Acquisition costs - Notary fees - Transfer taxes
When purchasing a property in France, the buyer must pay certain fees and taxes which are called "frais de notaire" even though they do not constitute the remuneration of the Notaire but include taxes paid to the French state and municipalities. Those are calculated by the Notaire, paid by the buyer on top of the purchase price and disbursed directly by the Notaire to the different parties concerned. They represent about 7 to 10% of the acquisition price and are of three natures:

professional fees of the Notaire and direct costs

transfer taxes

mortgage fees (when applicable)

 
Professional fees
The Notaire will charge fees based on the amount of the transaction ( a small € 200/300 fixed fee is usually added) as follows

	1st tranch	2nd tranch	3rd tranch	4th tranch
Amount of transaction (per tranch)	<€ 3050 from	€ 3050 to € 6100	from € 6100 to € 16770	>€ 16770
Fee (before VAT)	5%	3.3%	1.65%	0.825%

ie for a € 630 000 transaction:

3050	x	0.05	=	€ 152.50
3050	x	0.033	=	€ 100.65
10670	x	0.0165	=	€ 176.05
13230	x	0.00825	=	€ 109.15
TOTAL				€ 538.35
VAT				€ 105.55
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TOTAL VAT inc				€ 643.90

A 19.6% VAT must bee added to those figures. The Notaire will also asks for the rembursment of his direct cost relative to the specific searches (albestos, termites, emcumbrances...) undertaken for the preparation of the deed.

 
Transfer taxes
For a second hand property of more than five years of age since construction (unless it was already resold more than once), the following taxes are payable bases on the purchase price:

"Droit d'enregistrement":	3.60%
"Taxe communale":	1.20%
Others:	0.09%
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TOTAL:	4.89%

For a new house or appartment of less than five years of age since construction and which has not yet been resold, the following taxes are payable based on the purchase price:

VAT:	19.6%
"publicité foncière":	0.60%
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TOTAL:	20.20%

Stamps duties are also payable based on the number of pages of the deed and can represent between € 200 and € 500.

 
Mortgage costs

They amount to about 2% of the loan amount including land registry fees.
It is advised you check with the Notaire, the exact costs which you will have to pay according to the specifics of your acquisition. The above figures are given to you for information purposes only.

Our partner Crédit Foncier has developped a calculation tool enabling you to estimate the total amount of those fees ("frais de notaire"):
Credit Foncier's public notary and guarantee expenses tool


NB : Note that these informations are valid as of january 01 2006 and can be subject to change.