In Calais, the municipal property tax rate reaches 44,45 %, a level that comes as a surprise. Half of it comes from a departmental share transferred to the municipality in 2021, with no real rise for the taxpayer. How the mechanism works, typical profiles by district and a simulator.
Illustration : Property tax in Calais in 2026: why your municipal rate doubled.
In Calais, the municipal property tax rate shown on your notice reaches 44,45 %, a level that comes as a surprise in a town where a flat sells for an average of around 2 120 €/m². That figure is not the result of a local surge : for close to half of it, it comes from a departmental share transferred to the municipality in 2021, when the state abolished the residence tax. Here is where that rate really comes from, how it compares with other towns, and what it represents for an owner in Calais on one of the most affordable markets of the Côte d'Opale.
In Calais, the municipal rate of property tax on built property stands at around 44,45 %, to which the inter-municipal share of Grand Calais Terres et Mers is added (around 3,15 %), giving a rate of property tax on built property of around 47,60 %, excluding waste collection. Source : local direct taxation rates, DGFiP, the Direction générale des finances publiques, the French public finances directorate.
On your Calais notice, property tax on built property adds together a municipal share of around 44,45 %, an inter-municipal share voted by the Grand Calais Terres et Mers inter-municipal authority of around 3,15 %, and the household waste collection tax (around 10,75 % at the full rate). The total for the built property share therefore comes out at around 47,60 %, a level above the average of the large cities.
The striking point in Calais lies in the split : the inter-municipal share is very low (3,15 %), so it is the municipal share that carries almost all the weight of the tax. Yet that municipal rate of 44,45 % has not always existed in that form. It doubled in 2021, under the effect of a national reform set out in the sections below.
Unlike towns with a powerful inter-municipal authority, where the metropolitan share accounts for several points, Calais has a marginal inter-municipal share. The bulk of your property tax is therefore decided at municipal level, which makes the municipal rate all the more visible.
Property tax is calculated by multiplying the tax base, equal to half the cadastral rental value of your home, by the sum of the rates voted (municipality, inter-municipal authority, waste collection). In Calais, a high overall rate applies to moderate property values, which keeps the final amount in euros contained.
The mechanism is the same everywhere in France. The administration starts from the cadastral rental value of your property, that is the theoretical annual rent it could produce according to its assessment. It applies a flat-rate allowance of 50 % to obtain the tax base, then multiplies that base by the sum of the rates voted by the authorities.
Two levers make your tax vary : the rental value of your home and the rates. Rental values, often frozen since the 1970s, are revalued every year by the state : the national coefficient was +7,1 % in 2023, +3,9 % in 2024, +1,7 % in 2025 and +0,8 % in 2026, that is a cumulative rise in the base of around 14 % in four years. In Calais, the municipal property tax collected rose by around 19,75 % between 2013 and 2023, an increase driven above all by those revaluations and by the 2021 transfer.
The general revision of rental values, meant to bring cadastral bases closer to actual rents, was suspended by the government on 26 November 2025 in the face of the risk of an increase. A consultation department by department is planned from the spring of 2026 : the matter remains open.
In 2021, the abolition of the residence tax on main residences deprived municipalities of a source of revenue. To compensate them, the state transferred the departmental share of property tax to them. The departmental rate voted in 2020 was added to the municipal rate : in Calais, the municipal rate shown went from around 22 % to around 44 %, without the taxpayer paying any more for it, since the department stopped levying its share.
This is the key to reading the Calais rate. Until 2020, your property tax notice added together three shares : the municipality, the inter-municipal authority and the department of the Pas-de-Calais. The 2020 finance act organised, from 2021, the transfer of the departmental share of property tax on built property to municipalities, to compensate to the euro for the loss of the residence tax on main residences.
