Yes, the housing tax will be removed for 80% for the French
Emmanuel Macron had promised it during his presidential campaign: the housing tax should be reformed starting in 2018. Many statements have been made about this, and it is becoming difficult to sort out the truth from the false. Will 80% of the French be exempted from this tax within the next 3 years? Let us explain what has been said and what has not been.
Housing tax reduced by 30% in 2018
The project of reform of the housing tax is to remove this tax for the vast majority of French. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe confirmed it in an interview with Jean-Jacques Bourdin on August 24th.
And the government is giving itself 3 years to do it.
At first, in 2018, the housing tax will not be totally forgotten. It should however show a first decline of 30% starting next year, and this for some 17 million French. The Prime Minister had first said that this decline would affect 30% of the French in 2018, before quickly correcting this error.
It will therefore be a gradual abolition, but still quite fast. The tax will be reduced by 30% in 2019, and the last third of it will be eliminated in 2020.
4 French out of 5 exempted from housing tax in 2020
In the long term, 80% of French households will therefore be exempt from housing tax, which should represent a savings of 325 euros per year on average per household, says a study conducted by the OFCE * on the basis of 50,000 homes French tax authorities.
Who will still pay the housing tax ?
But who will be the 20% still subject to this tax ? In its program, En Marche had raised a cap of taxable income of 20,000 per tax share. For a couple with two children, this cap will be 60,000 euros. Those who exceed it will continue to pay a housing tax.
This reform will therefore make millions of French very happy.
Remember, as of today, all housing, whether primary or secondary residences, are affected by the housing tax. Owners and tenants are subject to this taxation. Its amount varies from one town to another, depending on the services and infrastructures offered by the cities. In 2017, it represented an average of 622 euros per household. Today, 85% of French people are responsible for the housing tax.
Housing tax in Haute-Savoie
The housing tax raises up to 416 euros on average in 20% of French departments and up to 611 euros in one out of 5 departments. The local impacts will be very different from one department to another.
In the Chablais region, the housing tax raises on average between 487 and 535 Euros. It is 26 to 57% of rented homes or owned homes in the region that should be concerned of the removal of the tax.
* source: OFCE