Guide
TVA on renovation work in France: 5.5%, 10% or 20%?
On this page6 sections
- Which renovation works are taxed at 10% in France?
- When does the 5.5% energy rate apply instead?
- Which work stays at 20% (pools, extensions, boilers, new build)?
- Who signs the TVA certification on a French devis?
- What should the TVA lines on a French devis look like?
- Frequently asked questions about TVA on renovation work
Three TVA (French VAT) rates can apply to home renovation, and the type of work decides which one lands on your devis (written quote). Your income and residence status play no part. General improvement and repair work is taxed at 10%. Work that improves a home's energy performance drops to 5.5%. New build, extensions, pools and a few other categories stay at the standard 20%.
Mistakes cost money either way. A contractor who bills everything at 20% to be safe overcharges you on work that qualifies for less. One who applies 5.5% to work that doesn't meet the conditions leaves you exposed if the tax office checks. The certification on the devis carries your signature.
Which renovation works are taxed at 10% in France?
The 10% rate covers improvement, fitting-out and maintenance work on a home completed more than two years ago. That's most of what people mean by renovating a house: repainting, re-tiling, rewiring, plumbing repairs, a new kitchen or bathroom, a roof repair, or fixing a fence or gate.
The rate covers the labour, and usually the equipment and materials the contractor supplies too. There's one catch to know before you sign. If you buy an appliance or a major system yourself and pay someone only to fit it, the equipment is taxed at 20%. The fitting can still get 10%. When the contractor supplies and installs on one invoice, the whole line gets the lower rate.
When does the 5.5% energy rate apply instead?
5.5% applies to a set list of energy work. It covers insulation of walls, roofs and floors, double glazing and insulating shutters, and mobile solar protection. Ventilation such as a VMC (mechanical ventilation), heating controls, and qualifying heating and hot water equipment (heat pumps, solar water heaters) are on the list too.
The home has to be more than two years old, and you certify that on the devis. There's no main-residence condition and no RGE (the state's approved-installer label) condition for the rate itself. Work tied directly to the energy job, such as making good the plaster after insulation goes in, usually takes the same 5.5% rate.
Two equipment types need a caveat. An air-to-air heat pump (a reversible split or multi-split) gets 5.5% only if the unit meets a technical spec that took effect on 18 July 2026. A unit that misses it pays the standard rates, so ask the installer to confirm in writing that yours qualifies. The cooling hub explains which units meet it.
Solar panels that make electricity follow their own rules. The 5.5% rate applies only to a system up to 9 kWc (kilowatt-peak, the panels' rated power) that meets extra conditions, and since 1 March 2026 one of them is an installer holding RGE QualiPV (an RGE label for solar panels). Miss any condition and the whole system is taxed at 20%.
Which work stays at 20% (pools, extensions, boilers, new build)?
New construction is taxed at 20%. So is an extension built onto the house, whatever its size. Work inside the existing walls that adds more than a tenth to the floor area, such as a large loft conversion, is taxed at 20% too, so ask the contractor which rate applies to yours. A renovation that strips a house back to its structure and rebuilds most of it can also count as new build, even if it adds no floor space. On a project that size, ask your contractor or a tax adviser where the line sits before you sign.
Pools are taxed at 20% however the rest of the project is billed, and most landscaping and garden work is too. Since 1 March 2025 the same applies to fitting a gas or oil boiler, including a hybrid heat pump with a fossil-fuel backup. If your project pairs a house renovation with a new pool or terrace, expect the devis to show more than one rate.
Who signs the TVA certification on a French devis?
Reduced TVA used to need a separate Cerfa (official government form). Since the 2025 finance law, you certify directly on the devis or invoice instead. It's a line stating that the home is more than two years old and the work fits a qualifying category. You sign it with the rest of the quote.
The contractor keeps that certification for five years. If it turns out to be false, for example because the home was under two years old, you can be held jointly liable for the unpaid tax. If you've recently bought a property, give the contractor its completion date and ask them to confirm it qualifies before you sign.
What should the TVA lines on a French devis look like?
A properly drafted devis splits the work into lines by category, each with its own TVA rate. A mixed project that shows one flat rate across insulation, a bathroom refit and a new pool is a warning sign: it either overcharges you on the cheaper work or under-bills the dearer work. If your two devis differ on the rate for the same job, ask why.
Ask the contractor to state which category each line falls under. Anything billed at 5.5% or 10% should carry the certification wording for you to sign, and the contractor can explain it. RGE status is a separate question: it decides grant eligibility, and outside solar it doesn't change the rate.
More on renovation costs, quotes and TVA
Questions
Frequently asked questions about TVA on renovation work
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Not for most work. Heat pumps, insulation and general renovation get 5.5% or 10% whoever does the job. Solar panels are the exception: since 1 March 2026 the 5.5% rate on a solar system needs an installer holding RGE QualiPV. RGE matters mainly for grants such as MaPrimeRénov' (the state renovation grant) and CEE (energy-supplier grants). See what RGE certification covers.
No. The rate depends on the type of work and the age of the property. Your income plays no part, and neither does whether it's your main or second home. A non-resident with a holiday flat on the coast pays the same 10% or 5.5% as a French resident. MaPrimeRénov' is different: it's for a principal residence only and scales with income.
The standard 20%. The reduced rates need the home to have been completed more than two years before the work starts. The clock runs from the date the building was declared complete (déclaration d'achèvement des travaux), not from your purchase date. A house you bought last month can still qualify if it was built years ago.
Yes, and it's common. Loft insulation at 5.5%, a re-tiled bathroom at 10% and a new pool at 20% can all sit on the same project. Ask the contractor to split the devis into lines by rate, so you can see which work falls where.
Sources
Official sources for French renovation TVA rates
- Service-Public.fr: TVA rates on building work (F23568) Which work gets 5.5%, 10% or 20%, including extensions and work adding more than 10% of floor area, garden work, gas and oil boilers and equipment you buy yourself, plus the client certification and the client's liability if it is false.
- BOFiP: BOI-TVA-LIQ-30-20-95, reduced TVA on energy renovation work The list of energy work at 5.5% in homes over two years old, with no RGE condition, and the related work that follows the same rate.
- BOFiP: BOI-TVA-LIQ-30-20-90-20, exclusions from the reduced rates New build and fossil-fuel boiler installs are excluded from the reduced rates.
- Légifrance: arrêté of 13 July 2026 The spec an air-to-air heat pump must meet to get 5.5% from 18 July 2026.
- BOFiP: BOI-TVA-LIQ-30-20-97, TVA on solar electricity equipment The conditions for 5.5% on a solar system up to 9 kWc.
Rules checked against these sources in September 2026.