{"id":2113931,"date":"2026-08-30T16:05:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T14:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/2026\/08\/30\/who-pays-french-taxe-fonciere-after-uk-owner-dies-heirs-1-january\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T16:05:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T14:05:20","slug":"who-pays-french-taxe-fonciere-after-uk-owner-dies-heirs-1-january","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/08\/30\/who-pays-french-taxe-fonciere-after-uk-owner-dies-heirs-1-january\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Pays French Taxe Fonci\u00e8re After a UK Property Owner Dies? Heirs, Estate and the 1 January Rule"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a British owner of a French house or flat dies, the next taxe fonci\u00e8re<\/em> notice may still carry the deceased person\u2019s name. The family may be unsure whether the estate, a surviving spouse, one heir or all heirs must pay it. A later sale can make the situation more confusing: the notary may have completed the transfer, while the French tax register still shows the former owner. These are not merely administrative details. A notice issued in the wrong name, a missed correction of the cadastral record or an unpaid bill can affect the estate\u2019s cash, the timing of a sale and the ability to recover an overpayment.<\/p>\n

The key rule is the date of 1 January. French local property taxes are established for the whole year according to the facts existing on that date. The death date, the opening of the succession, the legal ownership shown by the estate documents and any usufruct or bare-ownership arrangement must therefore be placed on a precise timeline. This guide explains who is normally liable, why heirs can remain exposed while the cadastral mutation is pending, how a UK executor or heir can regularise the notice, and how to challenge an amount or seek repayment. It concerns the French person-level and estate consequences of owning property. It does not cover the purchase process or company formation, and it does not turn a French local-tax correction into a UK income-tax claim.<\/p>\n

I. Who is liable for French taxe fonci\u00e8re when a UK property owner dies?<\/h2>\n

A. What does the 1 January rule mean for the deceased owner and the heirs?<\/h3>\n

The general starting point is Article 1380 of the French General Tax Code<\/a>, which states: \u201cLa taxe fonci\u00e8re est \u00e9tablie annuellement sur les propri\u00e9t\u00e9s b\u00e2ties sises en France\u201d. The tax is therefore attached to qualifying built property located in France. The owner\u2019s British nationality, UK domicile or lack of French tax residence does not remove the charge. The relevant question after a death is who held the legal position connected with the property for the tax year, and how the tax office should record that person or those persons.<\/p>\n

Article 1400 of the General Tax Code<\/a> gives the basic attribution rule: \u201ctoute propri\u00e9t\u00e9, b\u00e2tie ou non b\u00e2tie, doit \u00eatre impos\u00e9e au nom du propri\u00e9taire actuel\u201d. Its second paragraph creates a specific rule where an immovable is subject to usufruct: the taxe fonci\u00e8re is established in the name of the usufructuary. A usufruit<\/em> is a right to use and enjoy property belonging to another person; the nu-propri\u00e9taire<\/em> is the bare owner whose title is separated from that enjoyment. This distinction is often decisive in a family estate.<\/p>\n

The annual timing is stated in Article 1415<\/a>: \u201cLa taxe fonci\u00e8re sur les propri\u00e9t\u00e9s b\u00e2ties, la taxe fonci\u00e8re sur les propri\u00e9t\u00e9s non b\u00e2ties et la taxe d’habitation sur les r\u00e9sidences secondaires sont \u00e9tablies pour l’ann\u00e9e enti\u00e8re d’apr\u00e8s les faits existants au 1er janvier de l’ann\u00e9e de l’imposition.\u201d In practical terms, the tax is not divided automatically day by day between the deceased owner and the heirs. If the owner was alive and legally held the relevant interest on 1 January, the estate must usually deal with that year\u2019s notice. If the death occurred before 1 January, the heirs or the person legally entitled to the property on that date may be the relevant taxpayers, subject to the exact succession and title position.<\/p>\n

