The city of Paris and the Paris Region Lab have announced the selection of 30 projects that the city will fund under the Vegetation Innovations Initiative launched in March of this year. The Paris Region Lab is an association created by the city of Paris, whose mission is to promote creative and innovative public and private […]

In response to the stark reduction in the volume of real estate sales nationwide and the resulting loss in capital gains tax revenue, President Hollande proposed to reduce the capital gains tax on real estate sales – for a limited time.

Last Thursday, the Chambre des Notaires in Paris held a special meeting open to the public to discuss the recent changes to the wealth and capital gains tax laws implemented by President Hollande.  Our managing partner, Kerstin Bachmann, was there in person to take notes.  

Over the last months, the French media has been reveling in gloomy news about the French economy and more specifically about expected trends in the real estate market. But their predictions of a downturn ignore some fundamental facts.  It’s a great time to invest in Paris real estate and here’s why:

With the publication last Friday of the Amended Finance Law (Loi de Finance Rectificative 2012), the French government instituted an “extraordinary wealth contribution” retroactively effective as of January 1, 2012.

Rental income and sales of investment property or second homes by French residents have always been subject to social security contributions (payroll taxes). The previous rate of 13.5% was raised to to 15.5% on July 1st of this year. Unlike in the United States, gains realized from the sale of a primary residence are not […]

One hot topic following the election of President François Hollande is his plan to impose rent controls on French apartments.  

With François Hollande as President, the first Socialist President elected since Mitterand, many are wondering how this will affect property values and taxes, as well as what other changes might be in store.