A British national who owns a home in France may still benefit from a French property-tax exemption after Brexit. The decisive questions are not nationality or the fact that the property is a second home. They are the owner’s age on 1 January of the year of assessment, the household’s French reference tax income, and the way the property is actually occupied. In the right circumstances, a person aged over 75 can obtain an exemption from taxe foncière sur les propriétés bâties, the French annual property tax on built property, even for a résidence secondaire, meaning a second home. That result does not normally remove the taxe d’enlèvement des ordures ménagères, or TEOM, the waste-collection charge shown on the same notice. Nor does it follow merely because an owner has a low UK pension, lives mainly in Britain, or has a French tax number. This article examines the narrow post-Brexit situation of a British individual who owns and personally uses a French second home. It does not cover the purchase process, company formation or an SCI structure. It sets out the current statutory tests, the second-home case law, the evidence worth keeping, and the complaint route if the exemption is missing from the 2026 notice.
I. Can a British owner over 75 obtain a French taxe foncière exemption for a second home?
A. Age, French reference income and ownership determine the statutory right
The starting point is the identity of the taxpayer. Under Article 1400 of the French General Tax Code (Code général des impôts, or CGI), “toute propriété, bâtie ou non bâtie, doit être imposée au nom du propriétaire actuel” — every built or undeveloped property must be assessed in the name of the current owner. The same provision deals with rights such as usufruit, the right to use and take the income from property owned by another person. In practical terms, the person named as owner or usufructuary on 1 January is the person whose age and income position will normally be examined. A British passport does not remove that French liability, and Brexit did not turn a French property into an asset outside the French local-tax system.
The principal age-based exemption is in Article 1391 CGI. Its first paragraph states: “Les redevables âgés de plus de soixante-quinze ans au 1er janvier de l’année de l’imposition sont exonérés de la taxe foncière sur les propriétés bâties pour l’immeuble habité par eux, lorsque le montant des revenus de l’année précédente n’excède pas la limite prévue à l’article 1417.” In English, the rule concerns a taxpayer who is over 75 on 1 January, whose previous-year income is below the Article 1417 ceiling, and whose property is inhabited by that taxpayer. It is not enough to reach the birthday during the year. Someone who turns 75 on 2 January 2026 does not satisfy the age test for the 2026 assessment on that basis; someone who was already over 75 on 1 January 2026 may satisfy it.
Article 1391 refers to the income ceiling in Article 1417 CGI. For metropolitan France, the 2026 table published by Service-Public gives the following ceilings for the reference tax income, or revenu fiscal de référence (RFR). RFR is the French tax administration’s reference figure, not simply the gross amount of a UK pension and not necessarily the amount shown as taxable income in a UK return.
| French family quotient | 2026 metropolitan ceiling |
|---|---|
| 1 tax share | €12,793 |
| 1.25 shares | €14,501 |
| 1.5 shares | €16,209 |
| 1.75 shares | €17,917 |
| 2 shares | €19,625 |
| Each additional half-share | add €3,416 |
| Each additional quarter-share | add €1,708 |
The figures above are the current 2026 metropolitan amounts reproduced on the Service-Public page on taxe foncière sur les propriétés bâties, the tax on built property. They should be checked against the applicable year and the owner’s actual tax household. Article 1417 also says, in exact terms, that the income test applies where income “n’excède pas la somme de 12 793 €, pour la première part de quotient familial, majorée de 3 416 € pour chaque demi-part supplémentaire, retenues pour le calcul de l’impôt sur le revenu afférent auxdits revenus.” The amount is therefore not a universal €12,793 test: the family quotient matters. Article 1417, paragraph III adds: “Les montants de revenus prévus aux I, I bis, et II sont indexés, chaque année, comme la limite supérieure de la première tranche du barème de l’impôt sur le revenu.” The ceiling can consequently change for a later assessment year.
The relevant document is usually the French avis d’impôt sur les revenus, meaning the French income-tax notice, which displays the RFR. A British owner should not decide eligibility by comparing a UK payslip with the French threshold. UK State Pension, private pension, employment income, investment income and other amounts may have to be reported or taken into account under the French cross-border tax rules. The GOV.UK guidance on UK income when living abroad is useful for the UK reporting side, but it does not calculate the French RFR. The French tax notice remains the central evidence for Article 1417. If a pension is taxed under the France–UK tax treaty or is exempt in one country, the calculation still needs to be checked rather than assumed from the treaty label.