Consider three timelines. If the owner dies on 20 December 2025, the 2025 tax year was already fixed on 1 January 2025. The estate should arrange payment or a valid challenge for 2025, even if the notice arrives after the death. If the owner dies on 20 December 2025 and the heirs own the property on 1 January 2026, the 2026 liability must be analysed using the succession documents and the cadastral position at that date. If the owner dies on 2 January 2026, the deceased owner\u2019s position on 1 January generally controls the 2026 assessment, while the estate and heirs handle the practical payment. This does not decide every private reimbursement between beneficiaries; it identifies the tax-year question that the French authority will ask first.<\/p>\n

The succession itself opens at death. Article 720 of the French Civil Code<\/a> states: \u201cLes successions s’ouvrent par la mort, au dernier domicile du d\u00e9funt.\u201d The place of the deceased\u2019s last domicile is a succession-law concept; it does not move the French property out of the French tax system. A UK-domiciled or UK-resident deceased owner can therefore leave a French property that continues to produce French local-tax obligations while the cross-border estate is being administered.<\/p>\n

The legal heirs\u2019 position is described by Article 724 of the Civil Code<\/a>: \u201cLes h\u00e9ritiers d\u00e9sign\u00e9s par la loi sont saisis de plein droit des biens, droits et actions du d\u00e9funt.\u201d In English, heirs designated by law acquire the deceased\u2019s property rights and actions by operation of law, although the practical proof of that status may still require a notarial deed, a will, a certificate of inheritance or other documents. A UK grant of probate may be relevant evidence, but the French tax office may need a French notary\u2019s acte de notori\u00e9t\u00e9<\/em> or published property instrument before it changes its records.<\/p>\n

Death does not make the notice disappear. Article 1403 of the General Tax Code<\/a> states: \u201cTant que la mutation cadastrale n’a pas \u00e9t\u00e9 faite, l’ancien propri\u00e9taire continue \u00e0 \u00eatre impos\u00e9 au r\u00f4le, et lui ou ses h\u00e9ritiers naturels peuvent \u00eatre contraints au paiement de la taxe fonci\u00e8re, sauf leur recours contre le nouveau propri\u00e9taire.\u201d A mutation cadastrale<\/em> is the administrative update of the cadastral record after a change in ownership. The notice may therefore remain in the deceased person\u2019s name while the succession is being documented. The family should not read the name on the notice as proof that the estate has no liability or that no correction is possible.<\/p>\n

The leading published authority for this precise problem is Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat, 9th chamber, 20 October 2016, no. 388940<\/a>. The court explained that, where the owner has died and the cadastral mutation has not yet been completed, \u201cles h\u00e9ritiers du propri\u00e9taire sont chacun tenus \u00e0 hauteur de leur part dans l’indivision au paiement de la taxe fonci\u00e8re\u201d. It added that the obligation of an undivided co-owner cannot exceed that person\u2019s rights in the indivision because solidarity does not attach automatically to the status of co-owner. This is a crucial protection for a UK heir who receives a demand for the whole amount merely because the family has not yet completed the French paperwork.<\/p>\n

That decision does not mean that the tax office will always send separate bills to each heir. It explains the legal limit of liability among heirs in the indivision<\/em>, the state in which several people hold rights in the same property before it is divided or transferred. The notice, recovery procedure and internal contribution between heirs can be different questions. If one heir pays the whole bill to protect the property, that heir should record the payment and reserve a contribution claim against the others according to their shares, unless the succession agreement provides a different allocation.<\/p>\n

A private clause in a will, a family agreement or a sale memorandum can allocate the cost between beneficiaries. It does not necessarily change the public-law debtor recorded under the General Tax Code. The same caution applies to a clause in a French sale deed saying that buyer and seller will prorate the annual tax. Such a clause can create a contractual adjustment between the parties, but it does not by itself rewrite the 1 January rule or the tax register. Ask the notary to state the private calculation separately from the tax authority\u2019s legal assessment.<\/p>\n

