topic US citizen that has no income generating foreign property. in Investors & landlords

US citizen that has no income generating foreign property.

laurentkm2 — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 10:12:51 GMT

Have a property in France that family lives in. They do not pay us any rental, but pay any taxes that are due in France.

I am not making any money from the property. I assume I need to report that I have the property, but do I have to pay taxes to the US government even though I'm not making any income from the property?

Re: US citizen that has no income generating foreign property.

Anonymous_ — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 14:52:59 GMT

If the property is rental real estate, you should enter it into the program despite the fact that it is located in a foreign country.

Re: US citizen that has no income generating foreign property.

laurentkm2 — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 15:05:41 GMT

Thanks for the reply.

The property is not a rental. The family overseas owns it and lives in it. I am just listed as one of the owners, but am not making any money from it at the moment. In this case, would I still need to pay some kind of tax here in the US?

Re: US citizen that has no income generating foreign property.

TomD8 — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 17:32:42 GMT

You are correct that the property is not "rental property". But since the property is lived in by family members and is "not held out for rent or resale", then per IRS Publication 936 (page 4) you may regard it as a "qualified home" for purposes of the mortgage interest deduction.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p936.pdf

Unfortunately, per the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, foreign property taxes are no longer deductible.

Bottom line: there is nothing to enter on your tax return unless you are able to itemize deductions and to deduct mortgage interest.

Re: US citizen that has no income generating foreign property.

laurentkm2 — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 16:27:09 GMT

Thank you all for the replies. It's very appreciated!