Tax Atlas

France: tax residency & income tax rates

Last verified September 26, 2026 by Henning Stanger, Authorized Accountant (Autorisert regnskapsfører) · 16 verified facts · 15 sources

TL;DR

  • 183 days (as of 2026)Service-Public.fr (Direction de l'information légale et administrative, French government)“Votre domicile fiscal est en France si c'est le lieu de votre séjour principal, c'est-à-dire que vous y séjournez au moins 183 jours au cours de l'année, donc plus de 6 mois.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26 — Article 4 B itself contains no day count.
  • 49% (as of 2025)PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries“Rates are progressive from 0% to 45%, plus a surtax of 3% on the portion of income that exceeds 250,000 euros (EUR) for a single person and EUR 500,000 for a couple subject to joint taxation and of 4% for income that exceeds EUR 500,000 for a single person and EUR 1 million for a couple subject to joint taxation.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26 — The top income tax band is 45% on income above EUR 181,917 per family-quotient part, and the exceptional contribution on high incomes (CEHR) adds 3% and then 4% of reference income above EUR 250,000 and EUR 500,000 for a single person (EUR 500,000 and EUR 1 million for a couple), so the combined top marginal rate is 49%.
  • No (as of 2026)Légifrance (Code de l'entrée et du séjour des étrangers et du droit d'asile)“Il doit en outre justifier de la possession d'une assurance maladie couvrant la durée de son séjour et prendre l'engagement de n'exercer en France aucune activité professionnelle.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26 — France has no dedicated digital nomad visa.

Tax residency rules in France

As of 2026, France’s tax-residency test centres on a presence threshold of 183 daysService-Public.fr (Direction de l'information légale et administrative, French government)“Votre domicile fiscal est en France si c'est le lieu de votre séjour principal, c'est-à-dire que vous y séjournez au moins 183 jours au cours de l'année, donc plus de 6 mois.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26. Article 4 B itself contains no day count; the tax administration (BOFiP) treats a stay of more than six months in a given year as establishing the principal place of stay, which the official Service-Public portal expresses as at least 183 days in the year. This is one indicator within one of the alternative residence tests, not a stand-alone statutory rule: BOFiP says it is not an absolute criterion, and a person with a home, main professional activity or centre of economic interests in France can be resident with far fewer days.

Tax year period
1 January to 31 December (as of 2026)PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries“The French tax year runs from 1 January to 31 December.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26 — The French tax year is the calendar year, and residents file a return on calendar-year income by around mid-May of the following year. Married and PACS couples file jointly.
Residency test
Under article 4 B of the Code général des impôts an individual is tax domiciled in France if any one of three alternative criteria is met: home or principal place of stay in France, a non-ancillary professional activity in France, or the centre of economic interests in France. A double tax treaty can still treat the person as non-resident, and managers of large French companies (turnover above EUR 250 million) are presumed to work mainly in France. [source]Légifrance (Code général des impôts)“a. Les personnes qui ont en France leur foyer ou le lieu de leur séjour principal ; b. Celles qui exercent en France une activité professionnelle, salariée ou non, à moins qu'elles ne justifient que cette activité y est exercée à titre accessoire ;”View source · accessed 2026-09-26

Income tax rates in France

As of 2025, the headline personal income tax rate in France is 49%PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries“Rates are progressive from 0% to 45%, plus a surtax of 3% on the portion of income that exceeds 250,000 euros (EUR) for a single person and EUR 500,000 for a couple subject to joint taxation and of 4% for income that exceeds EUR 500,000 for a single person and EUR 1 million for a couple subject to joint taxation.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26. The top income tax band is 45% on income above EUR 181,917 per family-quotient part, and the exceptional contribution on high incomes (CEHR) adds 3% and then 4% of reference income above EUR 250,000 and EUR 500,000 for a single person (EUR 500,000 and EUR 1 million for a couple), so the combined top marginal rate is 49%. Social contributions (CSG and CRDS, 9.7% on employment income) are levied on top, and the CDHR ensures high earners pay at least 20% on average.