Article 1417 describes the income as the amount used for the preceding year’s French income-tax assessment. Its definition begins: “Pour l’application du présent article, le montant des revenus s’entend du montant net après application éventuelle des règles de quotient définies à l’article 163-0 A des revenus et plus-values retenus pour l’établissement de l’impôt sur le revenu au titre de l’année précédente.” This is why a tax notice, any amended notice and the underlying French return are more useful than a rough household budget. A change in exchange rate, a one-off pension withdrawal, a capital gain or a late correction can change the RFR even if the owner feels that ordinary monthly income is unchanged.
There are separate protections for certain taxpayers receiving the allocation de solidarité aux personnes âgées (Aspa), the French solidarity allowance for older people, or the allocation supplémentaire d’invalidité (ASI), the additional disability allowance. The official impots.gouv.fr explanation of the age exemption identifies those situations as exceptions to the ordinary resource condition. That does not mean that every British pensioner over 75 is exempt. It means that a person receiving a qualifying allowance should identify it specifically and provide the relevant decision or payment evidence.
Ownership form also matters. A British individual who owns the property personally can compare his or her age, RFR and occupation with Article 1391. A bare owner, usufructuary, joint owner, surviving spouse, trust arrangement or company-held property may raise a different question about who is the “redevable”, the person legally liable for the tax. An SCI, or société civile immobilière, is a French civil property-holding company; its tax and occupation consequences are not the subject of this article. The age exemption should not be promised merely because a person who lives in an SCI-owned house is personally over 75. The ownership documents and the notice must first be reconciled.
A simple example shows the sequence. A British owner aged 76 on 1 January 2026 receives a French 2026 tax notice, has an RFR for the relevant preceding year of €12,500, has one French tax share, and personally uses the French house for part of the year. The age and income limbs may be satisfied. A second owner aged 76 with an RFR of €13,100 and one share does not meet the €12,793 ceiling, even if the property is empty for most of the winter. A third owner aged 74 with an RFR of €8,000 does not meet the age route. These examples are only a screening tool: the wording on the notice, the ownership right and the facts of occupation remain decisive.
B. A personally occupied second home can fall within the rule, but a let or exclusively lent property is different
The word “habité” in Article 1391 is the key to the second-home question. French administrative guidance no longer supports the simplistic answer that an exemption can only concern the principal home. The official impots.gouv.fr page on exemptions and reliefs expressly explains that the jurisprudence known as Friteau extends the benefit to a résidence secondaire for people over 75 who meet the RFR and occupation conditions. The page identifies the decision as Conseil d’État, 20 October 2000, no. 205635.
The official decision is Conseil d’État, 8th and 3rd sub-sections, 20 October 2000, no. 205635. In the passage relevant to the older statutory wording, the court stated: “cette disposition ne subordonne le bénéfice du dégrèvement à aucune autre condition concernant l’immeuble que son affectation exclusive à une habitation par le contribuable”. The decision also held that an owner who already benefited for a principal residence was not prevented from benefiting for a second residence. The quotation must be read with the current Article 1391 text and current administrative guidance, but it is the reason a second home cannot be rejected solely because it is called a second home.
This is not a general holiday-property exemption. The claimant must be able to show that the property is inhabited by the claimant. Personal use may be occasional or seasonal: a British owner may live principally in the United Kingdom and use the French home during holidays, weekends or longer stays. The evidence becomes weak where the property is continuously rented, operated as a furnished holiday let, handed over to a management company for exclusive rental use, or made available exclusively to another person. A property may be furnished and rarely used without becoming automatically exempt, but the administration can ask what the owner actually does with it.
The current BOFiP, the French tax administration’s official tax doctrine, explains the limit after the legislative change. In its guidance on the age exemption, it states that a second home “mis à la disposition exclusive d’un tiers, ne peut être regardé comme habité par le contribuable et ne peut donc bénéficier de l’exonération y compris en l’absence de bail.” In English, a second home put exclusively at a third party’s disposal is not treated as inhabited by the taxpayer, even if there is no formal tenancy agreement. The current BOFiP guidance on the age-related taxe foncière exemption is therefore important where a family member, caretaker or friend uses the house.
