5.5% VAT for low-income first-time buyers receiving local aid and a 'Pass-foncier' loan

Article 52 of the law on mobilisation for housing and the fight against exclusion extends the reduced 5.5% VAT rate (Article 278 sexies, I, 3 octies of the General Tax Code) to sales and construction of new homes intended as the main residence of first-time buyers whose income is below the rent-to-own ceilings, who receive social home-ownership aid from a local authority and a deferred-repayment loan from a '1% housing' collector. The pre-tax price may not exceed that of comparable homes sold at the standard rate. Decree No. 2009-576 of 20 May 2009 names this loan 'Pass-foncier' and sets the conditions. The measure covers operations committed from the publication of the law until 31 December 2010.