Permanent exemptions from property tax

The following properties are exempt from the Property Tax on Non-Built Properties (TFPNB) permanently :

• Agricultural land classified in one of the categories ‘land, meadows, pastures, orchards, vineyards, woods and heathland, lakes, ponds and gardens’. The exemption shall be 30% the tax in metropolitan France, 80% in the DOM and 100% in Corsica.
• Land belonging to certain associations (e.g. associations of the war-disabled or of labor, trade union associations of owners, family garden organizations)
• Soils and land subject to property tax on built properties (TFPB)

The municipality may permanently exempt land planted with olive trees, agricultural or not. To benefit from this full exemption, the owner must subscribe, before 1^er January of the first year in respect of which the exemption is applicable, Declaration No 6707-SD the tax department, together with the necessary supporting documents (list of parcels concerned, invoices mentioning the purchase of olive trees, etc.).

Temporary exemptions from property tax

Some of the temporary exemptions apply as of right (in any case) while others are granted only on deliberation of the commune.

Temporary exemptions as of right

The land sown, planted or replanted with wood shall be temporarily exempted as follows:

• 10 years for the poplar groves
• 30 years for conifers
• 50 years for hardwoods and woods other than softwood
• 50 years for hardwoods and other woods, wooded land in the wild of forest or coppice under forest, other than poplar forest, which has undergone natural regeneration. To benefit from the exemption, the owner must send to the tax office, before 1^er January of the first year in respect of which the application of the exemption is sought, Declaration No 6707-SD indicating the list of parcels concerned. This declaration must be accompanied by a certificate attesting to the success of the natural regeneration operation.
• 15 years renewable (up to 25% of the tax) for wooded land with an irregular state of forest in a regenerative equilibrium. To benefit from the exemption, the owner must send before 1^er January of the first year in respect of which application or renewal of the exemption is sought, Declaration No 6707-SD the tax office indicating the list of parcels concerned. This declaration must be accompanied by a certificate of less than 1 year, attesting to the steady state of regeneration of the irregular forest.

This exemption is reserved for plantings carried out especially for the production of wood.

In addition, other temporary exemptions apply ipso jure to the following properties:

• Newly planted land in truffle trees (fully exempt for 50 years from sowing, planting or replanting)
• Land located in a site Natura 2000 (fully exempt for 5 years renewable). The land must appear on a list drawn up by the president of the regional council and the owner must sign a management commitment (Natura 2000 contract or charter) for 5 years.
• Land located in wetland (exempt for 5 years renewable, up to 50% of the tax or 100% in some natural areas). The land must be on a list established by the mayor and the owner must subscribe to a management commitment for 5 years, including the preservation of theavifauna and the non-reversal of the plots.

Temporary exemptions on the decision of the municipality

Finally, some properties can be temporarily exempted, only after deliberation by the municipality :

• Newly planted land in walnut (fully exempt up to 8 years)
• Organic farmland (fully exempt for 5 years). To benefit from the exemption, the owner must send to the tax office, before 1^er in January of each year, the list of parcels concerned together with the annual supporting document issued by the approved certifying body.
• Orchards, vineyards, fruit crops of trees and shrubs (fully exempt up to 8 years)
• Wood and forests located in French Guiana (fully exempt up to 8 years).

The duration of the exemption is fixed by the municipality at the time of deliberation.

Reporting obligation

The owner must make a declaration in case of change in consistency or assignment land, that is to say, in one of the following :

• When, as a result of works or natural phenomena, the land undergoes an increase in area (e.g. landings in watercourses and embankment) or a loss of area (e.g. erosion, avulsion, flooding)
• When the land becomes subject to property tax on unbuilt properties (TFPNB)whereas it was previously permanently exempted (e.g. disused military land transferred to private individuals, decommissioned public road)
• When the land becomes subject to property tax on unbuilt properties (TFPNB), because it has ceased to be subject to property tax on built properties (e.g. old building land recultivated, land ceasing to be used for commercial or industrial purposes)
• When a parcel of land moves from one crop type group to another crop type group (e.g. planting an orchard on land previously planted with wood). The same applies to the transition from one sub-group to another sub-group (e.g. sowing of a single coppice resulting in the reclassification of the parcel from ‘single coppice’ to ‘coniferous forest’). All changes in the nature of the crop are to be reported, regardless of their duration.

