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 heaths, lakes, ponds and gardens’. The exemption is set at 20% the tax in mainland France, 80% in the DOM and 100% in Corsica.
• Land belonging to certain associations (e.g. associations of war mutilated or of labor, union associations of owners, family garden organizations)
• Soil and land subject to real estate tax on built property (TFPB)

The municipality may permanently exempt plots of land planted with olive trees, agricultural or otherwise. 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, with the necessary supporting documents (list of parcels concerned, invoices mentioning the purchase of olive tree seedlings, etc.).

Temporary property tax exemptions

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

Temporary exemptions as of right

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

• 10 years for poplar groves
• 30 years for coniferous plants
• 50 years for hardwoods and wood other than softwood
• 50 years for hardwoods and other woods, woodlands in nature of deciduous woodlands or understory coppices, other than poplar groves, which have undergone natural regeneration. In order to benefit from the exemption, the owner must apply to the tax department before 1^er January of the first year in respect of which the application of the exemption is sought, Declaration No 6707-SD listing the parcels concerned. This declaration must be accompanied by the certificate attesting the success of the natural regeneration operation.
• 15 years renewable (up to 25% the tax) for woodland with an irregular state of futaie in regeneration equilibrium. In order to benefit from the exemption, the owner must send before 1^er January of the first year in respect of which the application or renewal of the exemption is sought, a Declaration No 6707-SD the tax office listing the 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 futaie.

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

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

• Newly planted land in truffle trees (fully exempt for 50 years from sowing, planting or replanting)
• Lands located in wetland (exempted for 5 years renewable, up to 50% 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 five years, including the preservation of thebird fauna and non-reversal of plots.
• Lands located in a site Natura 2000 (fully exempt for 5 renewable years). The land must be on a list drawn up by the chairman of the regional council and the owner must enter into a management commitment (Natura 2000 contract or charter) for 5 years.

Temporary exemptions on the deliberation of the municipality

Finally, some properties may be temporarily exempted, only after the municipality has deliberated :

• Newly planted walnut land (fully exempt up to 8 years)
• Agricultural land used for organic production (fully exempt for 5 years). In order to benefit from the exemption, the owner must apply to the tax department before 1^er January of each year, a list of the parcels concerned together with the annual supporting document issued by the approved certifying body.
• Orchards, vines, fruit crops, trees and shrubs (fully exempt up to 8 years)
• Timber and forests in Guyana (fully exempt up to 8 years).

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

Reporting obligation

The owner must make a declaration in case of change in consistency or use from the field, that is to say in any 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 damming) or a loss of area (e.g. erosion, avulsion, flooding)
• When the land becomes subject to real estate tax on unbuilt property (TFPNB), whereas it was previously permanently exempt (e.g. disused military land and transferred to private individuals, decommissioned public road)
• When the land becomes subject to real estate tax on unbuilt property (TFPNB), because it has ceased to be subject to property tax on built property (e.g. old building land reclaimed, land ceased 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). Similarly, for the transition from one subgroup to another subgroup (e.g., resetting of a single coppice resulting in the reclassification of the parcel from “single coppice” to “resinous woodlot”). All changes in the nature of the crop shall be reported, irrespective of their duration.

The declaration must be made by means of the form 6704, in a 90-day period after completion of the work. This statement shall be addressed to the property tax department the location of the unbuilt property.

Penalties for non-declaration

The owner or usufructuary who makes an incorrect or out-of-time declaration of change of assignment shall be liable to 2 types of sanctions cumulable:

• Tax fines : failure to produce a document within the prescribed time limit which must be submitted to the tax authorities shall result 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 case 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 property (TFPNB) is based on the cadastral rental value of these properties. This rental value is the owner's net income from farmland under a rural lease or to the person who might get it if he leases it if he operates it himself.

This rental value shall be reduced by one abatement of 20% intended to offset the owner's costs and expenses. In other words, the property tax base is equal to 80% of the cadastral rental value taxable property.

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

Applicable rebates

The owner can benefit from a relief, i.e. a total or partial reduction in the amount of the property tax. Reductions are applicable in the following cases :

• Disappearance of an unbuilt property as a result of an extraordinary event (e.g., storm flooding, avalanche, flooding by sea or by lake waters trapped by a dam). Tax relief 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, flooding, fire or other extraordinary events. This relief shall be proportional to the size of the losses incurred. It must be requested from the tax administration within 15 days of the date of the claim. It shall be granted for the year of the loss and, where appropriate, for subsequent years if the loss has an effect 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 grasslands, grasslands, pastures or heaths’. The revenue of the association from activities other than agriculture or forestry shall not exceed 50% the turnover from agricultural and forestry activities, or €100,000 (including refund of fees and taxes). The association must make a declaration each year on behalf of the owner indicating the list of plots concerned in 1^er January of the taxation year. This declaration is equivalent to a claim for relief by the owner.
• Farmland farmed personally by a young farmer with a first-time installation aid (capital endowment or subsidized medium-term loan). The young farmer has to take out a Declaration No 6711-SD, indicating the parcels which it operates on 1^er January of the taxation year. This relief shall be fixed at 50% property tax, but it is possible to obtain, on the deliberation of the local authorities, a rebate of 50% remaining. The relief shall take effect from 1^er January of the year following the installation. Its duration is fixed at 5 years for duty relief and between 1 and 5 years for deliberate relief.

Additional applicable taxes

Local and regional authorities may receive additional taxes, including:

• Additional tax on non-built property. It applies to the owner of quarries, slates, sandpits, building land, playgrounds, parks, gardens, water bodies, railways, navigation channels or floors of built properties and rural buildings. It is calculated on the same basis as property tax.
• Additional tax for the benefit of chambers of agriculture. It is payable by all owners liable for the GNWT on 1^er 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.