Taxation

Since the introduction of a single business tax (taxe professionnelle unique) in 2000, the direct taxation income received by the City of Nantes has consisted solely of household taxation (taxe d’habitation (residential tax) and taxes foncières (land tax)). Total revenue in 2008 was €155.5 million, and was mainly generated by residential tax (51.4%) and land tax levied on land which has been built on (47.9%).
Despite increasing financial constraints, the municipality chose to keep tax rates in 2007 and 2008 stable at the 2006 level.
Taking account of the stability of rates in 2008, the growth in taxation income (+3.0%) is explained solely by the favourable trend in the tax bases, associated on the one hand with the flat-rate updating of rental values (+1.6%) and on the other hand with the physical change in the tax bases (+1.3%), arising from the construction of new housing.

Definition:
Rental value: theoretical annual rental for a building which has been constructed if it was to be let under normal market conditions in 1970. This rental value is updated every year under financial law.

Key figure:
Average rental value in Nantes: €2,710 in 2008.
Average rental value: average of the rental values of all the residential premises of a community.

As well as the stability of rates, the City of Nantes continues to pursue its policy of abatement in favour of families living in Nantes. The policy of abatements for family dependants is beneficial to Nantes households, insofar as the minimum rate established by the law (10 and 15% for the first two dependants) has been increased by 5%, to stand currently at 15 and 20%. This increase affects 34,164 households, or a loss of €1.75 million of taxation revenue.