B. How do indivision, usufruct and the estate\u2019s practical administration change the answer?<\/h3>\n

Many British families own a French property through a succession arrangement in which a spouse has a life interest and children hold bare ownership. The French legal vocabulary matters. Article 578 of the Civil Code<\/a> defines usufruct as \u201cle droit de jouir des choses dont un autre a la propri\u00e9t\u00e9, comme le propri\u00e9taire lui-m\u00eame, mais \u00e0 la charge d’en conserver la substance\u201d. Article 1400\u2019s special tax rule generally places the taxe fonci\u00e8re in the name of the usufructuary, not the bare owners, for an immovable subject to usufruct. The will, gift, surviving-spouse election and property deed should therefore be read together.<\/p>\n

In Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat, 4 January 1978, no. 08507<\/a>, the court considered a person who was only a bare owner and noted the rule that, where an immovable is subject to usufruct, the taxe fonci\u00e8re is established in the usufructuary\u2019s name. A family agreement that the children will reimburse the surviving spouse may be sensible, but it does not make the bare owners the legal debtors simply because they contribute to the household expenses. Conversely, a person described as \u201cusufructuary\u201d in a family conversation may not have that status unless the deed or succession instrument actually created it.<\/p>\n

Where there is no usufruct, several heirs usually hold the property in indivision. Article 815 of the Civil Code<\/a> states: \u201cNul ne peut \u00eatre contraint \u00e0 demeurer dans l’indivision et le partage peut toujours \u00eatre provoqu\u00e9\u201d. That provision concerns the right to seek division; it does not by itself divide an annual tax notice. Until a partition or transfer takes effect, identify each heir\u2019s share and make sure the tax office has a contact who can respond for the estate. If one heir refuses to provide documents, that is an estate-management problem in addition to the tax problem.<\/p>\n

A UK executor or administrator must distinguish authority over the estate from ownership of the French property. An executor may be authorised to collect information, pay expenses or instruct a professional, but the French tax office can still ask who inherited the property and whether a French notary has published the transfer. A power of attorney should state the property address, cadastral references, tax years and permission to receive tax correspondence. If there are several heirs, obtain a mandate broad enough to support a full correction and refund request, or have each heir sign the relevant claim.<\/p>\n

The estate should also establish whether the deceased owned the property personally, jointly with a spouse, through a French SCI<\/em> or another structure. An SCI is a French property-holding civil company; company ownership is a different legal route from personal ownership and may require a separate review. This article concerns the person-level estate route. If the French tax notice names an SCI, do not assume that the succession rule for a personally owned property applies to the company or its shares. The company\u2019s records, tax number and representative may need to be corrected instead.<\/p>\n

Once the legal owner or usufructuary is identified, the amount of the tax remains a separate issue. Article 1388 of the General Tax Code<\/a> states that the taxe fonci\u00e8re on built properties is established from the valeur locative cadastrale<\/em>, the administrative cadastral rental value, with a statutory 50 per cent deduction. The fact that an heir inherited a property at a low probate value does not automatically change the tax base. If the recorded category, surface, dependencies or condition are wrong, make that a separate, evidenced challenge rather than saying only that the inheritance value was low.<\/p>\n

The published case law confirms that the cadastral method is not simply current market value. In Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat, 24 July 2023, no. 466413<\/a>, the court addressed the comparison of a residential property with \u201cdes locaux de r\u00e9f\u00e9rence\u201d and examined the relevant classification and coefficients. An estate that has inherited a dilapidated house may have a strong factual case, but it must show how the condition or composition fits the legal assessment method. A current estate-agent estimate alone is not a substitute for the cadastral evidence.<\/p>\n

Keep the questions separate in the family file. \u201cWho must pay the 2026 notice?\u201d concerns the debtor and 1 January position. \u201cWas the tax base calculated from the right property description?\u201d concerns the assessment. \u201cWho bears the cost under the will?\u201d concerns internal estate accounting. \u201cCan the estate recover money already paid?\u201d concerns a claim, deadline and proof of payment. Combining these into a single email often produces a response to only one of them.<\/p>\n