Occupation is a factual issue, not a label on an estate agent’s listing. Useful material may include dates of personal stays, utility consumption consistent with those stays, home insurance, correspondence addressed to the property, travel records, maintenance instructions issued by the owner, and a clear explanation of any periods when relatives or guests were present. No single item guarantees the result. Utility use can be low in an energy-efficient home; travel records can be incomplete; a house can be visited without being the owner’s residence for every day of the year. The objective is to show genuine personal habitation and to distinguish it from an investment held solely for another person or for rent.
The tax administration may also examine whether a couple jointly owns or jointly uses the property. The correct answer depends on the legal title, the tax household and the actual arrangement. It is safer to provide the title deed or land-registry information, the tax notice, and a short chronology than to send a bare statement saying “this is my holiday home”. If one spouse remains under 75 but the other taxpayer is over 75, the notice and the persons liable should be checked carefully. If the home is used by adult children while the owner is abroad, explain whether the use is occasional and shared or exclusive. Do not conceal a rental agreement: the question is whether the facts satisfy the rule, not whether a different description can be found.
The distinction can be summarised as follows:
| Situation | Initial legal direction | Point to prove |
|---|---|---|
| Owner over 75, low RFR, personally uses second home | Potential Article 1391 exemption | Age, RFR, ownership and personal occupation |
| Second home continuously let to tenants | Age exemption is unlikely for that property | Lease, rental income and exclusive tenant possession |
| Home lent exclusively to a third party | Excluded under the current occupation guidance | Who has exclusive use and for how long |
| Owner over 65 but under 75 | Possible €100 relief, normally for the principal residence | Article 1391 B conditions; it is not the same second-home exemption |
| RFR over the Article 1417 ceiling | Ordinary age exemption not available | Correct year, family shares and any qualifying allowance |
One further caution concerns the phrase “exempt from property tax”. Even where the Friteau route applies, the relief concerns the taxe foncière on the built property. It is not an immunity from every line on the annual local-tax notice. Nor does a second home become a principal residence for other French taxes. The owner should therefore read the notice line by line and keep a copy of the calculation and any explanation supplied by the tax office.
II. What remains payable and how should a British owner claim the exemption?
A. The exemption does not erase TEOM, and other reliefs concern different properties
The most common practical surprise is the TEOM. The taxe d’enlèvement des ordures ménagères is the French household-waste collection charge. It is commonly displayed alongside taxe foncière and is often collected through the same notice. Article 1521 CGI opens with the rule: “I. – La taxe porte sur toutes les propriétés soumises à la taxe foncière sur les propriétés bâties ou qui en sont temporairement exonérées.” The official explanations also state that TEOM remains due where the age-based taxe foncière exemption applies. A notice showing a remaining TEOM amount is therefore not, by itself, proof that the exemption has failed.
Check the notice for separate lines. The taxable property value and the taxe foncière contribution should be distinguished from the TEOM, local authority rates and any other charge. Ask the tax office for an explanation if the notice contains a taxe foncière amount that should have been removed, but do not request cancellation of TEOM on the theory that the whole notice must be zero. A successful complaint may reduce the balance without eliminating it. The amount of TEOM can depend on the commune and the local service, so it should be checked against the address shown on the notice.
Article 1391 is not the only relief that appears in French guidance. Article 1391 B CGI provides an automatic €100 dégrèvement, meaning a tax reduction, for certain taxpayers over 65 whose principal residence meets the conditions. Its wording begins: “Les redevables âgés de plus de soixante-cinq ans au 1er janvier de l’année d’imposition bénéficient d’un dégrèvement d’office de 100 € de la taxe foncière sur les propriétés bâties afférente à leur habitation principale.” This is not a substitute for the Article 1391 exemption for a personally occupied second home. It is tied to the principal residence and has its own income conditions.
There is also the income-based cap in Article 1391 B ter CGI. The rule states: “Il est accordé, sur la cotisation de taxe foncière sur les propriétés bâties afférente à l’habitation principale du contribuable, un dégrèvement égal à la fraction de la cotisation supérieure à 50 % du montant total de leurs revenus.” That mechanism is again directed at the principal residence. The provision excludes the TEOM from the relief and includes a claim framework. It should not be presented to a British owner as an automatic second-home exemption merely because the household’s income is modest.
