When a homeowner decides to build a swimming pool in his house, he is asked to declare it to the tax authorities. Yet many do not. To identify undeclared swimming pools, the tax administration has set up a new system which relies on artificial intelligence. In 2023, nearly 140,000 undeclared swimming pools have been identified.
To target these constructions subject to property tax, the tax authorities have implemented an “innovative land” system since 2021. Concretely, this uses aerial images and artificial intelligence to identify swimming pools not declared by their owners. Clearly, thanks to advanced algorithms, the data used comes from the National Institute of Geographic and Forestry Information (IGN) and is screened effectively to identify all the pools visible from the sky.
Once all this information has been collected, the General Directorate of Public Finance then looks at each swimming pool and checks whether it is declared or not. Concerning undeclared swimming pools, the tax authorities then send a reminder letter to their owners. A method that seems to be paying off. Between 2022 and 2023, the number of tax audits having identified undeclared swimming pools increased by 4%.
Concretely, the tax administration could therefore recover 15.2 billion euros this year thanks to its identification method. In 2022, 10.6 billion euros had already been collected by the tax authorities, indicates West France. According to a report made public on June 11, the number of undeclared swimming pools identified in 2023 amounts to nearly 140,000.
What are the risks for owners who do not declare their swimming pools?
It is useful to remember that the declaration of a swimming pool must be made within 90 days of its construction. If this deadline is exceeded, the owner may be fined. According to article L480-4 of the Town Planning Code, this financial sanction is established “ between 1,200 euros and an amount which cannot exceed either, in the case of construction of a floor area, a sum equal to 6,000 euros per m², or in other cases, an amount of 300,000 euros. .
Furthermore, it is necessary to specify that certain basins are exempt from property tax “ Non-taxable swimming pools are swimming pools of less than ten square meters, and above-ground swimming pools which remain on the land for a maximum of three months.had notably indicated Eloïse Déléan, sales assistant at “Piscine sérénité” in Creysse.
In the case of the purchase of a property with a swimming pool which has not been declared by the former owner, the new purchaser must send a request for regularization to the town planning services of his town hall. common.
