Secondary home abroad: reporting the property and the rental income

Yes. As a French tax resident you are taxable on the whole of your income, French and foreign alike (art. 4 A). Tax paid in Spain does not remove the French reporting obligation: under article 24 of the treaty of 10 October 1995 it gives rise to a credit equal to the French tax on that income. In practice you report the receipts on form 2047, carry them over as business income on form 2042 C PRO, then enter the same amount in box 8TK of form 2042 C. The credit then neutralises the corresponding income tax and social levies. Without box 8TK you will be taxed twice.

Business income, without exception, where the dwelling is let furnished. The property income category and form 2044 are reserved for unfurnished lettings. The duration is irrelevant: a few weeks each summer are enough to place the receipts within business income. This is not a matter of form: it governs the allowance available, the rate of social levies, now 18.6 % for furnished letting against 17.2 % for property income, and the ability to depreciate the property under the actual-basis regime.

Since the taxation of 2025 income, under act no. 2024-1039 of 19 November 2024, two regimes coexist. For unclassified tourist accommodation, the allowance is 30 % and the receipts cap is 15,000 euros. For classified tourist accommodation or bed and breakfast, the allowance is 50 % and the cap is 77,700 euros. These thresholds are assessed on gross receipts, platform commissions not deducted. Above them the actual-basis regime applies, with accounts to be kept and the ability to depreciate the property. Classification of a property located outside France requires a case-by-case review of its equivalence with the French classification.

They reflect two distinct treaty methods. Box 8TK corresponds to the credit equal to the French tax: the income is taxed in France, then the corresponding tax is entirely neutralised by a credit of the same amount. That is the method for real-estate income arising in Spain, Italy and Greece. Box 8TI corresponds to exemption with effective-rate progression: the income is exempt in France but retained in order to determine the rate applicable to the household's other income. That is the method for Portugal and Morocco. Swapping the two boxes leads either to double taxation or to an understatement of tax exposing the taxpayer to a reassessment.

Yes, whatever its balance and even if it is used only to pay the local property tax and the service charges. Article 1649 A of the French tax code requires the annual reporting, on form 3916 / 3916 bis, of accounts opened, held, used or closed abroad. Failure to report is penalised by a fine of 1,500 euros per account and per non-time-barred year, raised to 10,000 euros where the account is held in a State that has not concluded with France an administrative assistance agreement allowing access to banking information. The reassessment period is also extended to ten years where the aggregate unreported balances exceeded 50,000 euros at any point during the year.

Yes. The real-estate wealth tax applies to the worldwide real-estate assets of a French-resident household. The foreign property is included at its market value on 1 January, less allowable debts. Liability is triggered by net taxable real-estate assets above 1,300,000 euros, a threshold maintained by the 2026 finance act, the proposed tax on unproductive wealth not having been enacted. Since the 30 % allowance is reserved for the main residence, a secondary home is taken at its full value. The applicable treaty may allow a credit for wealth tax paid locally.

Four recur constantly. The first is reporting nothing on the ground that tax was paid locally, which forfeits the credit and invites a reassessment. The second is treating a holiday letting as property income on form 2044 instead of business income, with the wrong allowance and the wrong rate of social levies. The third is confusing boxes 8TK and 8TI, when the method depends on the treaty applicable to the country of situation. The fourth is deducting the foreign tax from the receipts reported: foreign tax is not a deductible expense, it is taken into account through the credit mechanism, which is not the same computation.

The scale of the question changes. Moving the permanent home may bring about a change of tax residence, assessed under article 4 B of the French tax code and then, in the event of a conflict, under the treaty residence tie-breakers. That move may trigger the exit tax on unrealised gains on shareholdings, with strict reporting obligations and deferral rules. The question of holding through a company, often suggested locally, warrants prior analysis in the light of the real-estate wealth tax, the taxation of distributions and the valuation rules. These decisions are prepared in advance, not at the time of the move.