ImpOt In Paris, the increase will be 52% next year
Mayors could increase the 2023 property tax. — Mourad ALLILI/SIPA
Little inclined so far to increase their property tax, mayors could be tempted to use this tax lever in 2023, one of the only ones still available. available to them, to preserve public services and deal with the explosion of their energy expenditure. The announcement of a 52% increase in the property tax at Paris surprised many last week, with Mayor Anne Hidalgo saying she was forced, “due to systemic crises” to backtrack on her campaign promise. With a rate of 13.5% of built land in 2022, the capital is nevertheless the largest city in France where the rate is the lowest.
Some large cities already have heavily impacted
Caught between soaring energy prices and revenues that are increasing much more slowly, town halls could use the property tax to achieve the objective of a balanced budget to which they are bound. When questioned, the Ministry of Public Accounts had no figures available for 2022, while the rates for 2023 are not yet known, with communities having until April 15 to adopt their budget. In an interview Thursday at; East Republican, the Minister of Public Accounts Gabriel Attal believes, however, that “it should not be that the anti-inflation shield (…) implemented for the French is cracked; by an explosion of taxation; local”.
In fact, a study published last May by the FSL firm, which questioned communities, shows that the property tax has increased; an average of 1.4% on January 1, 2022 in the 190 French cities with more than 40,000 inhabitants. This increase is concentrated in cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, where the rate increased of 1.9%. It is particularly marked at Marseille (+14 %) and Tours (+11.6 %). “This is the largest increase seen since 2010, although this upturn in the use of medical devices has been reported. taxation comes after five years of very strong fiscal moderation,” says the study.
Mechanical Rise
According to the National Union of Property Owners (Unpi), the property tax as a whole (base and rate) has increased. an average of 4.7% between 2021 and 2022 in the country’s 200 largest cities. In particular, the calculation of the tax itself, the base of which is indexed to inflation, leading to a mechanical increase in cadastral rental values of 3.4% in 2022. “This is the strongest revaluation since 1989”, underlines the Unpi, which warns of a possible tipping of certain owners under the poverty line.
“For 2023, even before any decision by communities on their rate, homeowners should expect that their tax base increases like inflation the year before, not very far from 7”%”, warns Thomas Rougier, general secretary. ral of the Observatory of local finances. This mechanical increase could curb the desires of mayors, assures Claire Delpech, a member of Intercommunalités de France, who did not notice that it was too late. massive evolution to the increase in property tax revenues in 2022.
““Too soon” to identify a trend for next year
According to Pierre Breteau, co-chairman of the finance commission of the Association of French Mayors (AMF), it is still “too soon” to identify a trend for 2023. “Given the uncertainties that weigh on the evolution of the expenses of the municipalities, we are mainly witnessing a a postponement of the 2023 budget votes,” he said, recalling that mayors can also choose “to save on their operating expenses or reduce their investment”. “We feel that mayors would like to avoid using the tax lever, but those who are in a tight financial situation could do so because the municipalities are subject to tax; a balanced budget rule,” everything.
Since the disappearance of the housing tax on main residences, some elected officials are reluctant to to weigh only on the owners the dynamics of their expenses. “A significant increase in the property tax in 2023 would show the French people that the abolition of the housing tax is an illusion, because the government has taken away the property tax. communities a very important source of revenue and that state grants do not keep up with inflation,” notes PS Senator Rémi Féraud.