🏛️ Taxation and aid for inherited residences
Transmission, value and strategy.

Taxation and aid for inherited residences

Inheriting an exceptional property, classified or registered as historic monuments, can be as prestigious as expensive. Fortunately, the French tax framework offers several relief and support systems for the owners of remarkable architectural heritage . Whether through partial exemptions from inheritance tax, public subsidies or tax advantages on the work, it is possible to combine transmission, valuation and conservation.

Free transfer rights: an obligatory passage

Following a death, the heirs must pay inheritance rights , calculated on the net value of the property transmitted, after deduction of possible debts. For non -classified goods, taxation follows the classic rules mentioned above.

However, for historic monuments or goods registered in the additional inventory , exemptions or abatements are possible, under conditions:

• Signing of an agreement with the State engaging the owner to keep, maintain and partially open the property to the public

• Presentation of a and tourist management plan

• Annual opening of part of the property for at least 50 days (including 25 holidays or in July/August), or 40 days for gardens

This exemption can reach 100 % of transfer duties , in particular in the event of direct online transmission, in an undivided framework or via a family company.

Reduction of income tax for historic monuments

The owners of historic monuments can benefit from an integral deduction of the work and costs incurred for the maintenance, catering and management of the property:

• Unrelated

• Whether it is a rented or busy property

• Including if the revenues generated are lower than the charges

Deductible expenses include:

• Roofing, masonry, carpentry, etc.

• Architect's fees

• Insurance, land taxes, safety or current maintenance costs

• Borrowing interests linked to the work

The whole can be deducted from overall income , which constitutes a major tax advantage.

Public subsidies and aid: DRAC, communities and foundations

The Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs (DRAC) can grant aid for catering work on a proposed or registered. The grant rate varies according to the importance of the property, the nature of the work and the level of protection:

• Up to 40 % of the cost of work for a listed

• Up to 20 % for a registered property

• Additional aid can be granted by the region, the department or the municipality

The Heritage Foundation , on the other hand, can grant aid for officially unprotected buildings but with an architectural or historical interest. She offers:

• Direct grants

• A label giving the right to a tax deduction , even for individuals

• Participatory patronage campaigns to mobilize funds

Focus on work: what tax advantages?

Even outside the Historic Monuments regime, certain work expenses can benefit from advantageous devices:

• Deduction of charges (loan interest, work, management) in the event of furnished or naked rental

• Package deduction of 50 to 71 % as part of the furnished seasonal rental (micro-BIC diet)

• Tax credit for the energy transition (CITE) for certain energy saving works, if the property is occupied personally

• VAT with reduced rate (5.5 % or 10 %) for certain renovation work

It is recommended to be accompanied by a chartered accountant specializing in heritage , a notary , or a safeguard association to structure a coherent and fiscally optimized project.

Anticipate the transmission of an exceptional property: strategies and heritage tools

Transmitting a prestigious property is not only to bequeath a property: it is to preserve a family, cultural and sometimes historical heritage. To avoid conflicts, limit inheritance tax, and ensure the continuity of management, several heritage strategies make it possible to best prepare the succession.

Donation-sharing: transmit in all fairness equity

Donation -party is a flagship tool to anticipate the transmission of real estate to your children or heirs. It has several advantages:

• It freezes the value of the property on the day of the donation (even if it takes value thereafter)

• It allows the assets to be distributed fairly between the heirs, with their agreement

• It avoids posterior conflicts linked to estate distributions

It is possible to make a donation-sharing with usufruct reserve , which allows the donor to continue to live or rent the property while transmitting bare ownership.

Family SCI: manage and transmit flexibly

society (SCI) is a frequently adopted solution to structure the detention and transmission of an exceptional property. It allows in particular:

• To gradually transmit shares to heirs via donations, sometimes with renewable abatements every 15 years

• To avoid joint possession, source of blockages and conflicts

• To organize the management of the property by clear statutes (appointment of the manager, sales rules, assignment of profits, etc.)

SCI also facilitates the integration of the expanded family in heritage management, while retaining centralized decision -making power.

The dismemberment of property: an intelligent tax lever

Widely used in the context of donations, the dismemberment of property is to separate:

• Usufruct right to live or rent the property

• The bare ownership : right to become fully owner to the extinction of the usufruct (often on the death of the donor)

This mechanism reduces the taxable base during the donation, because only bare ownership is assessed, according to a tax scale linked to the age of the usufructuary.

It is a very advantageous tax strategy , while ensuring the continuity of use and management of the property.

Organize family governance: pact, statutes, charter

Beyond the legal tools, families who own a prestigious real estate have every interest in formalizing family governance :

• Pact of partners (in case of SCI) to supervise important decisions

• Family charter to lay the principles of conservation, management, rental or sale of the property

• Future protection mandate to anticipate the loss of autonomy of a manager

This approach makes it possible to preserve the harmony between heirs, to ensure the conservation of heritage over time, and to integrate the new generations into management in a gradual way.

Call on wealth professionals

The implementation of these strategies requires the intervention of qualified professionals:

• Notaries specialized in heritage law

• Heritage management advisers

• Tax lawyers

• Luxury real estate experts

They will help you legally, fiscally and humanly optimize the transmission of your property.