Some mayors did not pull out all the stops. The first property tax notices arrive in the mailboxes of homeowners and the bill is steep. This is the case in Paris, which voted for a 51.9% rate increase. But also, in Île-de-France, Meudon (42.2%), Bobigny (25.6%) and, in the regions, Grenoble (24.4%), Lyon (16.6%) or from Metz (13.4%). In total, notes the FSL firm, 19% of large cities and their groups (its study covers 191 municipalities) have increased their rates. The vast majority (80%) were content to apply the 7.1% increase in the taxable base voted by Parliament in the fall of 2022 as part of the finance law for 2023 in order to take into account the ‘inflation. This is the case for Orléans, Nantes, Toulouse and Montpellier. Only five municipalities are an exception by having lowered their rate: Brives, Tarbes, Compiègne, Wattrelos and Saint-Louis, in Reunion.
This is the deadline for paying property tax if you pay online, via the Internet, smartphone or tablet.
if you pay by another means.
The fact remains that such increases had never been applied. The progression of the cadastral bases on which the rates voted by municipalities and groups of municipalities apply has, over the last thirty years, never exceeded 3%. And it’s not over ! Given the surge in consumer prices, Parliament is expected to vote in November on a new increase for 2024. We are talking about a figure of 5%, unless the government passes a capping at 3.5%, at like what he decided for rents.
Two weights, two measures. The increase can certainly be explained by the surge in energy costs and the increase in wage costs. But, in the case of Paris, it also results from the municipality’s desire to compensate for lower revenues, and in particular the reduction in transfer taxes that the city perceives on real estate transactions following the downturn in the real estate market. Added to this is a lack of budgetary rigor which would have meant that, faced with the fall in tax revenues, the mayor would have further reduced spending. Rate increases that Bruno Le Maire considers unfounded, claiming to have compensated for the loss of revenue for municipalities and groups of municipalities from the abolition of the housing tax.
Small consolation: despite this dizzying increase, the property tax rate in Paris still remains among the lowest in France: 20.50%, compared to 56% in Angers or 55% in Amiens. Grenoble residents are not so lucky: the 24.4% increase, which applies on bases increased by 7.1%, raises the rate to 67% (see graph below).
Some good news, however: households who have undertaken energy renovation work can be totally or partially (50%) exempt from property tax. This is the case in Chambéry, Nantes, Thionville, Reims, and in 2024 in Paris. Please note, to benefit from this, the conditions vary from one municipality to another §
* To the increase in the cadastral bases – 7.1% voted by Parliament – ??is added the increase in the rate decided by each municipality.
