5% household goods flat rate: why it does not cover your jewelry

This is one of the most common — and costliest — misunderstandings in estates that include jewelry. The "5% flat rate" exists, but it does not do what many heirs think it does.

What exactly the 5% flat rate says

Article 764, I, 3° of the French General Tax Code provides that, in the absence of a public sale or inventory, the taxable value of household goods cannot be less than 5% of all other movable and immovable assets in the estate.

Two clarifications are needed. First, this is a minimum, not a cap or an optional comfort: it is a floor that applies when nothing more precise exists. Second, and most importantly, it applies only to household goods.

"Household goods": a precise legal concept

Article 534 of the French Civil Code defines them as movable items intended for the use and ornamentation of dwellings: beds, chairs, tables, tapestries, mirrors, clocks... In other words, what furnishes a home.

A ring, a necklace, a loose diamond, a collector's watch, or a painting does not furnish an apartment in the legal sense. They fall under Article 764, II, which provides a specific valuation regime for them. Tax doctrine published in the BOFiP confirms: jewelry, precious stones, works of art, and collectibles are excluded from the household goods flat rate and must be declared separately.

Practical consequences for heirs

Three mistakes are common:

• Believing that 5% "covers everything" and not declaring anything for jewelry. In case of an audit, the tax authorities can reinstate their value, plus late interest.
• Adding jewelry to household goods in a single category. The return becomes imprecise and fragile, whereas jewelry is often the most significant movable asset.
• Under-valuing out of excessive caution: declaring a very low value "by feel." If an insurance policy exists, it sets a floor that makes this under-valuation immediately contestable.

Conversely, a written appraisal at the date of death secures the return in both directions: it avoids risky under-valuation as well as over-valuation, which would cause heirs to pay unnecessary taxes.

Updated July 24, 2026 — rates and allowances are subject to change with each finance law.