How are the taxes calculated?

When calculating the taxable profit you are permitted to deduct the costs of buying and selling the property and any capital expenditure on major improvements to the property

Both types of tax are calculated on a reducing scale so the longer you have owned the property the less tax you will pay.

Capital gains tax (Impôt sur le Revenu) on the sale of a property in France is charged at the full rate of 19% if you sell within 5 years but it reduces down to 0 after 22 years of ownership. After 5 years there is a discount of 6% for each year, except for the final 22nd year which has a 4% discount. Example; the profit tax on a property owned for 10 years would be reduced by 30% (5 x 6%).

The social charges (Prelevements Sociaux) also reduces from the basic rate of 17.2% but over a longer period of time, reducing to 0 after 30 years. Again no discount is given if you sell within 5 years. Thereafter the discount is 1.65% between years 6 and 21, 1.60% for the 22nd year and then 9% per year between the 23rd to 30th year.