Yes, when you don't expect it, I reckon it can be a shocker, considering that it can be quite high depending on which town you live in. As I said, it is not ex

Yes, when you don't expect it, I reckon it can be a shocker, considering that it can be quite high depending on which town you live in. As I said, it is not exactly a tax on rent (it is not a percentage of the rent price and even if you don't pay a rent, you shall pay it), but yes, it has to be counted in your expenses. That tax is not really going to social services (well, that depends how you define social services, in fact), it is more for the local infrastructures: most of it goes to the municipality, so it is used for streets and small roads, for primary schools, for municipal administration, swimming pool, library, and so on; another part goes to the department (a bit like a US county), it is used for roads, middle schools, and one-off financing of heavy local equipment. Part of it can be used for local social action too, indeed. The general principle is that it is designed to fund the burden you put on the local infrastructure by living in that place (what is a bit weird is that it is not based on the number of people living in a house, it is assumed that the bigger the house, the more inhabitants, the more burden on infrastructures, I guess). Then anything can happen but that is the general goal :-) Anyway, this tax is going away soon for most people. What will replace the funding is still mysterious however.