New tax schedule for usufruct and limited duty reductions on gifts of bare ownership

Article 19 of the 2004 Finance Act rewrites Article 669 of the General Tax Code: the value of usufruct and bare ownership used for registration duties and land registration tax is set by a new schedule based on the usufructuary's age, and Article 762 is repealed. Usufruct granted for a fixed term is valued at 23% of the full ownership value per ten-year period (rate set by Article 28 of the 2003 Amending Finance Act, instead of the two tenths in the Finance Act). Article 790 is rewritten: gifts of bare ownership get a 35% duty reduction if the donor is under 65 and 10% between 65 and 75; other gifts keep 50% and 30%. Changes of matrimonial regime to a community regime made in 2004 and 2005 are exempt from duties.