Key takeaways
- For an empty second home, French law looks at the furniture: the housing tax on second homes (taxe d’habitation sur les résidences secondaires, THRS) is due on “all premises furnished in keeping with their use as a dwelling other than as a main residence” (Article 1407 of the French General Tax Code (code général des impôts)). Service-Public refers to a furnished home “that you can occupy at any time”.
- The THRS is owed by whoever has “the use or enjoyment of the taxable premises” (Article 1408), and the situation on 1 January counts for the whole year (Article 1415).
- The law exempts from the THRS the former main residence of a person housed long term in a care facility (Article 1414 B) and grants relief for the year of certain returns from abroad (Article 1414 A).
- The town council of some municipalities can increase the municipal share of the tax by 5% to 60%; three situations give the right, on a formal claim, to relief from that surcharge (Article 1407 ter).
All quotations from French law and official French sites in this article are our translations; the links go to the French originals.
You inherited your parents’ flat, two hours’ drive from where you live. The furniture is still there, the shutters stay closed, and you have slept there on two weekends this year. Then the housing tax notice arrives, in your name. Your first thought: why pay housing tax on a home nobody lives in?
Yet Article 1407 of the French General Tax Code targets furnished premises. The question is whether any relief applies: the exemption and the relief that cover a former main residence concern only the taxpayer’s own, and the local surcharge has its own reliefs.
Housing tax on an empty second home: the furnished test
Article 1407 of the French General Tax Code sets the scope of the tax: “The housing tax on second homes is due on all premises furnished in keeping with their use as a dwelling other than as a main residence”.
The Service-Public page on the housing tax on second homes puts it this way: you must pay it if you have permanent use or enjoyment “of a furnished home that is not your main residence but that you can occupy at any time, for your own private use”. It adds that “the home must have enough furniture to make it habitable”. The test is being able to live there, not actually living there.
The tax is charged “in the name of the persons who have, in any capacity whatsoever, the use or enjoyment of the taxable premises” (Article 1408), and set “for the whole year based on the facts as they stand on 1 January of the tax year” (Article 1415). A home that is furnished on that date is taxed for the whole year, even if the furniture leaves in March.
The question changes if the home is emptied of its furniture. According to Service-Public, an unfurnished and unoccupied home may fall under the vacant housing tax (taxe sur les logements vacants, TLV) if it has been vacant for at least one year in a municipality where that tax applies, or under the housing tax on vacant homes (taxe d’habitation sur les logements vacants, THLV) if the municipality has introduced it and the home has been vacant for more than two years. According to Service-Public, the 2026 finance law provided for merging the TLV and the THLV into a single tax, the tax on vacant residential premises (taxe sur la vacance des locaux d’habitation, TVLH), issued from the 2027 tax assessments. The conditions, exemptions and rates of the TLV are covered in our article on the vacant housing tax.
Housing tax exemption on a second home: the former main residence
The former main residence of a person living in a care facility. Article 1414 B exempts from the THRS the persons “who keep the enjoyment of the dwelling that was their main residence before being housed long term” in certain facilities or services that the text lists, including facilities providing long-term care. According to the Service-Public page, this covers, for example, moving into a nursing home (Ehpad) or a retirement home. The exemption applies “from the year following that in which they were housed”. It covers only that former home: other second homes remain subject to the tax, the same page states.
A return from abroad after a call to leave the area or a collective return. Article 1414 A grants relief (dégrèvement), on a formal claim, to people domiciled outside France, for “the home that was their main residence on the date their tax domicile was transferred outside France”. It applies “for the year of their return to France”, and only if that return follows “a call to leave the area where their residence was located or a collective return operation” decided by the Minister for Foreign Affairs or the head of the diplomatic mission.
The Service-Public page mentions no exemption based on income, age or the home being put up for sale. A home put up for rent or for sale at the market price that finds no tenant or buyer appears on the TLV and THLV page, as an example of vacancy beyond the owner’s control, which exempts from those two taxes; both apply to unfurnished homes.
