Landlord in a French co-ownership: charges and tax

When you let a flat in a copropriété (a co-ownership building, where each flat has its own owner and the common parts are owned jointly), your syndic (building manager) asks you every quarter for advances on charges (provisions pour charges). Part of these charges is recoverable from your tenant: those listed in the decree of 26 August 1987 (water, collective heating, upkeep of the common areas, the lift, part of the caretaker…). The rest is yours to bear: the syndic's fees, the building insurance, the fonds de travaux (works fund), major works. Once a year, you carry out the régularisation des charges (service-charge reconciliation): you square the tenant's advances with the actual charges. On your form 2044 (the rental income return under the actual-expenses regime), you deduct the advances paid to the syndic (line 229), then add back the following year the part that was not yours to bear (line 230).

This guide follows a landlord's year in order: read what the syndic sends, sort what goes to the tenant, regularise, file your return. It covers unfurnished lettings used as the tenant's main home. The rules are those in force on 9 November 2026. The 2044 line numbers are those of the notes to the return filed in 2026 (2025 income), the most recent published.

What the syndic sends you#

Two documents shape the year of an owner who lets their flat.

The call for funds (appel de fonds), usually quarterly, asks for your share of the forecast budget (budget prévisionnel) voted at the assemblée générale (the owners' general meeting), plus, where relevant, the contribution to the works fund and the calls for voted works. These are advances: no one yet knows what the year will really cost.

The accounts for the financial year, approved at the general meeting the following year, give the actual expenses split between the units, item by item. This document lets you work out what the tenant really owes, and what you can really deduct. Your individual statement compares your advances with your share of the actual expenses: the balance is refunded or set against the next call, or adds to what you owe.

If your statement has a "recoverable charges" column, use it as a starting point, but check it: that is the syndic's classification, not the law. The list that counts is the decree's.

What is recoverable from the tenant#

On top of the rent, the tenant owes the charges récupérables (recoverable service charges), on proof (article 23 of the law of 6 July 1989). They fall into three families: services linked to the use of the home, routine upkeep and minor repairs of the common parts, and taxes that pay for services the tenant benefits from. Their list is set by the annex to decree no. 87-713 of 26 August 1987, presented as exhaustive by service-public.gouv.fr:

Heading of the decree	Recoverable examples
I. Lifts	Electricity, inspections and routine upkeep, minor repairs (buttons, door closers, fuses)
II. Collective water and heating	Cold and hot water, fuel or energy, routine upkeep of the boiler room, meter readings
III. Individual installations	Adjustments and minor repairs of water heaters, taps and toilet flushes
IV. Indoor common areas	Electricity, cleaning products, light timer, cleaning (staff)
V. Outdoor areas	Upkeep of paths, green spaces, play areas
VI. Hygiene	Bags, pest control, waste disposal (staff)
VII. Miscellaneous equipment	Mechanical ventilation, intercom and door code, sweeping of ventilation ducts
VIII. Taxes and fees	Household waste collection tax or fee, street-sweeping tax

The caretaker (gardien) is only partly recoverable: 75% of their cost if they both clean the common areas and handle waste disposal, 40% if they do only one of the two, excluding benefits in kind, profit-sharing and severance pay (article 2 of the decree).

Never recoverable, because they are not on the list: the syndic's fees, the building insurance, the contribution to the works fund, major works (facade renovation, roof, replacing the lift), the five-yearly technical inspection of the lift. The item-by-item detail is in our guide Recoverable co-ownership charges: the list.

The taxe d'enlèvement des ordures ménagères (TEOM, household waste collection tax) does not come through the syndic but on your taxe foncière (property tax) notice: it is recoverable, excluding management fees. See Household waste tax: charging it to the tenant.

The yearly regularisation with the tenant#

The lease usually provides for monthly advances on charges, paid with the rent. They must be regularised at least once a year: you compare what the tenant paid with their actual share of the recoverable charges, and you refund the overpayment or claim the shortfall (article 23).

The law sets out the steps:

1. One month before the regularisation, you send the tenant the breakdown by type of charge (water, heating, lift…) and, in a block of flats, the allocation method between the homes.
2. For six months after sending this breakdown, you keep the supporting documents available to them: the syndic's statement, the invoices, the property tax notice for the household waste tax.
3. You then set the following year's advances based on the actual expenses and the co-ownership's forecast budget.

Two time limits deal with delay. If the regularisation has not been done before the end of the calendar year following the one in which the charges were due, the tenant can insist on paying the arrears in twelfths (article 23). And after three years, the claim is time-barred, for you as for a tenant claiming back an overpayment (article 7-1 of the law of 6 July 1989). The step-by-step process is in Co-ownership charge regularisation: when and how.

When the tenant leaves during the year#

The co-ownership's accounts will only be known the following year, while the security deposit must be returned within one or two months. In a block of flats, the law covers this case: you draw up provisional accounts and may keep back an amount capped at 20% of the security deposit, duly justified, until the building's accounts are approved. The final regularisation and the return of the balance take place within the month following that approval. You can also agree to settle everything straight away (article 22 of the law of 6 July 1989). The rest of the deposit follows the usual rules, see Security deposit.

For the year of departure, in our reading, the tenant only owes the charges for their period of occupation: a pro rata by number of days or months is the simplest method to justify.