Article 1391 also contains transitional protection where a taxpayer who previously met the conditions loses them because of an income change. The protection is not a permanent entitlement and does not turn a tenant-occupied property into an inhabited second home. If the notice says that an exemption has ended, compare the current RFR with the prior notices and read the transitional wording in the current version of Article 1391. A gradual reduction can be legally different from a first application for the exemption.
There may be other local-tax situations, such as a temporary relief for a newly built property, a reduction linked to a property that is genuinely uninhabitable, or a correction after an ownership change. Those are separate grounds. An owner should choose the ground that matches the evidence instead of combining every possible argument in one vague complaint. A French second home personally occupied by an older British owner is primarily an Article 1391 and Friteau question; a vacant rental or a construction exemption belongs to a different analysis. For a distinct vacancy problem, see the firm’s guide to tax relief for an uninhabitable French rental property.
Brexit also does not create a special exemption from French local taxes. A British citizen can have a visa, residence card or non-resident status and still be liable for taxe foncière because of French ownership. Conversely, payment of this tax does not decide residence for income-tax or inheritance-tax purposes. The GOV.UK information on State Pension when retiring abroad may help with the UK pension position, while the French RFR and property notice answer the French local-tax question. Keeping the issues separate avoids a common error: treating a treaty, a visa or a pension payment as if it were an Article 1391 certificate.
Before contesting the bill, make a short calculation sheet. Record the date of birth, the owner’s status on 1 January, the commune and address, the ownership right, the relevant RFR, the number of French tax shares, the dates of personal occupation, the notice date, and the amount of taxe foncière and TEOM shown separately. If there is a second home in another commune, make a separate line for it. This sheet lets the administration see why the claim is precise and lets the owner identify whether only one property or more than one is in issue.
B. A formal French tax claim should use the notice, the RFR and occupation evidence
If the exemption is absent or incomplete, the appropriate first step is normally a réclamation contentieuse, meaning a formal claim challenging an assessment. Start with the tax notice rather than with a general email. Confirm the year, property address, taxpayer name, cadastral reference if shown, the assessment date, the taxe foncière line and the TEOM line. If the notice is for 2026, the age test is taken at 1 January 2026 and the income test normally concerns the preceding income year under the applicable Article 1417 rules. Do not submit a claim for the wrong commune: the official French guidance says that a separate complaint must be made for each commune for local taxes.
The core evidence bundle should include:
- the complete taxe foncière notice, not only the payment page;
- the French income-tax notice showing the relevant RFR and family quotient;
- proof of date of birth and, where relevant, proof of an Aspa or ASI award;
- the deed, title information or other document showing personal ownership or usufruit;
- a concise statement explaining when the owner personally occupies the second home;
- documents that distinguish personal occupation from a tenancy or exclusive loan, such as insurance, utilities, travel dates and maintenance records; and
- if UK income is relevant, the pension or income documents used to prepare the French return and any correspondence explaining the cross-border treatment.
These documents should be consistent. If the French tax notice names both spouses but the land title names one owner, explain the relationship. If a property manager advertises the home, state the dates and scope of the mandate. If the owner spends six months in Britain and six weeks in France, that does not automatically defeat the claim; it does mean that the factual explanation should be clear. If relatives use the home while the owner is away, describe whether that use is shared, occasional and revocable or exclusive. The occupation test should be answered honestly and with dates.
A claim may be filed through the secure messaging service on the taxpayer’s impots.gouv.fr account or using the channel identified on the notice. A non-resident owner should follow the service address shown for the property-tax assessment and keep the submission receipt. The message should identify the legal basis and request a corrected assessment, for example: Article 1391 CGI, Article 1417 CGI, the personally occupied second-home rule recognised by Conseil d’État no. 205635, and correction of the taxe foncière line while leaving TEOM treated according to Article 1521. The request should not ask for “cancellation of all property charges” when the legal claim concerns only one component.
