PROPOSED- French Wealth Tax changes from 1st of January 2018

The draft French budget for 2018 was presented to the French Parliament on 27th September 2017. The budget will now work its way through parliament before being approved at the end of the year, so changes are possible.
The main measure affecting expatriates in France as regards French Wealth Tax are summarised below.
WEALTH TAX (l’impôt sur la fortune)
Will be replaced by a new
REAL ESTATE TAX (impôt sur la fortune immobilière)
The scope of the wealth tax will be scaled back to apply only to real estate. The same tax rates and bands will continue to apply (as per below). Property held by registered professional landlords (LMP) will be exempt.
The tax applies only to real estate held directly by the individual, along with shares in property-owning companies in proportion to the value of the property rights they own; wherever the companies or the properties are located (i.e. a property owned by you in the UK will be included in the calculation).
Savings and investments, including assurance-vie policies; will be exempt from this tax.
If you own or are thinking of buying investment property, it may be worth considering moving the funds into capital investments instead.
The current threshold of €1,300,000 will stay in place; the wealth tax scaled rates will apply to property, and main homes will still enjoy the 30% abatement. The 30% concession does not apply to second homes and the discount does not ordinarily apply in relation to a property held through a Société Civile Immobilière (SCI).
The rates payable are as follows:
Fraction Taxable Rate of Tax
€0 – €800,000 0%
€800,000 – €1,300,000 0.50%
€1,300,000 – €2,570,000 0.70%
€2,570,000 – €5,000,000 1%
€5,000,000 – €10,000,000 1.25%
€10,000,000+ 1.50%
Please Note. The government also appears to be conceding to parliamentary pressure for the scope of the tax to be widened to include luxury goods, such as yachts, private jets and race horses etc.