The tax authorities give one more day to declare real estate, until August 1 inclusive

Owners of real estate benefit from an additional day, until August 1 inclusive, to declare their property to the tax authorities due to the saturation of servers, we learned on Monday from the Directorate General of Public Finances (DGFiP ).

Asked by AFP, the DGFiP invoked "a flow problem" on the tax site, whose "servers have a little trouble" absorbing the declarations.

In the event of failure, "the taxpayers must try again", indicated the Finance Department.

The deadline had already been postponed for the first time by a month at the end of June, until July 31, the Ministry of the Economy then invoking an "influx of declarations".

Many taxpayers have still seen the following message appear in recent hours: "the service is temporarily unavailable (...) please reconnect later".

The obligation to declare real estate for residential use came into force on January 1 in order to identify the premises still liable for the residence tax. This was abolished for all main residences in 2023, but remains liable for secondary residences.

On the tax site, each owner must indicate for each of his properties his situation: if it is empty, in what capacity he occupies it himself or decline the identity of a possible tenant.

If "a tolerance" is provided for in the event of delay or error, specified the DGFiP, the absence of declaration is punishable by a fine of 150 euros.

The objective of the campaign is first to establish "for each owner the status of occupation of his property" in order to avoid possible "taxation errors" in the fall, she underlined. This is, for example, to prevent notices being issued in the name of tenants.

Questioned by AFP, Damien Robinet, national secretary of Solidaires Finances publiques, the leading union in the sector, denounced a "failure" and a "fiasco".

The trade unionist deplored the concerns generated among taxpayers as well as the overload of work for the tax services in the face of the influx of requests online or in reception centres.

Damien Robinet also pointed out the lack of a paper form while some taxpayers have poor internet skills.

According to him, the first postponement of a month was already "notoriously insufficient".

Solidaires Finances publiques also reported "difficulties" in the processing by the tax administration of the declarations of the large owners who manage many properties. For these, the declarative campaign continues until the end of August.

Thursday, the CGT Public Finances, the second union in the sector, had mentioned in the same way "overdue" services in the face of the work overload.