The European Court of Justice has finally decided (last Wednesday) that France cannot apply the social charges (so called CSG/CRDS at the rate of 15.5%) for non French tax residents on real estate capital gain tax because they do not benefit from the French social system !
This is excellent news which should attract more foreign investors and which should encourage some owners to sell their properties (as some Russians who are planning to sell for economical reason but are reluctant because of the heavy tax presupposed).
Indeed, for owners non residents in European Union it makes a difference in their favor of 29.50% less (15.50% of the CSG/CRDS + 14% since the last French fiscal law *) compared to the 31th of December 2014 !!!
* I remind you that since the 1st of January this year all non-residents are taxed at 19%, regardless of their place of residence while this rate was previously reserved for residents of the European Union (the others were paying 33%, which explains the difference of 14). But the social charges were still applied by French Tax Authorities until this very recent decision of the European Court of Justice.
In summary, capital gain tax for all non-residents, without particular distinction, must now be taxed at 19% ... "only"!