Its now the time of year when the French tax man bleeds you dry. During October I paid the Taxe Fonciere, in November I have the Taxe d’Habitation to pay and also the social security debt tax which I forgot the name of but is basically due because in 2008 I earned my income outside of France. Whilst no income tax is due on my earnings thanks to the double tax treaty I still have to pay a 12% tax on it…
It hit me that France penalises you for owning a property. In any country it is a privilege to own a property and is not something that is accessible for everyone, I’m aware of that. But in France it really is a privilege and you will be taxed for the rest of your property ownership days just to remind you of that!
First, when you buy a property you will pay horrendously high notary fees which comprise your stamp duty etc (in the region of 6 – 10% of the property price for existing property depending on the price). Then every year after you pay the Taxe Fonciere which is an exclusive tax paid for by property owners. You then also pay the Taxe d’Habitation which everyone who owns or rents a property pays. How unfair is that?
Oh, and I forgot to mention, all this in a country where I do not have the right to vote at National Elections… Bitter, moi? Never!
It appears the French feel very similar, Les Inconnus did a fantastic song about Les Impots, if you understand French you have to watch this, its so true!
[...] enjoyed Piglet’s little rant about The Vampire Tax Man and had my thoughts provoked by her essay on My bread is a germ free zone…. I especially [...]
[...] loved Piglet’s little rant about The Vampire Tax Man and had my thoughts provoked by her essay on My bread is a germ free zone…. I especially liked [...]
My husband and I are going through this evil right now. We bought an apartment last year and its killing us. The first year we didn’t have it set up to come out each month so there were huge bills to be paid at the end of the year. We couldn’t cover one of them and had to borrow money from his parents. Now this year it’s coming out every month and last month is the first one we didn’t end up in the red. And we don’t qualify for any tax cuts we found out as well even though we are a one income family.