The time limit is important. Article R*196-2 of the French Book of Tax Procedures (Livre des procédures fiscales, or LPF) states: “Pour être recevables, les réclamations relatives aux impôts directs locaux doivent être présentées au plus tard le 31 décembre de l’année suivant celle de la mise en recouvrement du rôle.” For a standard 2026 local-tax notice, that generally means 31 December 2027, subject to the exact event and any special rule stated on the notice. A late discovery of the Friteau decision is not a reason to delay a claim. Save the electronic acknowledgement or obtain proof of posting for a paper claim.
The form of the complaint also matters. Article R*197-3 LPF requires a complaint to mention the assessment contested and contain a summary of the grounds and the claimant’s conclusions. The provision says: “Toute réclamation doit à peine d’irrecevabilité : a) Mentionner l’imposition contestée ; b) Contenir l’exposé sommaire des moyens et les conclusions de la partie ;” It also addresses the signature and supporting tax notice. In practice, include the exact year and address, state the age/RFR/occupation facts, identify the amount to be corrected, attach the notice, and sign or authenticate the submission in the manner required by the channel used.
A useful claim is short enough to understand but detailed enough to audit. The opening can state: “I was over 75 on 1 January of the assessment year. My RFR shown on the attached French tax notice is below the Article 1417 ceiling for my family quotient. I personally inhabit the property at [address] as my French second home. I request application of Article 1391 CGI, taking account of Conseil d’État, 20 October 2000, no. 205635, and correction of the taxe foncière on the attached notice. I understand that TEOM may remain payable.” That English sentence can be accompanied by a French version if the taxpayer wishes, but the legal facts and attachments must be accurate. Do not insert a decision number that has not been checked against the official link.
The administration can ask for more evidence or reject the claim. If the response is negative, read the reason rather than filing the same message again. A refusal may say that the taxpayer’s RFR is above the ceiling, that the taxpayer was not over 75 on 1 January, that the wrong person claimed the exemption, or that the property was not inhabited by the claimant. Each reason calls for a different answer. A calculation error may be corrected with the tax notice; an occupation dispute needs factual proof; an ownership issue may require title analysis.
If an administrative court challenge becomes necessary, Article R*199-1 LPF provides: “L’action doit être introduite devant le tribunal compétent dans le délai de deux mois à partir du jour où le réclamant a reçu notification de la décision de l’administration.” The same article addresses the situation where the administration has not decided within six months. The competent forum is generally the tribunal administratif, the administrative court, rather than the civil court. The two-month period after a notified rejection should be diarised immediately. A court application should identify the notice, the prior claim, the administration’s decision, the statutory provisions and the evidence of personal occupation.
Do not confuse a tax complaint with an application to cancel the purchase, a challenge to a planning decision or a claim about a private tenant. Those matters have different procedures and time limits. The present route concerns the local-tax assessment. Nor should the owner assume that submitting a complaint automatically suspends payment or collection. If the amount is disputed and payment creates a problem, obtain advice on the available request for a payment stay or other protection under the tax-procedure rules; keep the undisputed TEOM and any other due amount in view.
Finally, keep a file for the next year. Save the notice, RFR, evidence of stays and the administration’s answer in a named folder. The age test may remain satisfied while the RFR or occupation changes. If the property becomes a rental, the facts change immediately. If the owner moves permanently to France, that can affect other taxes but does not remove the need to examine the local-tax conditions. A yearly check prevents a previous exemption from being copied blindly onto a materially different situation.
Conclusion
Yes, a British owner over 75 can potentially obtain a French taxe foncière exemption for a second home after Brexit. The route is not based on nationality. It depends on being over 75 on 1 January, satisfying the Article 1417 RFR ceiling for the household, holding the relevant ownership right and genuinely inhabiting the property. French administrative guidance and Conseil d’État no. 205635 recognise that a personally occupied second home can qualify. A home continuously let or made available exclusively to somebody else is a different case.
The result is also narrower than a zero-bill promise. TEOM normally remains payable, and principal-residence reliefs for people over 65 or for income exceeding half the household’s resources do not automatically transfer to a second home. The practical response is to check the notice, obtain the French RFR evidence, document personal occupation, and file a precise complaint for each commune within the statutory period. If the administration refuses, the written reason and the two-month court period will determine the next step. A carefully evidenced claim is much stronger than an argument based only on Brexit, age or a low UK pension.
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