Real Estate Chartered Accountant - SCI & LMNP

A real estate chartered accountant has become an essential strategic partner for rental investors, property dealers and real estate portfolio holders in France. Whether you are a foreign investor buying your first Parisian apartment, an expat building a buy-to-let portfolio, or an international business owner structuring French property through a holding company, the right tax and accounting setup makes a dramatic difference to your after-tax returns.

In 2026, tax complexity increases with new rules on capital gains, LMNP depreciation reintegration, and tighter SCI structuring requirements. Hayot Expertise, based in Paris 8th (58 rue de Monceau), has been supporting real estate investors — SCI, LMNP, property dealers, foreign buyers — for over 10 years.

French property taxation is fundamentally different from UK, US or other systems. Key specificities that surprise foreign investors:

• No choice of entity at purchase — you need to decide before signing whether you buy personally, via an SCI, or through a company. Changes afterwards trigger taxes.
• LMNP (Loueur Meublé Non Professionnel) — furnished rental non-professional status unlocks accounting depreciation unavailable under standard property income (revenus fonciers).
• Notaire involvement is mandatory — unlike the UK, all French property purchases require a notaire (civil law notary) who handles conveyancing and registers the transaction.
• Taxe foncière (property tax), CFE (business property contribution for LMNP landlords), and taxe d'habitation (for furnished rentals) all apply in France.
• Non-resident landlords face French withholding rules and must declare French-source rental income even if they live abroad.

SCI — Société Civile Immobilière (Civil Property Company)#

An SCI is a transparent civil property company used by families, business owners and investors to hold real estate collectively while avoiding indivision (joint ownership disputes). Key characteristics:

• Minimum 2 shareholders (can be spouses, family members, or corporate entities)
• SCI under income tax (IR): tax-transparent — each shareholder declares their share of rental income personally. Losses can offset other income (property deficit rule). No accounting depreciation.
• SCI under corporate tax (IS): can depreciate property, deduct all expenses, and accumulate profits at low IS rates (15% up to €42,500). Dividends taxed at 31.4% flat tax on distribution. Capital gains taxed at full IS rate at sale.
• Ideal for: family succession, holding commercial property, combining with a holding company.

LMNP — Furnished Rental Non-Professional Status#

Any individual renting out furnished property (minimum legal furnishing standard required) with annual revenues below €23,000 OR below 50% of total household income qualifies as LMNP.

Under the BIC real regime (the recommended option), you can:

• Depreciate the property components (structure 50 years, roof 25 years, fittings 15 years, furniture 5-10 years)
• Deduct all actual costs: loan interest, insurance, taxe foncière, management fees, accountancy
• Carry BIC losses forward 10 years against future LMNP income

The depreciation typically eliminates taxable rental income for 15-25 years on a leveraged acquisition.

Practical Example: Paris 15th Apartment#

Property purchased for €450,000 (land €90,000 = 20%), rented furnished at €1,800/month

Without depreciation (micro-BIC at 50% flat allowance): €21,600 × 50% = €10,800 taxable. The annual tax saving reaches €3,000 to €5,000 depending on your marginal rate.

Since February 2025, accumulated depreciation is reintegrated into the capital gains calculation at sale:

• Taxable gain = Sale price − (Purchase price − Cumulative depreciation)
• The standard personal property gains abatements (based on holding period — 22 years for full income tax exemption, 30 years for full social charges exemption) still apply
• Consequence: the longer you hold, the less the reintegration penalty matters. For 20+ year holds, the LMNP real regime remains far superior to micro-BIC or bare unfurnished letting.

Strategy response: consider transferring the property to an IS-registered SCI before sale — corporate disposals may be more tax-efficient depending on accumulated depreciation.

Step 1: Situation audit and regime selection#

Before buying: we model the net after-tax return under each scenario (personal LMNP, SCI IR, SCI IS, furnished vs unfurnished) so you choose the optimal structure at the point of acquisition — the only time when the choice is truly free.

Step 2: LMNP / SCI registration and CFE#

• SIRET registration with INSEE (mandatory for LMNP from first rental)
• CFE (Cotisation Foncière des Entreprises) registration — a local business tax on LMNP landlords, typically €100-€500/year
• SCI incorporation if applicable (articles drafting, INPI filing, bank account opening)

Step 3: Annual accounting and tax filings#

We handle the entire filing chain, from monthly bookkeeping to submission.

