LMNP without an accountant: is it possible?
No legal requirement, no more tax edge from management centres: what a French furnished landlord can do alone under réel, the risks, and when an accountant pays off.
Kivlo · Updated November 9, 2026 · Sources checked November 9, 2026 · 2 min read
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Yes, a non-professional furnished landlord can do without a chartered accountant (expert-comptable), including under the réel regime: no rule requires one. You can keep your accounts, compute depreciation and file the 2031 and 2033 return yourself in your professional space on impots.gouv.fr. Joining an approved management centre no longer brings any tax advantage. The difficulty lies elsewhere: the first year (land, components, depreciation schedule) and tracking deferred depreciation from year to year, where a mistake costs you in a tax audit or when you sell.
The rules below are those in force on 9 November 2026, applying to 2026 income, declared in 2027.
This guide is part of our LMNP réel: the complete guide.
What the law requires, and what it does not
Under réel, a furnished landlord must (impots.gouv.fr):
- register and obtain a SIRET number;
- keep accounts: receipts, expenses, fixed assets and depreciation;
- file a 2031 profit return and its 2033 schedules every year, electronically;
- carry the result to form 2042-C-PRO.
Nothing requires these tasks to be handed to a professional.
What you can do yourself
The year's bookkeeping: a furnished landlord records few transactions, often a few dozen a year (rent, service charges, property tax, loan instalments, insurance). A spreadsheet or rental management software is enough.
The returns: the business return is typed in free of charge in your professional space, and the result is carried to form 2042-C-PRO. See our guides LMNP forms 2031 and 2033 yourself and Declaring LMNP income: form 2042-C-PRO.
Depreciation in later years: once the schedule is set, each year's depreciation is mechanical. See LMNP depreciation: a worked example.
Where people go wrong
- The land share: forgotten or underestimated, it inflates depreciation. It must be justifiable.
- Components and useful lives: a component depreciated too fast is excessive depreciation, challenged in an audit.
- The article 39 C ceiling: depreciation cannot create a loss. The excess must be added back and tracked from year to year (article 39 C of the French tax code, CGI).
- Expense or fixed asset: improvement works expensed in one go instead of being depreciated.
- Selling: since 15 February 2025, depreciation deducted increases the capital gain. A badly kept schedule distorts that calculation. See LMNP capital gains and depreciation clawback.
The tax office can audit past returns and correct excessive depreciation, with late-payment interest and, where applicable, penalties.
Approved management centres no longer bring a tax advantage
For a long time, joining an approved management centre (CGA, or OGA) avoided a 25% uplift on taxable profit, and gave a tax reduction of two thirds of accounting and membership fees, up to €915 a year. That is no longer the case:
- the uplift was reduced step by step, then abolished from 2023 income;
- the 2025 finance law abolished the tax reduction from 2025 income, and repealed the approval of these bodies (impots.gouv.fr).
These bodies may still offer support or a review of your accounts, but membership no longer changes your tax.
When an accountant is worth it
- The first year: land share, components, depreciation schedule, opening balance sheet. This is where mistakes that carry forward for decades are made.
- A sale: computing the capital gain with the depreciation clawback.
- Several properties, joint ownership, split ownership.
- Approaching professional landlord status: more than €23,000 of receipts, and receipts above your other earned income (article 155 of the CGI).
A middle way: have a professional set up the depreciation schedule in the first year, then keep the following years yourself. The fees are a deductible expense under réel.
Have your first return reviewed
Even if you plan to do everything yourself, have your first depreciation schedule and first return reviewed by a chartered accountant. Every later year inherits them.
Sources
- Furnished letting (location meublée), impots.gouv.fr
- OGA: repeal of the approval and of the tax reduction, impots.gouv.fr
- Article 39 C of the French tax code, Légifrance
- Article 155 of the French tax code, Légifrance
Last checked on 9 November 2026
Your LMNP accounts, kept as you go
Kivlo records your rent and expenses, compares micro-BIC and réel from the Pro+ plan and keeps your depreciation schedule from the Business plan. The 2031 and 2033 return is in preparation.
Frequently asked questions
Is an accountant compulsory for LMNP réel?
No. No rule requires a non-professional furnished landlord to use a chartered accountant. You can keep your own accounts and file your 2031 and 2033 return yourself.
Should I still join an approved management centre?
It no longer brings a tax advantage. The 25% uplift on non-members' income was gone from 2023 income, and the tax reduction for accounting and membership fees has been abolished from 2025 income. The approval of these bodies itself was repealed.
Are accountant's fees deductible?
Yes, under réel: they are business expenses, deducted from receipts like any other.
When is an accountant really useful?
In the first year (land share, components, depreciation schedule), when you sell, with several properties or joint ownership, or as you approach the professional landlord thresholds.
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Kivlo editorial team
Updated November 9, 2026 · Sources checked November 9, 2026 · 2 min read