French property occupancy declaration 2027: GMBI and the first vacancy tax

Quick answer. In 2027, the occupancy declaration for your homes on the "Gérer mes biens immobiliers" (GMBI) service must be filed by 30 June 2027 at the latest if any information has changed since your last declaration, or if you have never declared the property. The tax authorities will rely on this declaration to establish who owes the new tax on vacant residential premises (taxe sur la vacance des locaux d'habitation), payable for the first time for 2027.

This tax, created by Article 108 of the 2026 Finance Act (Article 1406 bis of the French General Tax Code, CGI), replaces the annual tax on vacant dwellings (TLV) and the housing tax on vacant dwellings (THLV).

The background of the obligation and the rules of the previous campaign are still covered in our guide to the 2026 property declaration. This page deals with what is specific to 2027.

State of the law on 22 October 2026. Rules laid down by the 2026 Finance Act and Decree no. 2026-831 of 25 August 2026. The 2027 finance bill, at first reading in the National Assembly, amends neither Article 1406 bis nor Article 1418 CGI in its initial text.

The occupancy declaration keeps its deadline and its fine. It now feeds a single vacancy tax, which replaces two separate taxes and whose rates high-demand municipalities can raise.

Vacancy before 2027 counts. For tax assessed for 2027, the law takes into account how long each home was vacant before 1 January 2027 (Act no. 2026-103, Article 108, IX). A flat empty since 2025 or earlier therefore gets no free first year: it can be taxed in the very first year the tax applies.

Every owner of premises used as housing reports to the tax authorities how they are occupied before 1 July 2027, i.e. by 30 June 2027 at the latest (Article 1418 CGI). An owner whose information has not changed since the last declaration is exempt; a property you have never declared, after a purchase for example, is not covered by this exemption. Failure to file, an omission or an inaccuracy costs €150 per unit.

The declaration is filed online, through the "Gérer mes biens immobiliers" service in the secure personal area, when your main home has internet access. Otherwise, or if you tell the tax authorities that you cannot file online, you use the other means they provide, including the paper form "déclaration d'occupation des locaux par le propriétaire" (owner's declaration of occupancy of premises).

When the home is let or made available with a view to subletting, the law defines the letting manager (gestionnaire de location) as the holder of the lease or of the agreement making the premises available. The owner can delegate the updating of the declaration to that manager, who then becomes responsible for it. In our reading, this definition targets subletting and does not cover a simple management mandate given to an estate agent: in that case, the declaration remains your responsibility.

What the declaration must contain#

Article 1418 CGI and Article 322 A of Annex III include in particular the following information:

• the address, type and floor area of the premises;
• if you keep the use of them, the type of occupancy and, where relevant, the start and end dates of the vacancy period;
• if the premises are occupied by third parties, the identity of the occupants and the start and end dates of occupancy;
• the mode of occupancy, the type of letting, any classification as a furnished tourist rental and, where relevant, the letting manager;
• in the event of vacancy, the reason for it;
• for furnished lettings, the SIREN number allocated to you for your furnished letting activity.

For the registration of furnished landlords, see our article LMNP and SIRET number: mandatory or not; for the classification of short-term lets, our article on furnished tourist rentals in 2026.

In practice. A home declared vacant without a reason leaves the declaration incomplete under Article 1418, which requires that reason. It is also on the information in this declaration that the tax authorities will rely to establish who owes the tax. Base the reason on dated facts (put up for sale, put up for rent, renovation scheme) and keep the supporting documents with the copy of the declaration.

The tax targets homes that, on 1 January 2027, have been vacant for at least one year in a high-demand municipality, or for at least two years elsewhere if the municipality or the inter-municipal body has introduced it; according to the DGCL, only habitable, unfurnished homes are concerned. It does not apply to a home occupied for more than 90 consecutive days during the reference period, nor to one whose vacancy is beyond your control.

The exclusions laid down by law#

Article 1406 bis CGI excludes from the scope of the tax:

1. homes occupied for more than 90 consecutive days during the reference period;
2. homes whose vacancy is beyond the taxpayer's control;
3. homes that form part of the public domain;
4. homes held by social housing bodies (HLM) and semi-public companies (SEM) referred to in Articles L. 411-2 and L. 481-1 of the Construction and Housing Code.

The guidance sheet that the Directorate General for Local Authorities (DGCL) devotes to the tax sets out two scope conditions. Only habitable homes are covered, meaning enclosed, roofed and equipped with electricity, running water and sanitary facilities. Only unfurnished homes are covered: a furnished home falls under the housing tax on second homes.

How is vacancy counted?#

According to the DGCL sheet, in a high-demand area the home must have been vacant during the year before the tax year and on 1 January of the tax year. For the 2027 tax, the reference period is therefore the year 2026, plus 1 January 2027. Outside high-demand areas, it covers the two previous years: 2025 and 2026, plus 1 January 2027.

Occupancy of 90 consecutive days or less leaves the home vacant for the purposes of the tax; more than 90 consecutive days are needed to take it out. Occupancy can be proved by any means, in particular the property income return showing the rent received, or water, electricity or telephone bills.

When is vacancy involuntary?#

The DGCL cites, among others, two situations in which the tax is not due:

• a home due, in the near future, to disappear or to undergo works as part of urban planning, renovation or demolition schemes;
• a home put up for rent or for sale at the market price that finds neither a tenant nor a buyer.

In the second case, you need to be able to prove the market price. We recommend keeping the estate agent's mandate, the dated listings, the history of price reductions and references for comparable properties in the neighbourhood.

The tax applies automatically in the municipalities listed in the annex to Decree no. 2026-831 of 25 August 2026, published in the Official Journal of 29 August 2026, which takes over the scope of the former TLV. Elsewhere, it only exists if the municipality, or an inter-municipal cooperation body (EPCI) with its own tax-raising powers and a local housing programme, has introduced it by decision.

