2023-11-14 10:41:28
Paying local taxes can give rise to an imbroglio. A council tax notice was sent in error to taxpayers who have moved. As the tax authorities did not delete their old address, they believed that these were their primary and secondary residences. Since second homes are not exempt from housing tax, their owners thus received a tax notice. Taxpayers will be reimbursed, promised the General Directorate of Public Finances.
Property tax also generates hiccups. A couple of buyers recently learned this the hard way. In Nîmes (30), owners received a property tax notice at the beginning of autumn. So far, nothing unusual. This is the period during which these documents are sent to the 34 million taxpayers who pay this local tax. Problem: they acquired their accommodation, in a new building, in April 2023. However, the tax is payable by the owners on January 1 of the year. However, the tax letter which was sent to them on October 11 specifies that they have owned the property since December 2022… The culprit would be the developer. “(He) made the declaration of completion of the work much too early», explains the tax center, quoted by Midi Libre.
Two-year exemption
For its part, the promoter, Cogedim, declared to the trustee, on May 12, 2023, that “the date of completion of the work, indicated to the tax service, is the actual date of completion in the tax sense of the term.» However, this date of completion of the work, in the fiscal sense, corresponds to the day when the construction is habitable, in other words when the structural work is finished. Or in December 2022, for the promoter. The buyers would therefore, according to Cogedim, have been owners since that date and liable for 2023 property tax. An opinion that the building trustee does not share. “The sale being carried out in the future state of completion, the buyers are only really owners at the time of payment of the price», affirms its president. Or in April 2023.
The tax center therefore ruled in favor of all the new owners of the building and promised them that “all property taxes will be taken back.» A notice of relief will be sent to them soon. But what the tax administration had forgotten was that the owners should have been exempt from property taxeven if the work had indeed been completed in December 2022. Because, as provided for by law, the “new constructions are exempt from property tax for two years, starting January 1 following the completion date (the declaration must specify whether the completion concerns all or part of the work)” (article 1383 of the general tax code). Good news for new owners which may hide a downside. The town hall can limit the property tax exemption to between 40% and 90% of the tax base, according to this same article of law. So remember to contact your town hall to find out more on this point. Furthermore, to benefit from this exemption, you must make a declaration within 90 days after completion of the work.
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