Tax policy directorate – Bureau a

 
CHAPTER 1: 
PROPERTY TAX ON DEVELOPED LAND 
Property tax on developed land (taxe foncière sur les propriétés bâties, TFPB) is levied annually on 
developed land situated in France except where there is entitlement to permanent exemption (public 
property, farm buildings, etc.) or temporary exemption (new or innovative enterprises, incentives for 
development as part of urban or spatial planning policy). The tax accrues to départements, communes 
and their public establishments for intercommunal cooperation. 
Taxable property includes permanent constructions perpetually attached to the ground such as 
premises intended to accommodate people (residential properties) or business assets (workshops, 
sheds), certain civil engineering structures and transport routes, land immediately necessary for such 
constructions, etc. 
The tax base is the cadastral income, equal to 50% of the notional rental value regularly updated by the 
authorities. 
The amount of tax is calculated by multiplying the tax base by the rates voted by each beneficiary local 
authority for the year in question. 
The tax is payable by the owner of the property at 1 January of the year of taxation. 
Exemption or automatic relief is granted to elderly or disabled people of modest means, under certain 
conditions of resources and cohabitation.
A cap of 50% of income for the property tax on developed land contribution relating to main homes is 
planned to help less well-off households owning their own home.
Property tax on developed land yielded €37.29 billion in 2015.

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CHAPTER 2: 
PROPERTY TAX ON UNDEVELOPED LAND
Property tax on undeveloped land (taxe foncière sur les propriétés non bâties, TFPNB) is levied 
annually on owners of any undeveloped land of any nature situated in France except where there is 
entitlement to permanent exemption (public property) or temporary exemption (incentives for organic 
farming, reforestation and the conservation of environmental interest zones). 
The tax accrues to communes and their public establishments for intercommunal cooperation.
As with the property tax on developed land, the tax is payable by the owner of the land at
1 January of the year of taxation. 
The basis for assessing the property tax on undeveloped land is 80% of the notional rental value of the 
property resulting from valuations regularly updated by the authorities. 
To encourage owners to put their land up for sale in order to increase the volume of buildable lots, an 
increase in the notional rental value (valeur locative cadastrale) of buildable lots is applied in zones 
where real estate pressures are the strongest. Agricultural lands, including those left fallow, are exempt 
from any increase. 
The amount of tax is calculated by multiplying the cadastral income of each property by the rates voted 
by each beneficiary local authority for the year in question. 
Property tax on undeveloped land yielded €1.35 billion in 2015.

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