According to our count of the INSEE codes in the annex, the list contains 3,689 municipalities: 1,430 as part of continuous urban areas of more than 50,000 inhabitants, and 2,259 as other municipalities where an imbalance between housing supply and demand has been found. Paris is in the first list.

Outside high-demand areas, according to the DGCL sheet, the decision introducing the tax must be adopted before 1 October of the year preceding the tax year: for 2027, before 1 October 2026. Decisions adopted for the former THLV cease to have effect on 1 January 2027. Rates, for their part, are voted every year, in principle before 15 April of the tax year.

In practice. For a home outside a high-demand area, the useful question to ask the town hall or the tax office is not "did the municipality apply the THLV?", but "did the municipality or the inter-municipal body adopt a decision to introduce the vacancy tax, and on what date?". According to the DGCL sheet, only a decision adopted before 1 October 2026 applies for 2027.

In high-demand areas, the statutory rate is 17% of the cadastral rental value in the first tax year and 34% from the second; the municipality can raise them to 30% and 60%. Outside high-demand areas, the rate is the one set by the decision, capped at 50%. Paris adopted the maximum rates from 2027.

The Paris Council adopted in July 2026 a decision (2026 DFA 29) setting the rates at 30% in the first tax year and 60% from the second, applicable from 1 January 2027.

The tax base is the rental value of the home referred to in Article 1409 CGI. The tax is payable by the owner, the usufructuary, the holder of a building or renovation lease, or the long-term leaseholder (emphyteutic lease) who has had the home at their disposal since the start of the vacancy period. Its audit, collection and disputes follow the rules of the property tax on built land (taxe foncière).

First- or second-year rate in 2027?#

The law speaks of the "first tax year" and the "second tax year". The DGCL sheet links the second-year rate to homes vacant for at least two years on 1 January of the tax year, and points out that vacancy before 1 January 2027 counts for 2027 assessments.

In our reading of that sheet, a home in a high-demand area that has been empty for at least two years on 1 January 2027 would therefore fall under the second-year rate (34%, or up to 60% by decision) from 2027. If 2027 is instead treated as the first tax year, the first-year rate applies (17%, or up to 30%). For a prudent budget, use the higher rate.

The amounts below apply the Article 1406 bis rates to a rental value chosen for illustration; they give the tax itself, excluding any charges added to the tax notice. The actual rental value is the one the tax authorities use for your home for 2027.

Example case 4 assumes that the municipality or the inter-municipal body has introduced the tax. According to the DGCL sheet, the decision must have been adopted before 1 October 2026 to apply in 2027; a decision adopted after that date does not apply for 2027. A decision adopted for the former THLV is not enough: it ceases to have effect on 1 January 2027. Check with the town hall.

And the following year, if nothing changes:

• Example case 1. On 1 January 2028, the home has been empty for more than two years: 60% if the rate voted by Paris stays unchanged, i.e. €1,440.
• Example case 3. Second tax year: 34% with no decision raising the rates, i.e. €1,020.
• Example case 4. The 2028 rate follows that year's rate decision, capped at 50%.
• Example case 5. If the home stays empty throughout 2027 and on 1 January 2028, it falls within the scope of the 2028 tax.

For an SCI, these amounts come on top of the loan repayments and running costs of a property that earns nothing. How to build them into the forecast is explained in our article on financial management of an SCI.

From 2027, the surcharge on the housing tax on second homes, between 5% and 60% of the municipal share, is open to municipalities on the Article 1406 bis list, and no longer to those in the former TLV zoning. Surcharge decisions already adopted continue to apply in municipalities on that list, unless a contrary decision is taken.

Decree no. 2026-831 takes over the scope of the TLV, as amended by Decree no. 2025-1267 of 22 December 2025: the surcharge therefore mainly changes its legal basis.

For each empty home, we recommend settling three items before 30 June 2027: the start date of the vacancy, the number of days of occupancy during the reference period and the reason, with its supporting documents. Kept together in one file, they serve both for the declaration and for any later claim.

The condition determining who is liable also deserves a second look. The tax is payable by whoever has had the home at their disposal since the start of the vacancy period. After a recent purchase, gift or split of ownership, this condition should be checked against the deeds, especially when usufruct and bare ownership are held separately: see our article on bare ownership and usufruct in real estate.

• List of your homes on 1 January 2027, with the occupant or the vacancy of each
• For each empty home: start date of the vacancy and days of occupancy in 2026 (in 2025 and 2026 outside high-demand areas)
• Municipality checked against the annex to Decree no. 2026-831; outside high-demand areas, decision introducing the tax looked up
• Reason for vacancy written down and supporting documents gathered: mandate, listings, rent receipts, energy bills
• GMBI declaration filed by 30 June 2027 at the latest if any information has changed or the property has never been declared
• 2027 tax estimated at both the first-year and the second-year rate for homes empty for more than two years
• Furnished landlord SIREN number entered for each furnished letting
• Recent purchase, gift or split-ownership deeds reviewed to identify the person liable

• 2027 occupancy declaration: by 30 June 2027 at the latest if any information has changed or the property has never been declared; fine of €150 per unit for failure to file, omission or inaccuracy.
• The tax on vacant residential premises replaces the TLV and the THLV from the 2027 tax year, and vacancy before 1 January 2027 counts.
• High-demand areas: 17% then 34% of the rental value, which can be raised to 30% and 60%; Paris has adopted these maximums from 2027. Outside high-demand areas: only by decision, 50% at most.
• Outside the tax: a home occupied for more than 90 consecutive days during the reference period, a furnished home, which falls under the housing tax on second homes, and a home whose vacancy is involuntary, which must be provable.