Land tax notices contain numerous errors. But they would often be in favor of taxpayers who forget to declare the improvements made to their housing. Good news as the average amount of this tax is increasing in 2023.
Property tax notices are sent to taxpayers in two installments: from August 30 for non-monthly owners, and from September 22, 2023 for those who pay this local tax each month.
But do you need to check this notice in detail, despite a complex calculation formula? There are very few property taxes that are correct, affirms Karine Amboise, tax lawyer in La Manche and creator of the platform je-verifie-ma-taxe-foncire.com, in the columns of Parisian this Monday. But many are erroneous in a direction favorable to individual taxpayers!
These errors can be explained by the way in which this sharply increasing tax in 2023 is calculated. The cadastral rental value (CV), which partly determines the amount of the property tax, comes from the weighted surface area of the housing and the reference rate per square meter. The first parameter takes into account the floor space to which are added fixed square meters linked to comfort (4 m2 for water, 2 m2 for electricity, 4 m2 for a shower or 5 m2 for a bathtub… ). Everything is weighted by coefficients: importance (with 8 levels from very luxurious to very mediocre), nature (depending on the use of the rooms) or even maintenance, sums up everyday life.
Problem, any construction or improvement work on one’s home must normally be declared through form H1 for houses and H2 for apartments. But someone who is going to arrange their attic is not necessarily going to declare it, illustrates Karine Amboise for The Parisian. To check the details of the elements which concern your accommodation, you can ask your tax center for form 6675-M which contains all the elements. But it’s a request at your own risk, without taking into account the complexity of the task.
A land tax sent to the wrong taxpayer
Also remember to check that the notice sent to you is the correct one. In 2022, MP Christine Pires Beaune criticized the General Directorate of Public Finances (DGFiP) for directing the property tax to the wrong taxpayers, particularly during a change of owners. Nearly three-quarters of tax reliefs originate in appeals filed by taxpayers with the tax administration (free claims) or the courts (contentious claims), she detailed, putting forward a total amount approaching two billion dollars. ‘euros.
The reason for these errors is found in the delay in registering a real estate sale in land advertising. In October 2020, it took 152.6 days on average to see your real estate transaction recorded in the file, according to Bercy. The DGFiP then responded that on the 32.9 million property tax notices sent each yearthe number of disputes concerns 535,000 opinions… or 1.6% error.
For the year 2024, the property tax is likely to increase again but more moderately. Indeed, in August, consumer prices increased by 4.8% over one year (compared to 5% in July), according to initial estimates from INSEE. The next evolution of VLC will be decided on the basis of the November harmonized consumer price index (HICP), which reached 7.1% in November 2022.