The new notary fees
Isère, Morbihan, Mayenne, Yvelines and Paris. Remember these 5 departments well, they are the only ones that will not see notary fees increase in relation to the acquisition or sale of property. What is commonly referred to as 'notary fees' in our language is in...
Isère, Morbihan, Mayenne, Yvelines and Paris. Remember these 5 departments well, they are the only ones that will not see notary fees increase in relation to the acquisition or sale of property.
What is commonly referred to as “notary fees” in our language is in fact more complex. During a property transaction, the seller and/or buyer pays a sum of money corresponding to a given percentage of the property value to the notary. The latter is not the sole beneficiary of this payment. Indeed, there are two parties sharing the proceeds:
– The notary (their practice), with the notary fees
– The departments, via a tax levied on the transaction.
Rest assured, it is not the notaries who decided to increase their fees. The French state authorised its 101 departments to implement an increase in transfer duties (the tax collected) on Saturday 1st March 2014 from 3.80% to 4.50%; an opportunity to replenish the coffers seized on the same day by 66 departments.
“Why such a measure in a property market still wavering and unsteady from the crisis?” is an excellent question you should be asking.
The answer comes from Bercy Street, which estimates the potential revenue from this increase at 1.3 billion euros, which will be used to support social expenditure such as RSA and numerous other benefits. This tax is an alternative to an increase in income tax or VAT, which would undoubtedly have been poorly received by the population.
To illustrate this increase in the cost of a property purchase, here are two examples where the increase has occurred. A person purchasing a property in Nice for €400,000 will need to spend an additional €2,800 compared with the price before the measure. A person wishing to buy a house in the Ain department will see the amount they must pay to the notary increase by €1,400.
Please find below a map from Les Echos newspaper showing the 66 departments that have already proceeded with the increase in the tax. The shaded area corresponds to the 66 departments where the increase is already in force. The light area represents the 30 departments where the increase has not yet taken place and the 5 departments opposed to this measure.
This increase in transfer duties assumes that ALL departments follow this path. However, remember that 5 departments have declared they do not wish to go in this direction. Among these is Paris, which is the most expensive city in France and therefore the department where the potential gain per transaction would have been one of the most significant.
If you wish to purchase a property in Paris, you can therefore take your time. However, if the department where you wish to invest is still grey, I strongly recommend you check the schedule of increases and seize the opportunity before the increase!