In practical terms, the departmental rate voted in 2020 came to be added to the municipal rate. In Calais, the municipality voted a rate of around 22 % before the reform ; the department of the Pas-de-Calais voted one of a comparable order. Once the two were merged, the municipal rate shown mechanically jumped to around 44 %. That is not a tax increase : the department no longer levies its share, the line has simply changed name on your notice.
| Share of property tax on built property | Before 2021 | Since 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Municipality of Calais | ~ 22 % | ~ 44,45 % (municipality + former department) |
| Department of the Pas-de-Calais | ~ 22 % | abolished (transferred to the municipality) |
| Inter-municipal authority (Grand Calais) | ~ 3 % | ~ 3,15 % |
The practical consequence : when you compare the municipal rate of Calais with that of a town whose rate looks low to you, you are not always comparing the same thing. A municipality with a lower rate shown may belong to a department where the former share was lower, or may have benefited from a different correcting coefficient. The municipal rate, on its own, can no longer be read without that framework inherited from 2021.
In orders of magnitude, all shares included, waste collection included : around 600 € for a studio in Van Grutten, 1 050 € for a 3-room flat in Les Fontinettes, 1 450 € for a 4-room flat in Calais-Nord, 1 950 € for a house at Le Front de Mer. The exact amount depends on the cadastral rental value specific to your home, which appears on your notice.
The amounts below are orders of magnitude built from typical profiles anchored on real districts of Calais and on the prices per m² from our processing of DVF data, the French notarised sales database. They give an idea of the weight of the tax according to the property, not a personalised calculation : your actual bill depends on the rental value shown on your notice.
| Profile | District | Annual property tax (order of magnitude) |
|---|---|---|
| Studio 30 m² | Van Grutten | ~ 600 € |
| 3-room flat 65 m² | Les Fontinettes | ~ 1 050 € |
| 4-room flat 85 m² | Calais-Nord | ~ 1 450 € |
| House 100 m² | Le Front de Mer | ~ 1 950 € |
Those levels stay contained despite a high rate, because the rental values of Calais are moderate : at a comparable rate, an owner pays less in Calais than in an expensive metropolitan area, where properties are worth two to three times more. The real weight of the tax is always measured against the price of the property, as the last section shows.
Enter the amount of the municipal share of your property tax (the "municipality" line on your notice). The simulator estimates the fraction that corresponds to the former departmental share transferred in 2021, on the basis of a municipal rate in Calais that went from around 22 % to 44,45 %. That share is not an increase : it has simply moved from the "department" line to the "municipality" line.
At around 47,60 % for property tax on built property (municipality and inter-municipal authority), Calais sits above the average of the large cities (around 39,74 %), but far from the national records of Grenoble (around 67,92 %) or Angers (around 56,42 %). Its distinctive feature is not an extreme rate, but a high rate carried almost entirely by the municipality, applied to a very affordable property market.
The table below places Calais in the national landscape of property tax rates on built property, according to the data of the UNPI, the French property owners union, and the municipal rates observed.
| Town | Rate of property tax on built property (2025) |
|---|---|
| Grenoble | ~ 67,92 % |
| Angers | ~ 56,42 % |
| Montpellier | ~ 52,63 % |
| Bordeaux | ~ 48,48 % |
| Calais | ~ 47,60 % |
| Nantes | ~ 46,34 % |
| Marseille | ~ 44,54 % |
| Average of the large cities | ~ 39,74 % |
| Toulouse | ~ 35,35 % |
| Lyon | ~ 32,44 % |
| Paris | ~ 20,50 % |
Calais therefore pays a rate above the average, but its originality lies in its structure : an inter-municipal authority that is almost non-existent when it comes to property tax, and a municipal share inflated by the 2021 transfer. To understand the trajectories specific to other towns, see our analyses of property tax in Brest, property tax in Nantes and property tax in Marseille.
In Calais, a rate above the average applies to a market that has remained very accessible : the average price of a flat is around 2 120 €/m² in 2026, one of the lowest on the coast, up by around 16 % over five years. Property tax is part of the cost of ownership, but on its own it does not trigger a decision to sell. A fair valuation of the property remains the determining factor.