The works fund and voted works#

A residential co-ownership must set up a works fund once ten years have passed since the building's construction works were handed over. It is fed by a compulsory annual contribution, at least 5% of the forecast budget, and these sums stay with the co-ownership, even when you sell (article 14-2-1 of the law of 10 July 1965). It is not on the decree's list: you cannot charge it to the tenant. See Co-ownership works fund: can you charge it to the tenant?

Works voted at the general meeting are paid by the owners, so by you. The tenant only pays what counts as routine upkeep and minor repairs listed in the decree; they must, however, give access to the home when the works require it, and are entitled to a rent reduction if the works deprive them of part of the home for more than 21 days. See Works voted at the general meeting: who pays, landlord or tenant?

The tax side: form 2044 under the réel regime#

Under micro-foncier (the simplified regime), you report your gross rent and the 30% allowance covers all charges: nothing below concerns you. Under the régime réel (actual-expenses regime), the co-ownership goes through three mechanisms of the notes to form 2044.

Recoverable charges are neither income nor expenses. What the tenant reimburses you is not taxable, and what you pay on their behalf is not deductible. Exception: recoverable charges you could not get reimbursed by 31 December of the year the tenant left are deducted on line 225.

Line 229, in the year of payment. You deduct the total advances paid to the syndic during the year, including the recoverable part and the non-deductible part: this overall deduction is compulsory, even if you already know the exact breakdown when you file (BOI-RFPI-BASE-20-70, § 10 and 20). Advances for works voted at the general meeting go there too; only special advances for works not yet voted are excluded, the expense then being deducted in the year it is paid.

Line 230, the following year. Once the accounts are approved, you add back the fraction of the advances deducted the previous year that relates to non-deductible charges (an extension, for example), to charges recoverable from the tenant, and any positive balance (advances higher than the year's expenses). If the balance is negative, the top-up is deducted on line 229. The result: over two years, you have only deducted the charges that are really deductible and yours to bear.

The lines, the special cases and leaving the réel regime are detailed in Deductible co-ownership charges: the 2044 lines. To choose between the two regimes, see Micro-foncier or actual expenses.

A year's calendar#

For a co-ownership financial year that matches the calendar year, the same charges of year N keep you busy for two years:

When	Tenant side	Tax side (réel)
Year N	They pay their advances each month	You pay the syndic's calls
Spring N+1	—	Return for year N income: N advances on line 229
General meeting of N+1	Accounts for N approved: you prepare the breakdown	You note how the N charges split
One month after the breakdown	Regularisation: refund or arrears	—
End of year N+1	After that, the tenant can pay in twelfths	—
Spring N+2	—	Return for year N+1 income: add-back on line 230, N+1 advances on line 229
After three years	Arrears claim time-barred (article 7-1)	—

If your co-ownership's financial year does not follow the calendar year, remember that line 229 takes the advances paid to the syndic in the calendar year of the return, for instalments due that year.

Worked example#

A two-room flat let unfurnished under the réel regime. In 2025, the syndic calls €1,800 of advances (4 calls of €450). The tenant pays €120 a month in advances on charges, i.e. €1,440 over the year. The 2025 household waste tax on your property tax notice comes to €160, excluding management fees.

In spring 2026, the general meeting approves the 2025 accounts. Your individual statement shows €1,740 of actual expenses for your unit:

2025 expenses for your unit	Amount	Recoverable?	Deductible?
Water, collective heating, electricity and cleaning of common areas, lift (upkeep), green spaces	€1,170	Yes	No
Caretaker (75% of their share)	€150	Yes	No
Caretaker (remaining 25%), syndic's fees, building insurance, small repairs	€420	No	Yes
Total	€1,740	€1,320	€420

The positive balance is €1,800 − €1,740 = €60: the syndic sets it against your next call.

The regularisation with the tenant, in 2026: recoverable charges €1,320 + household waste tax €160 = €1,480, against €1,440 of advances paid. The tenant owes you €40. You send them the breakdown by type of charge, then a month later the payment request. You can raise their advances to €125 a month for 2026.

Form 2044:

Return	Line	Amount
2025 income, filed in 2026	229 — advances paid in 2025	€1,800
2026 income, filed in 2027	230 — add-back of the 2025 advances	€1,320 + €60 = €1,380
2026 income, filed in 2027	229 — advances paid in 2026	depending on the 2026 calls

Across the two returns, you have deducted €1,800 − €1,380 = €420 for 2025, exactly the share of the charges that is yours to bear and deductible. The €1,440 of advances and the tenant's €40 of arrears are not reported as income; the household waste tax is not deducted, but its management fees are, on line 227.

Common mistakes#

• Deducting only the non-recoverable part on line 229. The notes require you to deduct the total paid, then add back the following year.
• Forgetting line 230. You fill it in with the accounts approved at the general meeting; without it, you deduct your tenant's charges twice.
• Charging the syndic's fees or the works fund to the tenant. They are not on the decree's list.
• Regularising without a breakdown. The tenant must receive the detail by type of charge one month before; without supporting documents, they can dispute it.
• Letting three years go by. After that, the arrears can no longer be claimed.

Sources#

• Annex to decree no. 87-713 of 26 August 1987 (list of recoverable charges), Légifrance
• Article 23 of law no. 89-462 of 6 July 1989 (charges and regularisation), Légifrance
• Article 14-2-1 of law no. 65-557 of 10 July 1965 (works fund), Légifrance
• Notes to form 2044 (2025 income), impots.gouv.fr (in French)
• BOI-RFPI-BASE-20-70: co-ownership charge advances, BOFiP
• Rental charges, service-public.gouv.fr (in French)

Last checked on 9 November 2026