Able to adjust estate taxes on second homes without affecting property taxes. This is the goal of the measure deputies approved this Friday. The vote on the first reading was obtained against government advice.
The decision, carried out identically by members of parliament from the socialist, communist and Les Républicains (LR) groups, was approved by a large majority, with 143 votes in favor and 17 in favor. This is a request made by many local elected officials.
Since January 2023, housing tax on second homes has been linked to property tax. Therefore, municipal governments that want to take action against the low housing occupancy rate by raising the housing tax rate on second homes are obliged to increase the tax pressure on all owners, denounced socialist deputy Iñaki Echaniz.
“Let’s have faith in our local elected officials”
Minister of Public Services David Amiel reminded that there is already a possibility for cities in tense areas to increase taxes on second homes. He argued that a complete lack of citywide bonding would “undoubtedly lead to” very significant tax increases “without any response to real need.”
“Let’s trust local elected officials, who will make the right decisions based on their region,” Iñaki Echaniz responded.
During the budget hearings two years earlier, the same amendments were adopted in the National Assembly without ultimately being retained by the government in the final text submitted under article 49.3, he also criticized.
Towards more efficient taxation?
Late Thursday, another socialist amendment was voted on, proposed by Paris deputy Emmanuel Grégoire, which aims to combine a tax on second homes and a tax on empty housing in tense areas – again against government advice.
For the deputy responsible for Housing at Paris City Hall, Jacques Baudrier (PCF), voting on these two amendments “will finally allow for effective taxation” in the face of the increase in second homes and empty housing in the capital. Jacques Baudrier estimates he could “remarket 100,000” of the “300,000 empty houses and second homes” in Paris.
As of 1 January 2025, INSEE counted 3 million empty homes and 3.8 million second homes, representing respectively 7.7% and 9.8% of France’s 38.4 million homes.
