CFE and LMNP in 2026: who pays, on what basis and how to avoid filing mistakes

Updated 25 May 2026 — Written by Samuel HAYOT, chartered accountant (expert-comptable), Hayot Expertise, Paris.

The cotisation foncière des entreprises (CFE) is one of the most overlooked areas of a French furnished-letting file. Many LMNP (loueur en meublé non professionnel — non-professional furnished-letting) landlords, including British nationals and foreign investors with French property, discover this local tax only when the payment notice arrives in December — often without having filed the required creation declaration or checked whether an exemption applied. In 2026, the right approach is to address CFE at the outset of the activity, not as a reaction to a notice.

Any LMNP landlord who habitually lets furnished property in France is, in principle, liable to CFE, provided annual receipts exceed 5,000 € and no exemption applies. The first year of activity is exempt. The tax base is the cadastral rental value (valeur locative cadastrale) of the property, and the rate is set by the local authority.

The cotisation foncière des entreprises is a local business tax and one component of the contribution économique territoriale (CET). Under article 1447 of the French Tax Code (CGI), it is due by any individual or entity that habitually carries out a non-salaried professional activity in France. Furnished letting — even at non-professional scale — falls within that definition: it constitutes a commercial activity for tax purposes (BIC — bénéfices industriels et commerciaux), carried out on a recurring basis, on one or more properties.

The classic misreading is to conflate the LMNP tax status — which governs how rental income is taxed at income tax level — with local taxation. These are separate tracks. LMNP status does not exempt from CFE.

CFE must not be confused with:

• taxe foncière — property tax owed by the owner based on the property's cadastral value, regardless of any letting activity;
• CVAE (cotisation sur la valeur ajoutée des entreprises) — the value-added business contribution, due only above 500,000 € turnover excluding VAT, which is extremely rare for an individual LMNP landlord;
• taxe d'habitation on tourist lets — a separate local levy governed by a different municipal framework.

The habitual-activity test#

Article 1447 CGI sets a clear principle: CFE is due whenever the activity is carried out habitually. For furnished letting, this means that a single property let on a recurring basis is sufficient to trigger the charge. There is no minimum number of properties and no minimum number of nights.

Truly isolated, one-off letting — for example, an individual who sublets their primary residence for a few days once a year — may fall outside scope, but this exception is fragile as soon as the pattern repeats. It is not prudent to rely on it without prior analysis.

Decision table: liable or not, by situation#

CFE is not calculated on rental income received. It is based on the valeur locative cadastrale of the property let — an administrative value assigned by the tax authority on the basis of the property's surface area, location and condition. The landlord cannot modify this value except to correct a material error.

The applicable rate is voted each year by the municipality or the competent EPCI (groupement intercommunal). It therefore varies from one commune to another — which explains why two LMNP landlords with identically assessed properties can pay very different amounts depending on where their property is located.

There is also a minimum CFE contribution (cotisation minimum), applicable when the cadastral rental value is very low or nil. Its amount depends on the taxpayer's reference turnover and is set by local deliberation within a national bracket.

Worked example#

An LMNP landlord lets a furnished apartment in Paris. The cadastral rental value is set at 4,200 € by the administration. The applicable municipal rate is, hypothetically, 16%. Gross CFE before any reduction is therefore:

4,200 € × 16% = 672 € gross CFE

This figure may be reduced if the property is let for only part of the year or if a partial exemption applies. However, it does not change according to whether the LMNP landlord uses the micro-BIC regime or the réel simplifié (actual-cost) regime: the income tax regime has no effect on the CFE base.

First year of activity#

This is the best-known and most useful exemption. CFE is not due in the year of creation of the taxable establishment (article 1447 CGI and DGFiP guidance). In practice: if you start your LMNP activity in 2026, you will not pay CFE for 2026. The first real charge falls in December 2027.

This exemption does not remove the obligation to file form 1447-C: the declaration remains mandatory so that the administration holds the base information for subsequent years.

Receipts threshold at 5,000 € (article 1647 D CGI)#

Article 1647 D CGI provides that the minimum CFE contribution is not due when receipts or turnover for the reference period are less than or equal to 5,000 €. This threshold applies to the minimum contribution specifically — it does not necessarily cancel the entire CFE charge if the cadastral rental value is high enough to generate a base of its own.

In practice, for LMNP landlords with modest annual rents (a secondary property let for a few weeks, a small studio), this threshold may neutralise the minimum contribution. The position should be verified each year, as reference turnover can vary.

Specific exemptions for classified tourist lets#

Officially classified tourist lets (meublés de tourisme classés) and bed-and-breakfast operations (chambres d'hôtes) may benefit from CFE exemptions, but only where the municipality or EPCI has passed a deliberation to that effect. These exemptions are not automatic: they require both that the property carries official classification and that the local authority has voted the exemption. Without that deliberation, CFE applies under standard conditions.