Non resident employment withholding
French-source employment income of non-residents is subject to employer withholding at 0%, 12% or 20%, and non-residents are taxed at a minimum rate of 20% up to EUR 29,579 of net income (2025) and 30% above. Where the income reaches the 20% withholding band an annual return is required and additional tax may be due. [source]PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries“After deducting mandatory employee social security contributions and the standard 10% salary deduction, employment income is subject to WHT at source by the employer at the rates of 0%, 12%, and 20%.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26
Pit income brackets
0–45% (as of 2025)Ministère de l'Économie et des Finances (economie.gouv.fr)“L’impôt sur vos revenus perçus en 2025, que vous déclarerez en 2026, est calculé par tranche, selon vos revenus.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26 — This is the scale applied in 2026 to income earned in 2025, indexed by 0.9% by the 2026 Finance Law promulgated on 19 February 2026. Household taxable income is divided by the number of family-quotient parts, taxed on this scale and multiplied back, with the tax saving from each extra half part capped at EUR 1,807.
Vat standard rate
20% (as of 2026)PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries“VAT is assessed on goods sold and services rendered in France. The normal VAT rate is 20%.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26 — The standard VAT rate in France is 20%, with reduced rates of 10% (for example catering and passenger transport), 5.5% (for example food and books) and 2.1% (medicines reimbursed by social security).
Inheritance gift tax
Inheritance between spouses or PACS partners is exempt, children receive a EUR 100,000 allowance before progressive rates, and unrelated heirs pay 60% after a EUR 1,594 allowance. Worldwide assets are taxed if the deceased or donor is French resident or the recipient has been resident for six of the last ten years, and French assets are always taxable. [source]PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries“No inheritance tax is due for inheritance between spouses (or partner of a Pacte civil de solidarité [PACS]) and for inheritance between brothers and sisters living together under specific conditions.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26
Withholding at source
Since 1 January 2019 French residents pay income tax through withholding at source on salaries, pensions and other income, or through monthly instalments for self-employment and rental income. The rate is recalculated each September from the latest return, and an annual return is still required. [source]PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries“As of 1 January 2019, for French resident taxpayers, a WHT system has been implemented.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26
Social contributions on capital income
18.6% (as of 2026)PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries“The CSG rate applicable to capital income rises from 9.2% to 10.6%, resulting in a corresponding increase in total social surtaxes from 17.2% to 18.6%.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26 — Social contributions on most investment income and gains total 18.6% (CSG 10.6%, CRDS 0.5% and 7.5% other levies) after the 2026 increase, while real estate income and gains, life insurance and regulated savings stay at 17.2%. People covered by another EEA, Swiss or UK social security scheme are exempt from CSG and CRDS on investment income but still pay the 7.5% solidarity levy.
High income minimum tax
The differential contribution on high incomes (CDHR), introduced for 2025 and extended by the 2026 Finance Law, tops up income tax plus CEHR so that households with reference income above EUR 250,000 (single) or EUR 500,000 (couple) pay at least 20% of their income. The government describes it as applying until the public deficit falls below 3% of GDP. [source]Ministère de l'Économie et des Finances (economie.gouv.fr)“Instaurée en 2025, la contribution différentielle sur les hauts revenus est reconduite par la loi de finances 2026.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26
Capital income flat tax
31.4% (as of 2026)PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries“As a result, the flat tax (prélèvement forfaitaire unique [PFU]) increases from 30% to 31.4%, combining 12.8% income tax and 18.6% social contributions.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26 — Dividends, interest and gains on securities are taxed under the PFU at 31.4% (12.8% income tax plus 18.6% social contributions), up from 30% after the 2026 Social Security Financing Law raised CSG on capital income by 1.4 points. Taxpayers may instead elect the progressive scale for all PFU income, and the CEHR and CDHR can apply on top.

Special tax regimes in France

0–1.5% (as of 2018)Légifrance (Code général des impôts)“Sont soumises à cet impôt, lorsque la valeur de leurs actifs mentionnés à l'article 965 est supérieure à 1 300 000 €”View source · accessed 2026-09-26 — The IFI applies when net taxable real estate wealth on 1 January exceeds EUR 1.3 million, at progressive rates from 0.5% (on the fraction above EUR 800,000) to 1.5% above EUR 10 million. Residents are taxed on worldwide real estate, while non-residents are in scope for French real estate only, and new residents are taxed only on French real estate for five years.

