Can I deduct notary fees on an LMNP property?

Yes, under the régime réel, in one of two ways: as an expense in the year of purchase, which usually creates a loss carried forward ten years against LMNP profits only, or added to the purchase price and depreciated with the building components over several decades. Under the micro-BIC nothing is deducted: the flat allowance covers everything.

Can I change my mind after the first year?

No. The choice is made through the accounting treatment at the first year-end and is irrevocable for that property. Three years later, you cannot switch expensed costs into depreciation, or the reverse. That is why the question has to be settled when you set up the property, before any year-end.

Which option should I choose if I’m unsure?

Add them to the price. Over ten years both options deduct roughly the same amount, but depreciating creates no loss to track, never expires and gives higher depreciation for as long as you own the flat. Expensing only wins if rent is high from the first year or you plan to sell quickly.

Are loan arrangement and guarantee fees part of the purchase costs?

No. Loan-related costs (arrangement fee, guarantee, mortgage registration, broker’s fee) are financial charges, deductible in the year they are paid, whatever you decide for notary fees. Purchase costs in the strict sense are transfer duties, the notary’s fees, formalities and, if you paid them, agency fees.

Notary fees for LMNP: expense them or depreciate them?

By Juliano Majally · 30 October 2026 · 6 min read

Purchase costs on a French furnished rental: deduct them in year one or depreciate them. An irrevocable choice, explained with a €200,000 example.

On an older flat bought for €200,000 in France, notary fees (frais de notaire) come to about €15,000, and agency fees add a few thousand more. That’s not nothing, and how you treat them in the first year commits you for all the following ones. Here are the two options, and how I reasoned for my own file.

What counts as purchase costs

Transfer duties (the biggest part, about 5.8% of the price in most départements), the notary’s fees, formalities, and agency fees if you paid them. Costs linked to the loan (arrangement fee, guarantee, mortgage registration) are not purchase costs: they are financial charges, deductible in the year they are paid.

Option 1: expense them in the first year

You deduct the €15,000 in one go in the first financial year. Since first-year rent rarely covers such a sum, you create a loss (déficit). Two points to watch:

An LMNP loss cannot be set against your salary: it can only be carried forward against your LMNP profits over the next ten years.
During those years, depreciation is capped by article 39 C: it can’t deepen the loss. In practice, the notary-fee loss is used up over profitable years, and deferred depreciation piles up behind it.

This option suits you when rent is high from the first year (the loss is absorbed quickly) or when you expect to keep the property for less than ten years.

Option 2: add them to the price and depreciate

The costs are added to the acquisition cost and spread across the components pro rata. As with the price, the land share isn’t depreciable. On €15,000 of costs with 15% land, €12,750 is depreciated with the building, over 15 to 50 years depending on the component: a few hundred euros a year for decades. The €2,250 allocated to land is never deducted, except on sale, where it increases the purchase price.

This option is slower but safer: nothing expires, and you have no loss to track on form 2033-D. It’s the option my accountant chose in 2025, and I kept it when I moved the file into Meublé: the components in the FEC carry the price plus the costs, split between them.

An irrevocable choice

The choice is made at the first year-end, through the accounting treatment you adopt, and it’s irrevocable for that property (BOI-BIC-CHG-20-20-10). Three years later, you can’t switch expensed costs into depreciation, or the other way round. That’s why Meublé asks the question when you create the property, and won’t let you change it after the first year-end.

How to choose: the €200,000 example

Rent €18,000, expenses before depreciation €6,000, annual depreciation €7,000, purchase costs €15,000.

Expensed: in year one, the result before depreciation is 18,000 − 6,000 − 15,000 = −€3,000. A €3,000 loss carried forward for ten years; the €7,000 of depreciation is entirely deferred (39 C). In year two, the result before depreciation is €12,000: depreciation goes first (€7,000 for the year, then €5,000 from the deferred stock, within the €12,000 limit), result zero. The €3,000 loss and the remaining €2,000 of deferred depreciation are used in year three, depreciation first, loss second.
Added to the price: annual depreciation rises to about €7,450. In year one, result before depreciation €12,000, depreciation of €7,450 deducted in full, taxable result €4,550. No loss, a little tax from year one, but higher depreciation for the whole period.

Over ten years, both options deduct roughly the same amount. Expensing gains you time at the start; adding to the price gains you simplicity and loses you nothing after ten years. If in doubt, add them to the price.

And capital gains on sale?

Since 15 February 2025, deducted depreciation reduces the purchase price when the capital gain is calculated. Costs that were added to the price and depreciated are part of it. Expensed costs aren’t depreciation, but they don’t increase the purchase price either, since they’ve already been deducted. On this point, the two options are roughly equal; and the 7.5% flat allowance for purchase costs still applies to individuals’ capital gains, which narrows the difference. More in the capital gains guide.

What Meublé does

Meublé asks how you want to treat purchase costs when you create the property, spreads them across the components if you add them to the price, and locks the choice after the first year-end so it can’t be changed by mistake.

Frequently asked questions

Can I deduct notary fees on an LMNP property?: Yes, under the régime réel, in one of two ways: as an expense in the year of purchase, which usually creates a loss carried forward ten years against LMNP profits only, or added to the purchase price and depreciated with the building components over several decades. Under the micro-BIC nothing is deducted: the flat allowance covers everything.
Can I change my mind after the first year?: No. The choice is made through the accounting treatment at the first year-end and is irrevocable for that property. Three years later, you cannot switch expensed costs into depreciation, or the reverse. That is why the question has to be settled when you set up the property, before any year-end.
Which option should I choose if I’m unsure?: Add them to the price. Over ten years both options deduct roughly the same amount, but depreciating creates no loss to track, never expires and gives higher depreciation for as long as you own the flat. Expensing only wins if rent is high from the first year or you plan to sell quickly.
Are loan arrangement and guarantee fees part of the purchase costs?: No. Loan-related costs (arrangement fee, guarantee, mortgage registration, broker’s fee) are financial charges, deductible in the year they are paid, whatever you decide for notary fees. Purchase costs in the strict sense are transfer duties, the notary’s fees, formalities and, if you paid them, agency fees.