CHANGES IN French tax law, aimed at boosting the property market there and creating construction jobs, are getting some overseas property agents excited, even though they don’t affect Irish taxpayers directly.
Since its introduction on April 1st, the Amendement Bouvard has brought the advantages of the Loi Scellier to leaseback properties in France. That law, introduced in January this year, allowed French tax residents to offset 25 per cent of the price of a property in a tourism residence (up to €300,000) against personal income tax for nine years.
It was a minor amendment, says leaseback company PV (www.pierre-vacances.co.uk), but will benefit Irish and UK investors because it has stimulated the holiday investment sector in France generally since being introduced.
Irish leaseback agent Ciaran Mannion (rtrfrance.com) predicts that French buyers will make a run on leaseback properties coming up to the end of the tax year in November and December.
All this could be good news for people who are finding their leasebacks a bit of a drag and want to sell – bearing in mind that they’ll have to pay back the 19.5 per cent VAT discount they got when they bought their property, unless they can sell it with the lease intact.
