The new tax rules will come into effect on February 1, 2012 and will affect owners of second homes. Now in order to sell housing in France you need to pay capital gains tax in the first five years of real estate ownership, which is then reduced by 10% annually. And after 15 years of ownership, the owner is exempt from paying this tax.
New changes in the tax system include an annual reduction of the rate by 2% from 5 to 15 years of home ownership, by 4% from 16 to 25 years of ownership, by 8% from 26 to 30 years and after 30 years of home ownership, no tax is paid. Thus, the tax rate on second homes and non-basic housing will increase from 31.3% to 32.5% for citizens of the country and will remain 19% for non-residents.
Since the purchase process takes an average of three months, second-home owners who have owned real estate for more than 15 years and who planned to sell it will want to avoid paying the new tax and put the house up for sale by the end of October. According to experts, this may cause an increase in offers on the country's real estate market, which will lead to a possible decrease in housing prices.
HomesOverseas.ru