II. How can UK heirs correct a French taxe fonci\u00e8re notice and recover an overpayment?<\/h2>\n

A. Which documents, cadastral steps and deadline protect the estate?<\/h3>\n

Start with a year-by-year timeline. Record the date of death, the date on which the succession documents were signed, the date on which the French property instrument was published, the date of any sale or partition, and the date on which the cadastral mutation was requested. Add 1 January for each tax year. Then record the name on the notice, the person who paid it and the estate\u2019s legal position on that 1 January. This simple table often reveals that a family is asking for a refund from the wrong year or treating a post-1 January sale as if it changed the tax liability retrospectively.<\/p>\n

Gather the documents in two groups. The first proves status: death certificate, will, UK probate or letters of administration where relevant, French acte de notori\u00e9t\u00e9<\/em>, certificate identifying the heirs, surviving-spouse election, property deed, usufruct or bare-ownership deed, partition, sale deed and any French notarial certificate recording the transfer. The second proves the tax: every taxe fonci\u00e8re notice, payment confirmation, bank statement, tax-account message, property reference, cadastral parcel and correspondence with the service des imp\u00f4ts fonciers<\/em>, the French property-tax office.<\/p>\n

Do not send the death certificate alone and expect the tax register to update. Article 1402 of the General Tax Code<\/a> makes cadastral mutations following changes in ownership dependent on the interested owners\u2019 diligence and on the prior publication of the deed or judicial decision in the land-registration file. The notary normally handles the publication associated with a French succession or sale, but the executor should ask for confirmation of what was filed, when it was filed and which cadastral references were used. A mismatch between the deed and the notice can then be identified precisely.<\/p>\n

Send an administrative correction to the tax office named on the notice and, where a formal refund is sought, make it a r\u00e9clamation contentieuse<\/em>, meaning a formal tax complaint. Article 1507 of the General Tax Code<\/a> provides that taxpayers may challenge the evaluation attributed to built properties. The letter should say whether the claim concerns the identity of the debtor, the ownership date, the usufruct, the cadastral mutation, the amount, or more than one of these. Do not ask the office to \u201ccancel the deceased person\u201d without stating who should be recorded and attaching the document proving that position.<\/p>\n

For a notice still issued to the deceased, request the correction and explain the estate\u2019s legal chain. Name the deceased taxpayer, the date of death, each heir or usufructuary, each relevant tax year and the current correspondence address. Ask the authority to confirm whether a mutation has been recorded. If there are several heirs, state whether the claim is made for the whole estate under written authority or only for the claimant\u2019s own share. This prevents one heir from accidentally presenting a full refund request without authority to bind the other beneficiaries.<\/p>\n

The deadline is not suspended simply because the family was dealing with a death or waiting for a UK probate document. Under the current Article R*196-2 of the Book of Tax Procedures<\/a>, local direct-tax claims must generally be filed by 31 December of the year following the relevant roll, notice or event identified by the provision. The text uses the formulation \u201cau plus tard le 31 d\u00e9cembre de l’ann\u00e9e suivant celle\u201d and includes different starting points. A 2025 notice will commonly require action by 31 December 2026, but verify the actual notice, event and any special rule before relying on that example.<\/p>\n

Death can create a practical delay in discovering the notice, especially where the deceased used a French address, a property manager or a direct debit. That delay is not an invitation to wait. Ask the notary, bank and property manager for every notice and payment confirmation as soon as the estate opens. If the notice was not received because correspondence was sent to an obsolete address, explain that fact but do not confuse an address correction with the legal deadline. A separate article on the address problem may be useful; the published French tax relief for an uninhabitable rental property<\/a> is also a different route and should not be treated as the solution to a succession notice.<\/p>\n

For the refund calculation, make a schedule with one line per year: tax year, notice name, amount assessed, date and method of payment, alleged legal error, corrected taxpayer or base, amount claimed and supporting document. If an heir paid from a UK account, show the sterling payment and the euro amount recorded by the French tax service, but do not turn exchange-rate movement into a cadastral argument. If the estate paid from a French account, identify that account and preserve the bank mandate. The tax authority needs to know that the claimed amount was actually paid and to whom any refund should be made.<\/p>\n

