs, it is good news for my clients currently buying or looking to buy holiday homes and means the France looks set to remain one of the most popular and best value holiday destinations in the world.

 

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