As we have previously reported in these pages, there is an empty (vacant) homes tax in France. More precisely, there are two taxes, but which operate separately in different areas. You can read about the taxes at Empty Homes Taxes in France.

In a case which was recently heard in the Court of Appeal sitting in Nantes, a property owner contested a decision by the tax authority to levy the tax (Taxe annuelle sur les Logements Vacants - TLV) on a property he owned in the town of Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique).

The town is classified as an area of housing shortage, and owners in the commune are liable to the tax if the tax authority considers the property has been empty for at least a year, without a justifiable reason.

The property was vacant on 1st Jan 2019, and had been vacant for several years. As a result, the tax authority imposed the tax.

The owner claimed that the property needed substantial works to make it habitable thereby justifying an exemption.

Under Article 232 of the General Tax Code "The tax is not payable in the event of a vacancy independent of the taxpayer's will (...)."

In an earlier interpretation of this clause, the Constitutional Council rendered a judgement stating

properties that could only be made habitable at a significant cost that would be a burden to the owner should be considered exempt.

In this case, the court heard that the property did not have sanitary facilities and that the cost of undertaking these works, as well as other electrical works that were necessary, were estimated at €13,400.

The value of the apartment was estimated to be between €30,000 and €35,000.

That being the case, the cost of the work amounted to between 38% and 44% of the open market value of the property.

The court ruled that given the cost of the works in relation to the market value of the property, the property was empty independent of the wishes of the owner and that, as a consequence, the owner was exempt from the tax.