The Government provides a tax incentive to encourage investment in rental accommodation, but does not know exactly how much it costs. This is clear from the response from the Minister for Finance, Gilles Roth (CSV), in response to a parliamentary question from the MP Dan Biancalana (LSAP). Accelerated depreciation allows owners of rental properties to deduct part of the value of their investment from their taxable income more quickly. Dan Biancalana wanted to know the budgetary cost of the scheme in 2024 and the expected cost in 2025, as well as the number of taxpayers and properties affected.

The Ministry does not provide any of these figures in its response published on Tuesday 11 August. The reason: the information relating to accelerated depreciation contained in Annex 190/210 “is not currently recorded separately” by the Direct tax administration (ACD). Only the net rental income is recorded in the system. The ACD is therefore unable to determine “either the number of taxpayers who have claimed the measure in question or the number of properties concerned”.

A shortfall of 8 million a year

In the absence of actual data, Gilles Roth refers to the estimate made when the housing recovery package was adopted in 2024. The loss of tax revenue was then estimated at 8 million euros per year, potentially over a period of up to seven tax years.

This calculation was based, in particular, on one assumption: the purchase of 1,000 properties at a price of one million euros each, representing an investment of one billion euros. Two years later, however, it is impossible to compare this estimate with the scheme’s actual take-up. The tax authorities do not know how many taxpayers are benefiting from it, how many properties are involved, or what the actual cost will be in 2024.