France changed the resale calculation for non-professional furnished landlords on 15 February 2025. Under Article 84 of the 2025 Finance Act, depreciation deducted during an LMNP letting period is generally brought into the capital gain when the property is sold. The French tax authority confirms that this applies to disposals from that date, while a government answer published by the National Assembly on 24 March 2026 says the rule covers the full amount deducted during the letting period, irrespective of when the property first entered LMNP.
That matters to owners of French ski apartments because furnished seasonal letting and personal use often sit side by side. The reform does not remove the annual tax benefit of depreciation under the real regime. It changes the exit calculation. An owner assessing yield, personal use and resale now needs to model all three together rather than treating annual rental tax and the eventual capital gain as separate questions.
The rule that changed on 15 February 2025
Before the reform, an LMNP owner taxed under the real regime could deduct qualifying depreciation from furnished rental income, subject to the statutory limit, without reducing the acquisition price used for the private-property capital-gain calculation. This was the unusual feature that the 2025 Finance Act removed.
The current text of Article 150 VB of the French General Tax Code says the acquisition price is reduced by depreciation admitted as a deduction under Article 39 C, apart from a defined exception for certain works already treated in the capital-gain calculation. A lower tax acquisition price produces a higher gross gain.
The change applies according to the date of sale, not the date of purchase or the date furnished letting began. The tax authority's current guidance states that disposals completed from 15 February 2025 are within the rule. The March 2026 ministerial answer goes further on timing: it says all depreciation deducted during the period of letting is counted, including depreciation deducted before 2025. Owners should therefore avoid assuming that only post-reform accounts matter.
Why a ski apartment can be caught
LMNP is a tax status for furnished letting, not a label attached permanently to a building. A privately owned apartment rented furnished for ski weeks can fall within the regime if the owner's activity remains non-professional under the applicable tests. The resale reform is most relevant where the owner elected or was subject to the real BIC regime and actually deducted depreciation.
By contrast, the micro-BIC regime applies a standard allowance to receipts rather than deducting itemised depreciation. The new capital-gain adjustment concerns depreciation admitted as a deduction. An accountant should confirm the property's filing history instead of inferring the answer from an old letting advert, a management mandate or the fact that the apartment was furnished.
The statutory exclusions are narrow. Article 150 VB identifies specific student, senior, disabled-person and long-term-care accommodation. Notaires de France summarises the principal exclusions as student residences, senior residences and residences for people with disabilities. An ordinary apartment in a ski resort, including one under a commercial letting arrangement, should not be assumed to qualify merely because services are supplied to guests.
How the revised gain is calculated
The starting structure remains sale price less adjusted acquisition price. The reform changes the second side of that equation for relevant LMNP owners. In simplified terms, the acquisition price is reduced by depreciation that was admitted as a deduction, which increases the gross capital gain before holding-period allowances.
This is not the same as taxing every depreciation entry at a fixed standalone rate. The revised gross gain still passes through the normal private-property capital-gains framework. Acquisition costs and qualifying works can increase the acquisition basis under Article 150 VB, subject to conditions and anti-double-counting rules. For an acquired property, the code permits documented acquisition costs or a flat-rate addition of 7.5% of the purchase price. For a building held for more than five years, qualifying construction, reconstruction, extension or improvement expenditure may be evidenced; where evidence is unavailable, the code provides a 15% flat-rate addition to the acquisition price.
Those additions are not a licence to count the same cost twice. Article 150 VB excludes expenditure already taken into account for income-tax purposes from the works uplift, and its depreciation clause contains a corresponding exception. The practical calculation needs the purchase deed, completion statements, invoices and depreciation schedules on one timeline.
Which depreciation counts
The tax authority explains that a furnished landlord under the real regime may depreciate qualifying buildings and furniture recorded as fixed assets. It also states that annual depreciation cannot create a furnished-letting deficit: the deductible amount is capped by rent less the other deductible costs of the activity. Unused depreciation can be carried forward while the relevant activity continues.
That distinction makes the accountant's schedules essential. Book depreciation, depreciation admitted as a tax deduction and depreciation carried forward are not automatically the same figure. Article 150 VB refers to amortisation admis en déduction, meaning admitted as a deduction. The March 2026 ministerial response likewise refers to depreciation deducted under Article 39 C during the letting period. A sale estimate built from headline accounting depreciation may therefore be wrong in either direction.