When to file#

Form 1447-C (the initial CFE declaration) must be filed with the competent local business tax office (service des impôts des entreprises — SIE) before 31 December of the year in which the activity begins. For an LMNP landlord starting in 2026, the deadline is 31 December 2026.

This declaration is separate from form 1447-M (the change-of-circumstances declaration), which is used in subsequent years when the situation changes.

What it covers#

The 1447-C records:

• the taxpayer's identity and SIRET number;
• the nature and address of the activity;
• the surface area and cadastral rental value of the professional premises used;
• the information needed to assess any claimed exemption.

A recurring gap we see in practice#

In files we assist, the 1447-C is often missing during the first years of LMNP activity, particularly when the activity starts quietly with a single property. The administration can then reconstruct the base and issue a retroactive notice, with late-payment interest. Filing early costs less — in time and money — than reconstructing the file two or three years later.

Short-term letting via platforms such as Airbnb, Abritel or Booking falls under the same CFE regime as standard furnished letting, provided the activity is habitual. The fact that contracts are short (nightly, weekly) does not change the fiscal classification of the activity.

An LMNP landlord who lets a property for 90 days per year via Airbnb is, in principle, liable to CFE in the same way as an LMNP landlord operating under a standard 12-month furnished tenancy. The only meaningful difference relates to the potential classified tourist-let exemption — which requires both official classification and a local authority deliberation.

Our reading: the proliferation of short-term platform lets has led certain municipalities to tighten their monitoring of CFE taxpayers. In 2026, failing to declare habitual Airbnb activity carries a higher risk of reassessment than it did three years ago, particularly in major cities.

CFE is payable in a single payment by 15 December of the tax year. Below 3,000 € of CFE, no June instalment (acompte) is required. The assessment notice is available in the landlord's professional space on impots.gouv.fr, under "Mes impôts professionnels".

An LMNP landlord must therefore have an active professional account to access and pay the notice. If that account has not been created, the notice may be missed and late-payment surcharges may be incurred.

A point that many LMNP landlords overlook: even where the cadastral rental value is very low or nil (a furnished property with no dedicated professional premises), the administration may apply the minimum CFE contribution based on a turnover bracket set by local deliberation. This minimum contribution can reach several hundred euros depending on the commune, regardless of any actual cadastral rental value.

LMNP landlords who assume they have no CFE exposure because they have "no commercial premises" frequently make this mistake. The minimum contribution exists precisely for these situations.

None. The income tax regime applied to LMNP revenues — whether micro-BIC (with a 50% flat allowance) or réel simplifié (actual-cost method with depreciation) — has no effect whatsoever on CFE. The CFE base is the cadastral rental value, not the taxable profit or the turnover figure used for income tax. This is a frequent source of confusion when weighing up the two regimes.

The micro-BIC versus réel simplifié decision turns on the profitability of the file, actual costs, available depreciation and the planned holding period. For further analysis, see Furnished letting and accounting: what are the legal obligations? and Should you use an SCI to invest in French property?.

• Activity start date correctly declared
• Form 1447-C filed before 31 December of the year the activity begins
• Annual receipts verified against the 5,000 € threshold (art. 1647 D CGI)
• Official tourist-let classification checked if operating short-term lets
• Local exemption deliberation verified with the SIE
• Professional account on impots.gouv.fr active and assessment notice consulted
• Payment made before 15 December to avoid surcharges
• Consistency between SIRET, professional account and CFE records verified

Three patterns are becoming clearer in the LMNP files we handle:

1. Platforms are transmitting data. Airbnb, Booking and Abritel have been reporting host revenues to the French tax authority since 2020. CFE follows the same information trail: an LMNP landlord active on these platforms without a SIRET and without a 1447-C filing is more easily identifiable than before.

2. The minimum contribution is rising. Several communes have increased their minimum CFE brackets since the CVAE reduction for smaller structures. The amount may have risen between 2024 and 2026 without the taxpayer being directly notified.

3. The LMP/LMNP confusion on CFE persists. Some taxpayers moving from LMNP to LMP (loueur meublé professionnel) status assume their CFE position changes automatically. It does not: it is the activity of furnished letting that determines liability, not the fiscal qualifier alone.

Firm guidance: CFE for LMNP landlords is far more efficiently managed through prevention than through challenge. The right moment to address it is at the start of the activity — not when the December notice arrives.

Is your LMNP file correctly structured from a CFE standpoint for 2026? Cadastral base, applicable exemptions, form 1447-C, professional account: our firm reviews the complete position and advises you ahead of the next payment deadline.

This article is for information purposes only. It does not constitute personal tax advice. Your position should be assessed in light of your specific file, applicable local authority decisions and the law in force at the date of your enquiry. Sources: art. 1447 CGI, art. 1647 D CGI, impots.gouv.fr, bofip.impots.gouv.fr, service-public.fr.