Short-term furnished rentals (Airbnb, Abritel) have specific rules in France:

• Since the loi Le Meur (2025 income), a classified meublé de tourisme keeps the standard 50% allowance and €83,600 micro-BIC threshold, while unclassified tourist rentals are capped at €15,000 with a 30% allowance
• Paris restrictions: Paris requires a registration number (numéro d'enregistrement) and limits primary residence rental to 120 nights/year
• Non-resident Airbnb hosts: French-source income must be declared in France
• Seasonal rental: if revenues exceed €23,000 and represent more than 50% of your total income, you become a LMP (professional furnished lessor) — different tax treatment

If you live outside France but own French property:

• You still pay French income tax on French rental income (minimum 20% flat rate, or standard IR scale if more favourable under applicable treaty)
• Social charges (CSG/CRDS) of 17.2% apply to EU residents; non-EU residents may benefit from treaty exemptions
• Capital gains on French property sales are subject to French non-resident capital gains tax (19% IR + social levies, with holding period reductions)
• We liaise with your home-country tax advisers for cross-border returns

✅ 150+ property investor clients including foreign and non-resident landlords ✅ Bilingual support: we advise in English and handle all French tax authority correspondence ✅ Full-service: from pre-purchase structuring advice to annual filings and sale optimisation ✅ Transparent pricing: from €150/month for LMNP, €200/month for IS SCI

Since 2018, France's wealth tax applies exclusively to real estate assets (Impôt sur la Fortune Immobilière, IFI). If the net value of your real estate assets in France (and worldwide for French tax residents) exceeds €1.3 million, IFI is triggered. The rates are progressive from 0.5% to 1.5%. For a Paris property portfolio worth €3 million with €800,000 in outstanding mortgage:

• Net taxable base: €3,000,000 − €800,000 = €2,200,000
• IFI due: approximately €10,500 (at blended rate ~0.48%)

IFI for non-residents: if you live outside France but own French property worth more than €1.3 million net, IFI applies to your French real estate only (not your worldwide assets). This is a frequent surprise for expatriates returning to their home countries while retaining French property holdings.

Deductible debts for IFI: property purchase loans are deductible, but consumer loans used to finance property (e.g., renovations funded by personal overdraft) are not automatically deductible. We structure your financing so that IFI-deductible debt is maximised.

SCI shares and IFI: SCI shares are IFI-liable assets. The SCI's debt (mortgage, bank loan) is deductible against the IFI value of the shares at the gross asset level. However, the so-called croisements de déductions (cross-deductions between personal loans and SCI loans) are restricted since 2018 — we map your exposure carefully each year.

Background: Richard C., a British financial services professional, has lived in Paris since 2019. He owns three Paris apartments: one primary residence (Rue de la Pompe, 16th), one rental under LMNP (meublé non professionnel), and one rental SCI.

Total gross real estate: €4.8 million. Mortgage debt: €1.4 million. Net IFI base: €3.4 million → IFI liability: approximately €18,500/year.

Optimisation lever 1 — principal residence 30% deduction: the primary residence benefits from a statutory 30% IFI allowance, calculated on the property's market value. This reduced his taxable base by €255,000 (30% of the €850,000 primary residence value).

Optimisation lever 2 — SCI IS election: Richard's SCI elected for the IS (impôt sur les sociétés) regime. Importantly, SCI IS shares are valued at the equity value (assets minus debt at corporate level) rather than gross asset value for IFI purposes. Since the SCI IS had substantial depreciation accumulated, its equity value for IFI was €780,000 vs economic value of €1,200,000 — a €420,000 IFI base reduction.

Optimisation lever 3 — new mortgage on LMNP apartment: refinancing the LMNP apartment to extract equity reduced IFI-deductible debt further, while the released cash was reinvested in a life insurance product (assurance-vie) which is fully exempt from IFI.

Total IFI reduction achieved: from €18,500 to approximately €9,200 per year — saving €9,300 annually through structural and documentation optimisation, not through aggressive tax planning.

If you are a non-resident investor (living outside France) who owns French real estate:

• IFI: taxable on French assets only (not worldwide). No obligation to declare if total French net real estate is below €1.3 million.
• Rental income: taxable in France under the non-resident flat-rate scheme (20% on net income up to €26,070; 30% above). Tax treaty may reduce or eliminate this — UK, US, and German residents typically have favourable treaty positions.
• Capital gains on sale: subject to French CGT (19%) plus social charges (17.2%) for EU residents, or 19% + 7.5% CRDS for non-EU residents who are affiliated to a foreign social security scheme. A special representative (représentant fiscal) is required for sales above €150,000 by non-EU residents.
• Annual declaration obligations: non-residents must file a Form 2042 NR (for rental income) and a separate Form 2042 IFI if IFI-liable. We manage these filings for non-resident clients.

Annual compliance calendar for property investors:

We manage this complete fiscal calendar for investors with multiple assets, ensuring every deadline is met and every deduction captured.

Contact us for a free asset audit — bilingual support available 📍 58 rue de Monceau, 75008 Paris | Book an appointment

See also: LMNP accounting in Paris | Holding tax optimisation | Wealth management for business owners