Capital gains tax on selling a second home in France: what you will really pay

You are selling a second home in the Arve or Mont-Blanc valley, and the first question is always the same: what will be left? Unlike a main residence, the resale of a second home is taxable on the gain. But the headline rate of 36.2 % almost never applies to the whole gain: length of ownership cuts the taxable base year by year, and the purchase price is increased before the sum is done. Here is the calculation, the thresholds that matter, and what it works out to on a real valley property.

The principle: 36.2 %, but rarely on the whole gain

The gain on a second home carries two charges, calculated on the same base but falling away at different speeds:

• 19 % income tax on the taxable gain;
• 17.2 % social charges (prelevements sociaux) on that same gain.

So 36.2 % in total. That is the figure people repeat, and it is the one that worries owners. But it applies to the taxable gain, not to the raw difference between what you paid and what you sell for. Between the two sit two mechanisms that strongly favour a long-standing owner.

Step 1: the gross gain

It is the difference between a reduced sale price and an increased purchase price. Both adjustments matter.

The purchase price is increased

You may add to what you originally paid:

• 7.5 % for acquisition costs (frais de notaire, registration duties), as a flat rate, with no paperwork required;
• 15 % for works, also as a flat rate, provided you have owned the property for more than five years.

Both flat rates are an option, not an obligation. If your actual works exceeded 15 % of the purchase price and you kept the invoices, you use the real figure instead. In the mountains that is common — renovating a chalet usually costs more than that. Keep your invoices. It is the most profitable advice in this article.

One caveat: only construction, reconstruction, enlargement and improvement works count at their real cost. Routine maintenance and repairs do not, and work you did yourself counts only for the materials you were invoiced for.

The sale price is reduced

From the sale price you deduct the costs the sale itself imposed on you: the compulsory surveys including the DPE, discharging a mortgage, and the agency commission where the contract puts it on the seller.

Step 2: the taper for length of ownership

This is the decisive mechanism. From the sixth year of ownership the gross gain is reduced each year — but at two different rates depending on the charge.

Two dates to remember, then: 22 years of ownership to stop paying income tax, and 30 years to stop paying anything at all. In between, only the 17.2 % of social charges remain, on a base that itself shrinks by 9 % for every further year.

The practical consequence is blunt: if you have owned the property for nineteen or twenty years, waiting one or two more years can be worth more than negotiating on price. That is a calculation to do before you sign an agency agreement, not after.

Step 3: the surtax above €50,000

Where the taxable gain — after relief, note — exceeds €50,000, an additional tax applies, rising progressively from 2 % to 6 % according to the amount.

The important point: the threshold is measured on the gain after relief. Long ownership can therefore bring a much larger gross gain below €50,000 and remove the surtax entirely.

When the gain is exempt altogether

Beyond length of ownership, several situations give full exemption:

• A main residence, with no minimum period. Which is why the first question to settle is whether a property counts as a main or a second home.
• The first sale of a second home, under strict conditions: you must not have owned your main residence in the previous four years, and you must reinvest the proceeds in buying a main residence within twenty-four months.
• Sales at a price of €15,000 or less.
• Certain situations tied to age, to moving into a care home, or to compulsory purchase.

Each of these has precise conditions, and it is the notaire who verifies them. If you think one applies to you, say so at the first meeting: it changes how the sale should be approached.

What it works out to

A worked example, deliberately close to what we see in the valley. It is an illustration only: the real figure is established by the notaire, from your own deeds.

Apartment bought for €250,000 in 2010, sold for €420,000 in 2026. Sixteen years of ownership, flat rates applied.

That is around 20.5 % of the gross gain, not 36.2 %. The whole difference comes from sixteen years of ownership and the two flat rates. Which is why the headline figure frightens owners more than it should: over a long holding period the real charge is far lower.

The same property sold after three years, by contrast, would have carried 36.2 % on the entire gain. Nothing is tapered before the sixth year.

What matters particularly in the mountains

Renovation work changes the answer a great deal. A chalet bought and renovated usually exceeds the 15 % flat rate. With invoices, that is gain removed from the calculation. Without them you are capped at the flat rate, whatever you actually spent.

A property let short term is still a second home for the purposes of this calculation, but letting can have other tax consequences depending on the regime you chose. If your property is let, or has been let as a meuble de tourisme (furnished tourist let), say so: depreciation claimed under certain regimes can feed into the sum.

Non-resident owners are taxed in France on the gain from a French property, with rules that vary by country of residence and, in some cases, a requirement to appoint a fiscal representative. That is a question to settle before the property goes on the market, not during the sale.

Frequently asked questions

After how many years is a second home exempt from capital gains tax?

Twenty-two years of ownership for income tax, thirty years for social charges. In between you pay only the 17.2 % of social charges, on a base reduced by a further 9 % for each additional year.

What is the real rate?

19 % income tax plus 17.2 % social charges, so 36.2 % — but applied to the gain after the taper for length of ownership and after the purchase price has been increased. Over fifteen or twenty years of ownership the effective charge is generally far lower.

Can I deduct my renovation work?

Yes, in one of two ways: at the flat rate of 15 % of the purchase price once you have owned the property for more than five years, with no paperwork; or at the real cost on invoices if that is higher. Only construction, reconstruction, enlargement and improvement count; routine maintenance does not.

Is the agency commission deductible?

It reduces the sale price where the contract places it on the seller. This is worth checking when the agency agreement is drawn up, because the wording determines the tax treatment.

Should I wait before selling?

Sometimes, yes. If you are approaching the twenty-second year, the tax saved can exceed what another year of market movement would cost or gain you. But it has to be worked out: we cost both scenarios — estimated gain and likely price — before you decide.

Who calculates it, and who pays?

The notaire files the declaration and deducts the tax from the sale proceeds on the day of completion. You advance nothing: it is withheld from what the sale brings in.

What to take away

• The rate is 36.2 %, but it applies to a reduced base, not to the raw gain.
• Nothing is tapered before the sixth year: a quick resale is the most heavily taxed situation of all.
• 22 years clears the income tax, 30 years clears the social charges.
• Keep your works invoices. It is the one lever that stays entirely in your hands.
• Do the calculation before the property goes on the market, not at the notaire's office the day before completion.

This is not tax advice. The rules described here are those in force in 2026 and are applied case by case. Before making any decision, have your own position checked by your notaire or your tax adviser. What we bring is the price: a written valuation of your property, so that the calculation rests on a realistic figure rather than a guess.

Sources: service-public.gouv.fr (capital gains on property for individuals), French tax authority bulletin BOI-RFPI-PVI-20-10-20-20 (increases to the acquisition price). Checked in October 2026.

And in this valley?

The calculation is national, but the price is not. Between Sallanches on the valley floor and Megève or Chamonix higher up, the same apartment does not carry the same gain, and fifteen years of ownership has not produced the same increase in Passy as in Les Houches or Saint-Gervais-les-Bains. That is why we always start with the valuation: until the likely sale price is on the table, the capital gains sum stays theoretical.

Also worth reading: second homes, tax and inheritance if you are thinking of passing the property on rather than selling it, and the DPE for a chalet at altitude, whose cost is deductible from the sale price.