Owners should request a year-by-year schedule showing the amount generated, the amount used and the balance carried forward. They should also identify depreciation attached to qualifying works, because the code prevents the same expenditure from being disadvantaged twice where it is already handled in the capital-gain basis. This is an accounting and conveyancing reconciliation, not a number that an estate agent should estimate from the property's age.
What the reform did not remove
The holding-period allowances remain. French tax guidance applies no allowance during the first five years. For income tax, the allowance is 6% for each complete year from the sixth through the twenty-first and 4% for the twenty-second, producing full exemption after 22 years. For social charges, the allowance is 1.65% per year from the sixth through the twenty-first, 1.60% in year 22 and 9% per year thereafter, producing full exemption after 30 years.
The standard income-tax rate on a taxable French property gain remains 19%. French guidance also states a standard social-charge rate of 17.2%, although non-resident treatment can differ according to the seller's social-security affiliation. A separate surtax may apply to larger taxable property gains, so multiplying the gross accounting gain by one headline percentage is not a reliable completion estimate.
Exemptions have not disappeared either. A genuine principal residence may qualify for the principal-residence exemption, whereas a ski second home normally does not satisfy that description. Non-residents may have access to specific relief under conditions. These are fact-sensitive provisions; changing an address shortly before sale does not by itself establish that an Alpine apartment was the seller's actual principal home.
The non-resident layer
France taxes a non-resident's gain on French real estate. The French tax authority's non-resident guidance confirms the 19% income-tax rate and says the notaire pays the tax due at completion. It also separates the social-charge treatment by social-security affiliation.
People affiliated to a compulsory social-security system in the EEA or Switzerland, other than the French system, are exempt from CSG and CRDS on the French property gain but remain liable to the 7.5% solidarity levy. The tax authority says British residents continue to benefit from this CSG and CRDS exemption after Brexit. Sellers outside those categories can face the full 17.2% social-charge rate. Citizenship, tax residence and social-security affiliation answer different questions, so the notaire needs evidence rather than a passport-based assumption.
A fiscal representative can also enter the process. Current French guidance provides automatic exemption from appointing one for sellers resident in qualifying EU or EEA states, for a sale price no greater than €150,000 per seller, or where the gain is fully exempt through the 22-year and 30-year holding periods. A British seller is no longer EU or EEA resident for this particular test, even though the separate social-charge concession continues. The representative question should be raised early because it can affect documents, fees and the completion timetable.
What to assemble before a sale
Start with the acquisition deed and completion account. Add invoices for qualifying works, proof of payment, the furniture and building fixed-asset registers, every annual depreciation schedule, LMNP tax returns and evidence of any carried-forward depreciation. The notaire will calculate and collect the property-gain tax, but the accountant is usually best placed to certify what was actually deducted.
Ask for two reconciled figures: the depreciation admitted as a deduction and the depreciation still carried forward. Then ask the notaire to show how acquisition costs, works and holding-period allowances enter the provisional calculation. For joint owners, confirm each person's ownership share, tax residence and social-security status. For a non-EEA seller, confirm at the outset whether a fiscal representative is required.
Timing decisions need a full comparison. One more complete year of ownership can change the holding-period allowance, but delay also carries service charges, local taxes, financing costs and market risk. Stopping furnished letting before sale does not erase depreciation already deducted. The March 2026 government answer ties the rule to deductions made during the letting period and to the sale occurring after the reform took effect.
What buyers should model before purchase
The real LMNP regime can still reduce annual taxable rental income. The reform did not cancel that benefit; it made part of the benefit relevant to the later capital-gain calculation. A sensible acquisition model should therefore include annual after-tax cash flow, intended personal use, likely holding period, transaction costs and an exit calculation that tracks cumulative depreciation.
Compare structures on the same assumptions. A property held mainly as a second home, an apartment let occasionally under micro-BIC and a fully managed furnished rental under the real regime do not produce the same annual records or exit calculation. The right answer depends on income, financing, residency, ownership structure and the planned duration of ownership. Tax efficiency in year one is not a substitute for a ten-year ownership model.
For buyers considering a French Alps property with furnished letting, Domosno can help identify the property and rental structure questions that need to reach the notaire and tax adviser before a commitment is signed. Contact Domosno to discuss the purchase brief; obtain a personalised French tax calculation from a qualified adviser before relying on any projected net return or resale proceeds.
