real estateIntermediate
Rental Property ROI: How to Calculate Real Returns
How to calculate gross, net and after-tax returns on a rental property. Formulas, worked examples and pitfalls to avoid.
real estate10 min read
Free calculator
Calculate French property capital gains tax
Income tax and social levies due depending on how long you have held the property, the surtax if any — and the year it all fades out. French rules. Your figures never leave your browser.
Your figures are never sent: the calculation runs on your device. Only an anonymous audience measure (page view, click) is recorded, without any figure.
Enter a purchase price and a sale price to see the tax.
The guide
How French property capital gains tax is calculated
The capital gain is the difference between what you sell for and what the property cost you — not just the purchase price: acquisition costs and works are added. The tax authority accepts two flat rates, no receipts needed: 7.5% of the price for costs, 15% for works once held five years. On an older property they are often worth more than the invoices.
On that gain, two separate taxes with two separate calendars. Income tax at 19% falls by 6% a year from the sixth year and disappears at 22 years. Social levies at 17.2% fall much more slowly — 1.65% a year — and only disappear at 30 years. Between 22 and 30, only social levies remain, and they then melt by 9% a year.
Above €50,000 of taxable gain, a surtax of 2 to 6% is added. And the main home is exempt from everything, whatever the holding period — the first and largest exemption. The calculator shows it to say what it is worth, not to compute it.
The four steps of the calculation
Adjust the purchase price
Price paid + acquisition costs (actual or 7.5%) + works (actual or 15% after five years). The higher this price, the lower the gain: this is where most of it is decided.
Compute the gross gain
Sale price, less the costs you bear (surveys, agency), minus the adjusted price. Negative, it is a loss: nothing to pay, and nothing to carry forward.
Apply the two allowances
One for income tax, one for social levies, based on full years held. They do not move at the same pace: at 15 years, 60% on one side, 16.5% on the other.
Add the surtax if due
On the gain taxable to income tax, above €50,000: 2% to 6% by bracket, smoothed at each bracket's entry. The notary withholds it with the rest, at signing.
The calendar matters as much as the figure: the same sale at 21 and at 22 years is not taxed the same. To see it coming, you need to track the property's value over time — and, for a rented property, set it against its return.
The right year to sell shows on a tracked estate
Price, works, purchase date: everything this calculation asks for, Patrice keeps for each property, with its estimated market value. You watch the resale tax fall year after year, without re-entering anything. The account is free; the demo shows the app with sample data.
Further reading
Frequently asked questions
The seller, on the day of signing: the notary computes it, withholds it from the sale price and pays the tax authority. Nothing to declare afterwards, except the surtax and an information line on the income tax return.
The 15% flat rate applies without receipts once held five years, even if you did no works at all. Actual costs only pay if they exceed the flat rate and you have contractor invoices — materials bought yourself do not count.
Since 2025, depreciation deducted during the rental is added back to the acquisition price, which increases the gain. This calculator does not model it; Patrice's rental module covers furnished rentals.
Yes, if it is your actual main home on the day of sale — with no holding condition. A property that became your main home a year before the sale is exempt; a former home kept after moving out no longer is, unless sold within a normal delay.
No. The calculation runs in your browser and your figures disappear when you close the tab. We only measure, anonymously, that the page was viewed and a calculation was made — never the amounts.