If the estate also believes the cadastral value is wrong, use a second part of the complaint or a separate complaint for the same notice. Explain the exact physical or legal error: a room included twice, a dependency treated as living space, a property still classified under the deceased\u2019s former use, or an assessment attributed to the wrong legal interest. Article 1380<\/a>, Article 1494<\/a> and Article 1495<\/a> provide the legal framework for the property and its valuation. Use a plan, photographs, the deed and a reasoned calculation; the inheritance valuation alone is not enough.<\/p>\n

B. What should the heirs do about payment, refund and a refused claim?<\/h3>\n

Filing a complaint does not automatically stop collection. The estate should decide quickly whether to pay the undisputed amount, pay the full notice while reserving its refund claim, or make a formal request to defer the disputed part. Article L277 of the Book of Tax Procedures<\/a> allows a taxpayer who contests the basis or amount to request \u201c\u00e0 diff\u00e9rer le paiement de la partie contest\u00e9e\u201d in the complaint, provided the contested amount or bases of the requested relief are specified. The request is not implied by the words \u201cI dispute this bill\u201d. State the amount, the calculation and the payment protection sought.<\/p>\n

The estate should not stop a direct debit or leave a notice unpaid merely because the deceased\u2019s name is wrong. A payment default can trigger recovery measures, while a successful claim may later produce repayment. If the tax office confirms that the notice names the wrong legal debtor, ask how it will correct the role and whether the original payment can be allocated or repaid. If a private estate account is frozen, obtain advice on the authority of the executor and the priority of tax expenses rather than assuming that the death cancels the payment mandate.<\/p>\n

Request a written response that deals with every year. A telephone conversation may be useful for finding the correct service, but it does not protect a limitation period or prove that a formal complaint was filed. Use the secure messaging service of the French tax account where available, the channel shown on the notice, or a representative with a French address. Keep the submission receipt, all attachments, the office\u2019s acknowledgement and the date on which a decision was received. A UK heir should arrange a reliable system for forwarding French electronic and paper correspondence during the estate.<\/p>\n

If the administration rejects the claim, read the reason carefully. It may accept that the deceased was named on the role but say that the heirs remain liable under Article 1403. It may accept the ownership correction for future years but reject a refund because the earlier claim was late. It may say that an heir lacks authority to claim for the whole indivision, or it may deny the alleged correction to the property\u2019s assessment. Each response requires a different answer. Do not repeat a general request for \u201cfair treatment\u201d when the decision turns on a missing published deed or an incomplete mandate.<\/p>\n

A challenge to a local direct tax can proceed to the tribunal administratif<\/em>, the administrative court, after the required administrative stage. Article L199 of the Book of Tax Procedures<\/a> provides the route for direct-tax decisions that do not fully satisfy the taxpayer. The claim should identify the estate, the person authorised to act, the notice, the tax year, the decision challenged, the legal error and the requested refund or correction. Attach the succession documents and proof of authority at the outset; a cross-border claimant should not leave the court guessing whether the claimant is an heir, executor, usufructuary or bare owner.<\/p>\n

The time limit after an administrative decision is also important. Article R*199-1 of the Book of Tax Procedures<\/a> refers to bringing the action \u201cdans le d\u00e9lai de deux mois\u201d from receipt of the administrative decision and addresses the position where no decision is made within six months. Check the notification method and current procedural rules for the specific case. A family should not assume that a notary\u2019s continuing correspondence with the tax office extends the court period for an heir who has received a formal rejection.<\/p>\n

The strongest court file separates standing, liability and quantum. Standing asks whether the claimant is entitled to act for the estate or for a share. Liability asks who was legally responsible for the tax year under Article 1400, Article 1403 and the 1 January rule. Quantum asks how much was assessed, paid and recoverable. If the estate also challenges the taxable base, add the comparison, surface, category or dependency evidence under the valuation provisions. This structure mirrors the reasoning in decision no. 388940<\/a>: heirs may be liable in proportion to their undivided rights, but the tax office cannot turn that into automatic solidarity for the entire amount.<\/p>\n

