Pools are seen as extra real estate unless they are moveable or – in most cases – under 10 square metres in size. They must be declared within 90 days of construction to the local town hall before construction, leading to a one-off tax. They must also be declared to the tax office, leading to higher local property tax bills due to the increase in a home’s rental worth. Pools are exonerated from land tax for the first two years. Pool cheats initially receive a written warning to revise their declaration or face a tax inspection or fines. Under French law, an illegally built pool can lead to fines of €6,000 per square metre. Some French websites have suggested owners either come clean or take their lead from wealthy Greeks who notoriously camouflaged their pools when tax collectors started comparing swimming-pool ownership with incomes in 2010. The automated inspection has invoked the wrath of unions among tax inspectors with the hardline CGT warning it risked “dehumanising” their profession and could lead to staff cuts and errors. They also underlined the irony of asking Google, a company that paid France €465m over tax irregularity claims in 2019, such a key role in locating offenders.