The surcharge in high-demand areas, and relief from it
Article 1407 ter allows the town council, by a formal decision, to “increase by a percentage between 5% and 60% the share it receives of the housing tax on second homes due on furnished homes”. According to Service-Public, these are municipalities “located in a high-demand area” (zone tendue), and the surcharge applies “after a decision of the town council”.
The same article grants, on a formal claim filed within the time limit and in the form set by the French tax procedure code (livre des procédures fiscales), relief from the surcharge, not from the tax itself, in three situations:
- the home near the workplace of people compelled to live somewhere other than their main home, a case covered in our article on housing tax and a second home kept for work;
- the former main residence of people who benefit from the Article 1414 B exemption;
- “persons other than those mentioned in 1° and 2° who, for a reason beyond their control, cannot use the home as a main residence”.
The occupancy declaration, before 1 July
According to the Service-Public page, the owner of residential premises must file an occupancy declaration with the tax services before 1 July if the home has never been declared or if its situation has changed since the previous declaration. If you keep the enjoyment of the home, you state the nature of your occupancy: “Main residence”, “Second home” or “Vacant home”.
If no declaration is filed or it is inaccurate, the page warns that you risk a fine of €150 per property concerned. Article 1770 terdecies sets that fine at “€150 per property for which the required information has not been sent”, the same fine being due “in the event of omission or inaccuracy”.
Renting out the nights the home stands empty, on fixed days
If the flat stays shut most of the week, you can rent out the nights you are not there. Kowo offers renting on fixed days each week, under a fixed-days lease (bail à jours définis): the days are set for the whole term of the lease, 3 months minimum, and each occupant has their own contract, with exclusive enjoyment on their days.
On the example rate outside Paris, one occupant taking two fixed nights a week at €55 a night comes to €476 of gross rent a month, or €5,712 a year. If you are weighing this against long-term letting, a furnished tourist rental, the mobility lease or a flatshare, our comparison of the ways to rent out a second home sets them side by side.
The housing tax on second homes for a Kowo property is paid by the owner. The contract itself is described in our article on the fixed-days lease.
Points to check
- The furniture in place on 1 January. A home furnished on that date stays taxed for the year, even if emptied later.
- The town council’s decision. The surcharge exists only if the council of the municipality where the home is located has voted it.
- The former main residence. Articles 1414 B and 1414 A cover only your own former main residence, and only in the situations they describe.
- The formal claim. The Article 1414 A relief and relief from the surcharge are granted only on a formal claim, within the time limit of the French tax procedure code.
- The occupancy declaration. Before 1 July, if the home has never been declared or if its situation has changed.
Frequently asked questions about housing tax on an empty second home
My second home stays shut all year: is housing tax due?
Under Article 1407 of the French General Tax Code, the housing tax on second homes is due on all premises furnished in keeping with their use as a dwelling other than as a main residence. Service-Public refers to a furnished home that you can occupy at any time, with enough furniture to make it habitable. The situation that counts is the one on 1 January, under Article 1415.
Can a second home that stays empty be exempt from housing tax?
The Service-Public page mentions no exemption based on income, age or the home being put up for sale. Article 1414 B of the French General Tax Code exempts the former main residence of a person who lives long-term in a care establishment, from the year after, and Article 1414 A grants relief, on a formal claim, on the former main residence for the year of a return from abroad following a call to leave the area or a collective return. For the local surcharge, Article 1407 ter grants relief, on a formal claim, if a reason beyond your control prevents you from making the home your main residence.
What if I take the furniture out of the home?
According to Service-Public, an unfurnished and unoccupied home may fall under the vacant housing tax if it has been vacant for at least one year in a municipality where that tax applies, or under the housing tax on vacant homes if the municipality has introduced it and the home has been vacant for more than two years. The 2026 finance law provided for merging them into a single tax, issued from the 2027 tax assessments.
By what date must a home be declared as a second home?
Before 1 July, according to Service-Public, if the home has never been declared or if its situation has changed since the previous declaration. If no declaration is filed or it is inaccurate, the fine is €150 per property, under Article 1770 terdecies of the French General Tax Code.
How to fill the empty nights of a property is set out in second home income without Airbnb, and the owners section gathers the other questions about managing a property.