That is the nuance that counts for an owner in Calais. The rate is high, but it applies to moderate property values : the average price of a flat is around 2 120 €/m² in 2026 (Immover processing, DVF data), with wide gaps between Le Front de Mer, on the beach front (around 2 900 €/m²), and the residential districts to the south such as Van Grutten (around 1 700 €/m²). Measured against the price of the property, the tax therefore weighs less heavily than elsewhere.
For a buyer, and above all for an investor who thinks in terms of net yield, the annual cost of ownership counts : a tax of 1 050 € on a flat bought for 140 000 € in Les Fontinettes does not weigh like the same tax on a property twice as expensive in a metropolitan area. Measured against the price, taxation in Calais remains bearable, and the market, carried by the port position and the appeal of the beach, has risen by around 16 % in five years.
In the end, property tax is not the first driver of a sale in Calais. The right asking price is. To set it, a valuation based on the actual transactions in your district remains the best starting point. To place the value of your property in Calais before any decision :
The municipal rate of property tax on built property in Calais stands at around 44,45 %, to which the inter-municipal share of Grand Calais Terres et Mers is added (around 3,15 %), that is around 47,60 % for property tax on built property, excluding waste collection. The household waste collection tax comes on top at a full rate of around 10,75 %. That rate is above the average of the large French cities (around 39,74 %).
Because since 2021 it has included the former departmental share. The abolition of the residence tax on main residences deprived municipalities of a source of revenue; to compensate them, the state transferred the departmental share of property tax to them. The departmental rate of the Pas-de-Calais was added to the municipal rate of Calais, which went from around 22 % to around 44,45 %. That is not a tax increase: the department no longer levies its share.
No, not because of the transfer itself. The 2021 reform was compensated to the euro: the departmental share simply changed line on your notice, moving from the department to the municipality. What has pushed your tax up since then is the annual revaluation of cadastral rental values decided at national level (+7,1 % in 2023, +3,9 % in 2024, +1,7 % in 2025, +0,8 % in 2026), and not the transfer.
The property tax notice is sent by the Direction générale des finances publiques, the French public finances directorate, between late August and early October. The payment deadline is generally set at 15 October for taxpayers paying monthly or 20 October for a direct payment. No action is required, the calculation is automatic. In the event of an error, you can appeal through your personal account on impots.gouv.fr, under Réclamations, until 31 December of the following year.
In orders of magnitude, all shares included, waste collection included: around 600 € for a studio in Van Grutten, 1 050 € for a 3-room flat in Les Fontinettes, 1 450 € for a 4-room flat in Calais-Nord and 1 950 € for a house at Le Front de Mer. Those amounts are indicative: the actual bill depends on the cadastral rental value specific to your home, which appears on your notice. As the rental values of Calais remain moderate, the tax weighs less, in amount, than in an expensive large city.
The rate of property tax on built property in Calais, around 47,60 % for the municipality and the inter-municipal authority, is above the average of the large cities (around 39,74 %), but far from the national records of Grenoble (around 67,92 %) or Angers (around 56,42 %). Its distinctive feature is not an extreme rate: it is a high rate, carried almost entirely by the municipality, applied to a property market among the most affordable on the coast (around 2 120 €/m² for a flat).
No, it is marginal. The inter-municipal share voted by the Grand Calais Terres et Mers inter-municipal authority is around 3,15 %, against several points in towns with a powerful metropolitan authority. In Calais, the bulk of property tax is therefore decided at municipal level, which makes the municipal rate all the more visible on your notice.
The direct effect is limited. Property tax is part of the annual cost of ownership, but the value of a property is above all determined by its location, its floor area, its condition and its energy rating. In Calais, an accessible market up by around 16 % over five years, a rate above the average weighs little measured against moderate prices, with a clear premium for the seafront. The tax is not the first driver of a sale: the right asking price is. A valuation based on the actual transactions in your district remains the best starting point.
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