The declaration must be made, by means of form 6704, in a 90 days after the works are over. This statement should be addressed to the property tax service the location of the unbuilt property.

Penalties for non-declaration

The owner or usufructuary who makes a declaration of change of use inaccurate or out of time is exposed to 2 types of sanctions cumulative:

• Tax Fines : failure to produce a document within the prescribed time limits, which must be submitted to the tax authorities, results in the application of a fine of €150. In addition, each inaccuracy or omission is also punishable by a fine of €15.
• Loss of entitlement to temporary exemptions : in the event of late declaration, the temporary tax exemption for land (e.g. land planted with wood, walnut trees, truffle trees) applies only for the period remaining after 31 December of the following year.

Calculation of the taxable amount

The property tax on unbuilt properties (TFPNB) is established according to the cadastral rental value of these properties. This rental value corresponds to the net income that the owner derives from his agricultural land as part of a rural lease or to the one he could derive from them in the event of a lease if he exploits them himself.

This rental value is reduced by one abatement from 20% intended to compensate for the owner's costs and expenses. In other words, the taxable amount of the property tax is equal to 80% of the cadastral rental value taxable property.

Then, the property tax is calculated by applying to the cadastral income (i.e. to the tax base) a tax rate voted by local authorities.

Applicable rebates

The owner can benefit from a relief, that is to say, a total or partial reduction in the amount of the property tax. Discounts are applicable in the following cases :

• Disappearance of unbuilt property as a result of an extraordinary event (e.g. flood due to bad weather, avalanche, invasion by sea or by the waters of a lake retained by a dam). The tax credit may be claimed from the tax authorities until 31 December of the year following the year of disappearance.
• Loss of standing crops as a result of hail, frost, flood, fire or other extraordinary events. This relief is proportional to the size of the losses incurred. It must be requested from the tax authorities within 15 days of the date of the loss. It shall be granted for the year of the loss and, where applicable, for subsequent years if it has effects over several years.
• Agricultural land within the perimeter of a pastoral land association to which the owner has subscribed. The land must be classified as "meadows, natural meadows, grasslands, pastures or heathlands". The revenue of the association from activities other than agriculture or forestry must not exceed or 50% turnover from agricultural and forestry activities, or €100,000 (refunds of fees included and taxes included). The association must sign, each year, a declaration on behalf of the owner indicating the list of parcels concerned in 1^er January of the taxation year. This declaration constitutes a claim for relief by the owner.
• Farmland personally farmed by a young farmer with a first-time installation assistance (capital endowment or subsidized medium-term loan). The young farmer has to take out a Declaration No 6711-SD, indicating the parcels which it exploits on 1^er January of the taxation year. This relief is fixed at 50% property tax, but it is possible to obtain, on the deliberation of the local authorities, a reduction in 50% remaining. The relief shall take effect from 1^er January of the year following that of installation. Its duration is fixed at 5 years for statutory relief and between 1 and 5 years for deliberate relief.

Applicable additional taxes

Local and regional authorities may collect additional taxes, in particular:

• Additional property tax on non-built properties. It applies to the owner of quarries, slate pits, sand pits, building land, recreational land, parks, gardens, water features, railways, navigation canals or soils of built properties and rural buildings. It is calculated on the same basis as property tax.
• Additional tax in favor of chambers of agriculture. It is due by all owners liable for the GNWT at 1^er in January of the taxation year, it appears on the same tax notice. It is calculated on the same basis as property tax. Thus, it is due to all the properties imposed on the TFPNB, even when they are not used for agricultural purposes.