FranceService Public
France merges vacant-home taxes into one levy from 2027
From the 2027 assessments, one vacancy tax (CGI art. 1406 bis) replaces the TLV and THLV — automatic in tight zones from one year vacant, optional elsewhere from two years.
By Taxxa AI OyPublished 1 October 2026
Owners of empty homes face a single vacancy tax from the 2027 assessments. The loi de finances pour 2026, through its article 108 (loi n° 2026-103 du 19 février 2026), merges the two existing levies
Service Public — the taxe annuelle sur les logements vacants (TLV), due in tight housing markets, and the taxe d'habitation sur les logements vacants (THLV), which communes outside those markets could opt into — into one taxe sur la vacance des locaux d'habitation, created by article 1406 bis du code général des impôtsService Public. The merger, introduced by a Senate amendment aiming for simplification and readability, takes effect for assessments established for 2027 onwards: from then on the new tax replaces both the TLV and the THLVService Public. It is payable by the owner or usufructuary of the dwelling concerned — or, depending on the situation, by the construction-or-rehabilitation leaseholder or the emphyteutic lesseeService Public. The tax administration will establish liability from the information filed in the déclaration d'occupation des biens immobiliers.
The two-speed geography survives the merger. The décret n° 2026-831 du 25 août 2026 fixes the list of communes where the new tax applies as of right — those in zones tendues, marked by a severe imbalance between housing supply and demand. There the tax applies automatically, and a dwelling is caught once vacant for at least one year at 1 January of the tax yearService Public. Outside tight zones, communes and intercommunalités may introduce the tax by deliberationService Public; where they do, a dwelling is caught once vacant for at least two years at 1 January. A dwelling counts as vacant for tax purposes when it is for residential use, unfurnished (or too sparsely furnished for proper habitation), fitted with basic amenities such as electricity, running water and sanitary equipment, and unoccupied for the required period.
Nationwide exemptions apply in every commune: no tax where the vacancy stems from circumstances beyond the taxpayer's control, such as a dwelling offered for rent or sale at the market price that finds no takerService Public; where the dwelling was occupied for more than 90 consecutive days during the previous year in tight zones, or during the previous two years elsewhereService Public; or where it is held by an organisme d'habitations à loyer modéré (HLM)Service Public.
The money moves too. Today the TLV accrues to the Agence nationale de l'habitat (Anah) while the THLV goes to the communes and intercommunalités that introduced it; the new single tax will be collected by the communes and intercommunalitésService Public. It is computed from the valeur locative cadastrale — the annual rent the dwelling could theoretically produce — multiplied by a rate. In tight zones the rate is 17% for the first tax yearService Public and 34% thereafterService Public, matching today's TLV; but unlike today, a commune may vote a higher rate by municipal deliberation, capped at 30% the first yearService Public and 60% afterService Public. Outside tight zones the rate is set freely by municipal deliberation, capped at 50%Service Public — whereas today's THLV simply tracks the local taxe d'habitation rate on second homes.
Legal basis: article 108 de la loi n° 2026-103 du 19 février 2026 de finances pour 2026; article 1406 bis du code général des impôts; décret n° 2026-831 du 25 août 2026.
Owners of vacant dwellings: check whether your commune applies the new single vacancy tax from 2027, how long the dwelling has been vacant at 1 January, and whether an exemption applies — and verify your déclaration d'occupation details.