Published valuation decisions help where the notice contains both a debtor error and a disputed amount. In Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat, 13 June 2007, no. 288640<\/a>, the court examined the property\u2019s surface, composition, use, location and condition and rejected an insufficiently supported challenge. In Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat, 19 November 2008, no. 305305<\/a>, the court addressed the consequence of an irregular evaluation method and the need for a lawful method to be substituted. For an estate, the practical lesson is to give the court a corrected schedule rather than asking only for the notice to be erased.<\/p>\n

Do not overstate what a recent death proves about the property\u2019s value. The death may explain why a notice was missed or why the account was not updated, but it does not automatically show that the property was misclassified. If the property was empty, damaged or impossible to rent, a potential vacancy relief claim must be tested under its own conditions. The Article 1389 provisions<\/a> concern relief for certain vacancy or non-operation situations; they are not a general reduction for an inherited second home. Keep that claim distinct from the identity and 1 January issues.<\/p>\n

There may also be an internal accounting question after repayment. If one heir paid the full tax but the refund is sent to a joint estate account, the money should be recorded as an estate asset and the payer\u2019s contribution recognised. If the refund is paid to the person named on the original notice, obtain written confirmation of the authority to receive it for the estate. A French tax decision does not by itself settle the beneficiaries\u2019 final accounts, the notary\u2019s distribution or any UK reporting question.<\/p>\n

Finally, keep French and UK advice in their proper fields. The UK government\u2019s Living in France guidance<\/a> can help a British family organise residence, healthcare and cross-border administration after a death, but it does not change the French taxpayer, cadastral or court rules. A French tax refund is not automatically a UK income-tax credit. If the property was let, held through a structure, included in a trust or relevant to a UK return, ask a cross-border tax adviser to analyse that consequence separately after the French liability has been corrected.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

When a UK property owner dies, French taxe fonci\u00e8re is governed first by the property\u2019s legal status and the facts existing on 1 January of each tax year. A notice can remain in the deceased\u2019s name while the cadastral mutation is pending, and Article 1403 expressly allows the deceased owner or heirs to be required to pay during that period. The Conseil d\u2019\u00c9tat\u2019s decision no. 388940 confirms that heirs in indivision are normally liable according to their shares, not automatically for the entire bill. Where there is usufruct, Article 1400 and the title documents may place the tax in the usufructuary\u2019s name instead.<\/p>\n

The practical response is a documented timeline, a formal correction or refund claim, proof of heirship and authority, and a year-by-year payment schedule. File before the current deadline, request a sursis de paiement<\/em> expressly if necessary, and preserve the date of every administrative decision. If the claim is refused, separate standing, legal liability and amount before the tribunal administratif. This gives the estate a realistic route to correct future notices and recover sums paid in error without confusing a succession dispute, a cadastral valuation challenge and an internal family accounting arrangement.<\/p>\n

Need a quick opinion on your case<\/strong><\/p>\n

A telephone consultation can be arranged within 48 hours with a lawyer from the firm.<\/p>\n

Call +33 6 46 60 58 22<\/a> to discuss the deceased owner\u2019s notice, the estate documents and the next procedural step.<\/p>\n

Contact the firm through the French contact page<\/a> and provide the relevant tax years, death date and property documents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A practical guide for UK heirs facing a French taxe fonci\u00e8re notice after a property owner dies: 1 January liability, estate documents, payment protection and refund claims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251031309,"featured_media":4193,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kj_source_type":"","_kj_official_id":"","_kj_official_url":"","_kj_judilibre_id":"","_kj_jur":"","_kj_lieu":"","_kj_chambre":"","_kj_rg":"","_kj_date":"","activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":""},"categories":[80312,80314],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2113931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-british-desk","category-decryptage"],"yoast_head":"\nWho Pays French Taxe Fonci\u00e8re After a UK Property Owner Dies? Heirs, Estate and the 1 January Rule - Ma\u00eetre Reda Kohen, Real Estate and Business Law Attorney in Paris<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/08\/30\/who-pays-french-taxe-fonciere-after-uk-owner-dies-heirs-1-january\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who Pays French Taxe Fonci\u00e8re After a UK Property Owner Dies? 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