Frais de Notaire in France: What You Really Pay When Buying on the Côte d'Azur

A clear breakdown of France's acquisition costs — registration taxes, notaire remuneration, and administrative fees — plus a worked calculation on a €2.5M+ purchase, so nothing surprises you at the notaire's desk.

Ask most international buyers what "frais de notaire" means and they'll tell you it's the notaire's fee. It isn't. The term is shorthand for the entire bundle of costs a buyer pays on completion in France — and the notaire's own remuneration is the smallest part of it. The large majority is tax.

This matters for one very practical reason: these costs are paid in cash, on top of the price, and they aren't covered by most mortgages. On a €2.5M purchase, that's well over €170,000 you need available at completion. Buyers who discover this late find themselves short at the worst possible moment. Here's the full picture.

What "frais de notaire" actually includes

The total is made up of four distinct parts. Only one of them is money the notaire keeps.

Component	Paid to	Share of the total
Registration & transfer taxes (DMTO)	The State, the département, the commune	≈ 80%
Notaire's remuneration (émoluments)	The notaire — the only true "fee"	≈ 10–15%
Disbursements (débours)	Third parties, advanced by the notaire	Small, fixed sum
Land-registration contribution (CSI)	The State (land registry)	0.10% of price

The headline: on €100 of "frais de notaire" for an existing property, only about €10–15 is actually the notaire's fee. The rest is tax collected on behalf of the State and local authorities.

1. Registration and transfer taxes — the biggest part

These are the droits de mutation à titre onéreux (DMTO), and they make up the bulk of the bill on an existing (ancien) property. They aren't negotiable. On the French Riviera, the total is built from three elements: a departmental tax of 4.50%, a communal tax of 1.20%, and a small state assessment levy (2.37% of the departmental tax, roughly 0.11% of the price). That comes to ≈ 5.81% of the price. [2] [8]

The Riviera rate

Since April 2025, départements across France have been allowed to raise their share from 4.50% to 5.00%, and most did. The French Riviera's core département, the Alpes-Maritimes (06) — Nice, Cannes, Antibes, Cap d'Ail, Cap Ferrat, Menton — held the line at the historic 4.50% rate, so total DMTO across the Riviera stays ≈ 5.81%. [2] [9] [10]

(A reduced rate exists for first-time buyers of a principal residence, but it doesn't apply to second homes or investment purchases — which is what most international buyers are making.) [2]

2. The notaire's actual fee (émoluments)

This is the only part that's genuinely the notaire's, and it's strictly regulated by the State — every notaire in France charges the same. It follows a degressive national scale: the higher the price, the lower the marginal rate. [5] [12]

Price bracket	Rate (excluding VAT)
€0 – €6,500	3.870%
€6,500 – €17,000	1.596%
€17,000 – €60,000	1.064%
Above €60,000	0.799%

(These bracket rates have been unchanged since 1 January 2021; the arrêté currently in force — dated 25 February 2026 — simply extends them to 29 February 2028 rather than setting new ones.) [3] [4]

VAT at 20% is added on top. Because the scale is degressive, the effective rate on a high-value purchase is small — on a €2.5M property the notaire's remuneration works out to roughly €24,450 including VAT, under 1% of the price. [5] [12]

Two useful points. On the portion of the price above €100,000, the notaire may grant a discount (remise) of up to 20% on their émoluments — discretionary, but always worth asking. [13] And using two notaires (yours and the seller's) costs no more: they share the same regulated fee. [14]

New vs. old: why the percentages differ

The gap between new-build and resale costs is almost entirely about tax. A new or off-plan (VEFA) property already has 20% VAT in its price, so it escapes the heavy transfer taxes and pays only a reduced registration duty instead. [8]

	Existing (ancien)	New / off-plan (neuf)
Registration / transfer tax	≈ 5.81% (Riviera rate)	0.715% (reduced duty)
Notaire's émoluments	Same regulated scale	Same regulated scale
Total acquisition costs	≈ 7–8%	≈ 2–3%

Most prime Riviera stock is existing property, so the ~7–8% figure is the one to plan around. [8] [16]

How to calculate it on a €2.5M purchase

Here's the full calculation for an existing €2,500,000 apartment in the Alpes-Maritimes (06), at the 5.81% transfer-tax rate:

Line item	Amount
Purchase price	€2,500,000
Transfer taxes — DMTO at 5.81%	≈ €145,200
Notaire's émoluments (incl. 20% VAT)	≈ €24,450
Land-registration contribution — CSI at 0.10%	€2,500
Disbursements (débours, estimated)	≈ €1,300
Total frais de notaire	≈ €173,450 (≈ 6.9%)
Total cash required to complete	≈ €2,673,450

For comparison: a €2.5M new-build on the Riviera would carry only ≈ €46,000 in acquisition costs, since the reduced 0.715% duty replaces the DMTO. Figures are illustrative and rounded — your notaire provides the exact, contractual breakdown before signing. [8]

Budgeting accurately — the levers that exist

The taxes are fixed, but a well-prepared buyer can still shape the final figure legitimately, and avoid surprises:

• Itemise the furniture. On a furnished purchase, the value of the furniture can be listed separately and is excluded from the transfer-tax base — typically 2–5% of the price, properly inventoried. Deducting €100,000 of furniture on a €2.5M purchase saves roughly €5,800 in tax. [15]

• Structure the agency fee. Where the buyer pays the commission separately (net-vendeur basis), it sits outside the transfer-tax base rather than inflating it. [15]

• Ask for the remise on émoluments above €100,000 — worth up to ~€4,600 on a €2.5M deal. [13]

• Account for financing costs. A French mortgage adds separate registration costs for the lender's security, on top of the figures above. [16]

  
  

The single biggest cause of "surprise at the notaire's desk" is simply not modelling the full number early — and every one of these levers has to be set up before the compromis is signed, not discovered afterward.

Budget from day one, with Fracct Homes

Buying abroad shouldn't mean uncertainty about what you'll actually pay. Fracct Homes models the complete acquisition cost of any Côte d'Azur property before you commit — the correct departmental rate, the deductible furniture, the financing costs — so the figure you plan around is the figure you sign for. It's part of a wider approach: local Riviera knowledge, an understanding of what international buyers need, and no surprises.

Considering a purchase on the Riviera? Book a free consultation and we'll model the full cost of any property you're weighing up.

📧 contact@fraccthomes.com · 📞 +33 682 57 0850 · 🌐 fraccthomes.com

Your Property, Our Commitment.

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General information only, not legal or tax advice. Rates and rules vary by commune and département and change over time; the figures here reflect the position in mid-2026 and are illustrative. Always confirm the exact costs for a specific property with your notaire before committing.