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Sacré Bleu! Sarkozy U-Turn on Tax Changes

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Release Date:
20 June 2011

IMPORTANT: This briefing note is only intended as a general statement of the law and no action should be taken in reliance on it without specific legal advice. Release Date: 20 June 2011

The French government has just performed a surprise U-turn on proposed tax changes affecting holiday home owners in France. From January next year the intention had been to tax non-residents with holiday properties in France on an annual basis at 20% of the property's theoretical rental value. This would potentially have affected 180,000 second home owners from the UK. However, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has just announced that this new and controversial tax will no longer go ahead.

Commentators have suggested Sarkozy's controversial plans were met with concern by both Britons and French living abroad. One opposing senator stated it represented "bad publicity for France" and that the president was "convinced" by arguments to scrap the law.

For more information please contact Andrew Goldstone on +44 (0)207 440 7205 or by e-mail