French rental tax ('taxe d'habitation') payment was never requested. How to rectify / consequences?

Question

I am liable to pay taxe d'habitation on a flat for the time period of 2016, and I have since moved to another département. I understand that in most départements, this was due around November.

I submitted my lodging information alongside my income tax payment for 2015 earlier this year, and I received back an information request concerning my lodging, which I also returned -- about a week later than I was supposed to, due to forgetting to mail it.

I never received a bill or a request for payment of taxe d'habitation. I still have access to the mailbox and I am certain that nothing has come concerning this tax. My landlord has also heard nothing about this, though previous tenants did pay taxe d'habitation.

What should a person do in this situation? Where possible, I do not want to pay a late fee / penalty, because I never received the request for payment in the mail.

Answer 1

I think you have to ask your local "centre des impôts".

First, you should hurry up because the payment deadline was either on November 15 or December 15.

Then if you have access to your taxes online, go check there. You will be able to print a copy of the original "avis" if it was actually given to you.

I have friends to whom it happened. They were never asked later to pay, but what they did is they went to the tax office, the local "centre des impôts" and they asked for the "avis". The tax agent said "don't worry, they forgot you" or something of the like. My friends insisted and asked for a receipt proving they did not have to pay.

I think you should do the same and go to your local tax office and ask, to make sure they didn't make a mistake. It is indeed important to pay your taxes, or you could be in troubles later on.