What is a share in an SCI (société civile immobilière, a French property-holding company) worth for wealth tax? Less than the fraction of the property it represents, everyone agrees. But how much less, and on what grounds? A decision of the Commercial Chamber of the Cour de cassation of 9 July 2025 gives a concrete benchmark: two discounts of 10 % were allowed, one for the illiquidity of the assets and one for the illiquidity of the shares, and the taxpayer who asked for two more, including one for “joint ownership”, lost.
The facts
In 2017 the French tax authority sent a taxpayer a tax reassessment notice for the wealth tax then in force (the ISF, impôt de solidarité sur la fortune) for the years 2014 to 2016, increasing the value of the shares he held in several SCIs. The departmental conciliation commission allowed a 10 % discount for illiquidity of the assets and a 10 % discount for illiquidity of the shares. The taxpayer claimed two further 10 % discounts, including one for indivision (joint ownership), arguing that the position of an SCI shareholder is comparable to that of a joint owner, constrained in management as in disposal.
The decision
The Cour de cassation (French supreme court for civil and commercial matters) dismisses the appeal (Cass. com., 9 July 2025, appeal no. 24-13.540). It recalls that under article L. 17 of the French Book of Tax Procedures and articles 885 S and 761 of the French General Tax Code, “the market value of shares in sociétés civiles immobilières must be assessed taking into account all the factors that make it possible to obtain a figure as close as possible to the one that the normal interplay of supply and demand would have produced”. It then approves the NANCY Court of Appeal for holding that “the position of a shareholder in a société civile immobilière is not that of a joint owner”: the shareholder may transfer his shares, subject to the approval clause, which is already reflected in a specific discount, whereas a joint owner may only transfer his rights in the joint ownership under the conditions of articles 815-14 to 815-16 of the French Civil Code. Having already obtained two 10 % discounts, the taxpayer could not obtain a third.
What the decision brings to valuation
Two distinct discounts, each with its own reasons. The first concerns the assets: a property held through a company does not sell like a property held directly, and the market for SCI shares is narrow. The second concerns the shares themselves: approval clause, absence of a market, constraints in the articles. The decision confirms that these two discounts can be combined when they address different handicaps, and it gives an order of magnitude accepted by a conciliation commission.
No double counting. What is already reflected in one discount cannot be counted a second time under another name. The request for an “indivision” discount amounted to counting the constraints on transfer and management twice. A valuation report must therefore name precisely what each discount compensates for, and check that none overlaps with another.
The basis remains the restated net asset value. Before any discount, the value of the shares derives from the market value of the properties on the date of the taxable event, plus the other assets and less the liabilities, including shareholder current accounts. The Charte de l’expertise en évaluation immobilière (the French property valuation charter) lists the valuation of company shares among the specialities of certain property valuation experts (6th edition, November 2025, Title I, § 8.5), and defines the market value of property in Title III, § 1.1.
The rates are not a scale. The 10 % and 10 % of this case do not hold for every SCI. A minority holding in a family company with very restrictive articles, and a property occupied by a shareholder, justifies different rates from a majority holding in a company that distributes profits regularly. What withstands audit is the reasoning, not the figure.
A method that applies beyond the ISF
The IFI (impôt sur la fortune immobilière, the French wealth tax on property) has replaced the ISF, but the rules for valuing shares are the same, and they also apply to inheritance and gift tax. The reasoning of the decision therefore applies to any declaration of SCI shares, and to any challenge before the conciliation commission or the court.
Further reading
The Business and company shares page describes the valuation of SCI shares, its timescale and its fee. On the same theme: Valuing SCI shares: guide and worked example and SCI shares in a French inheritance: which discounts are accepted?. The decision is available on Légifrance.
What next
SCI shares to declare, or to defend before the French tax authority?
Wealth tax, inheritance, gift, reassessment: I value the properties, reconstruct the net assets and justify each discount by the articles of association and the company's situation, in a report ready for the conciliation commission.
Free quote, by email or by phone. No commitment before the quote is accepted. Fees are never linked to the value of the property (Charte de l’expertise, Title I, §2.1).