Exit tax
31.4% (as of 2026)PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries“Individuals who transfer their tax domicile outside of France (and who had their tax domicile in France for six years during the ten years before they break their tax domicile in France) are taxed on the unrealised capital gains on shares and rights held directly by tax household members when these rights either:”View source · accessed 2026-09-26 — Individuals leaving France after at least six of the last ten years of French tax domicile are taxed on unrealised gains on shareholdings above 50% or worth more than EUR 800,000, at 12.8% income tax plus 18.6% social surtaxes. Payment is automatically deferred on moves to the EU or treaty-cooperative states, and the tax is cancelled after two or five years for departures since 2019 if conditions are met.
Impatriate regime
Employees recruited abroad or assigned to France who were not French tax resident in the five previous calendar years can exempt their impatriation bonus (or, on option, a flat 30% of pay) and pay for foreign workdays, subject to an overall cap, until the end of the eighth calendar year after arrival. During the same period 50% of qualifying foreign-source passive income, such as dividends, interest, royalties and securities gains, is exempt. [source]Légifrance (Code général des impôts)“Les salariés et les personnes mentionnées aux 1°, 2° et 3° du b de l'article 80 ter appelés de l'étranger à occuper un emploi dans une entreprise établie en France pendant une période limitée ne sont pas soumis à l'impôt à raison des éléments de leur rémunération directement liés à cette situation ou, sur option, à hauteur de 30 % de leur rémunération.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26

Digital nomad visa in France

No (as of 2026)Légifrance (Code de l'entrée et du séjour des étrangers et du droit d'asile)“Il doit en outre justifier de la possession d'une assurance maladie couvrant la durée de son séjour et prendre l'engagement de n'exercer en France aucune activité professionnelle.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26 — France has no dedicated digital nomad visa. The long-stay visitor status requires sufficient resources and a formal commitment not to carry out any professional activity in France, so remote workers usually rely on a Talent residence permit (for example the Qualified Employee category, minimum gross salary EUR 39,582) or a self-employed visa.

Frequently asked questions

How many days can I spend in France before becoming tax resident?

183 days (as of 2026)Service-Public.fr (Direction de l'information légale et administrative, French government)“Votre domicile fiscal est en France si c'est le lieu de votre séjour principal, c'est-à-dire que vous y séjournez au moins 183 jours au cours de l'année, donc plus de 6 mois.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26 — Article 4 B itself contains no day count; the tax administration (BOFiP) treats a stay of more than six months in a given year as establishing the principal place of stay, which the official Service-Public portal expresses as at least 183 days in the year. This is one indicator within one of the alternative residence tests, not a stand-alone statutory rule: BOFiP says it is not an absolute criterion, and a person with a home, main professional activity or centre of economic interests in France can be resident with far fewer days.

What is the top personal income tax rate in France?

49% (as of 2025)PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries“Rates are progressive from 0% to 45%, plus a surtax of 3% on the portion of income that exceeds 250,000 euros (EUR) for a single person and EUR 500,000 for a couple subject to joint taxation and of 4% for income that exceeds EUR 500,000 for a single person and EUR 1 million for a couple subject to joint taxation.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26 — The top income tax band is 45% on income above EUR 181,917 per family-quotient part, and the exceptional contribution on high incomes (CEHR) adds 3% and then 4% of reference income above EUR 250,000 and EUR 500,000 for a single person (EUR 500,000 and EUR 1 million for a couple), so the combined top marginal rate is 49%. Social contributions (CSG and CRDS, 9.7% on employment income) are levied on top, and the CDHR ensures high earners pay at least 20% on average.

Does France have a digital nomad visa?

No (as of 2026)Légifrance (Code de l'entrée et du séjour des étrangers et du droit d'asile)“Il doit en outre justifier de la possession d'une assurance maladie couvrant la durée de son séjour et prendre l'engagement de n'exercer en France aucune activité professionnelle.”View source · accessed 2026-09-26 — France has no dedicated digital nomad visa. The long-stay visitor status requires sufficient resources and a formal commitment not to carry out any professional activity in France, so remote workers usually rely on a Talent residence permit (for example the Qualified Employee category, minimum gross salary EUR 39,582) or a self-employed visa.

Sources

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When to talk to an advisor

This page maps France’s general rules — it cannot weigh your treaty position, your family and asset ties, or the timing of a move. If meaningful money depends on the answer, have a qualified advisor in France (and in your home country) review your situation before you act.