General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and depend on your situation; have your own case checked by the notaire or an adviser in France (and in the country where you live).
If you sell a French home that is not your main residence, the profit is taxed in France as a plus-value immobilière, also when you live abroad. The good news for sellers who are not in France: you rarely have to file anything yourself. The notaire who handles the sale calculates the tax, files the return and pays it out of the sale proceeds. This guide explains how that works, which exemptions exist and when you need a représentant fiscal. We deliberately do not quote rates: they change, and the official pages linked below always show the current ones.
1. What is taxed: the plus-value
The taxable gain is, in principle, the sale price minus the acquisition price. Service-public.fr explains that both sides can be adjusted:
- Sale price: the price in the deed, reduced by certain costs borne by the seller, such as the compulsory diagnostics.
- Acquisition price: what you paid, increased by acquisition costs and by certain building or renovation works. You can use the actual, documented costs, or under conditions a flat-rate amount set by law.
- Inherited or donated property: the acquisition value is the value stated in the declaration of succession or the deed of gift.
Keep the invoices of works you carried out. Without proof, the notaire can only use what the rules allow as a flat rate.
2. The longer you own it, the lower the tax
France reduces the taxable gain for every year you have owned the property, the abattement pour durée de détention. The reduction starts after the fifth year of ownership. According to impots.gouv.fr, the gain is fully exempt from income tax after 22 years and from social contributions after 30 years. In between, the reduction grows each year; the schedule is on the official page.
For a holiday home owned for decades, the result can therefore be little or no tax. For a home bought a few years ago, the full gain is usually taxable.
3. How a non-resident is taxed
A non-resident seller pays two things on the taxable gain:
- Income tax at a fixed rate, levied as a withholding (prélèvement) through the notaire, and in some cases a surcharge when the gain is high.
- Social contributions. Here your country of residence matters. If you live in the EU, the EEA or Switzerland and are covered by the compulsory social security system there, you do not pay the French CSG and CRDS but only a prélèvement de solidarité (solidarity levy). According to impots.gouv.fr this also applies to residents of the United Kingdom. Residents of other countries pay the full social contributions.
The current rates are on impots.gouv.fr. Do not rely on rates from older articles: the social contributions in particular have changed several times.
4. The notaire does the paperwork
At the sale, the notaire calculates the taxable gain, fills in the return form 2048-IMM-SD and pays the tax to the tax office on your behalf, out of the sale price. You receive the balance. If you have other French income, impots.gouv.fr says the gain must also be reported in your annual French income tax return (form 2042 C), for the calculation of your rate. Your country of residence may also want to know about the sale; check with an adviser there how it is treated under the tax treaty with France.
5. Exemptions that matter for sellers abroad
The best-known exemption, for the résidence principale, applies to the home you live in when you sell. Once you have moved abroad, the French home is no longer your main residence. Two rules for non-residents can still help, according to impots.gouv.fr:
- Full exemption for your former main home. This applies if the home was your main residence in France before you moved abroad, you kept it at your free disposal until the sale (for example, not rented out), you sell by 31 December of the year after you moved, and you now live in an EU country or in a country that has an assistance agreement with France.
- A capped exemption. If you were tax resident in France for at least two consecutive years at some point, part of the gain on the sale of one home can be exempt, up to a ceiling per seller. You must sell by 31 December of the tenth year after leaving France, or at any time if the home has been at your free disposal since at least 1 January of the year before the sale. This exemption is meant for nationals of an EU or EEA country that has an administrative assistance agreement with France; according to the official tax guidance, nationals of other countries can qualify only under conditions, through a non-discrimination clause in their tax treaty. The official page lists the exact conditions.
Other exemptions apply to everyone, such as very low sale prices and the full exemption after a long holding period. Service-public.fr lists them all.
6. Do you need a représentant fiscal?
Some non-resident sellers must appoint an accredited fiscal representative (représentant fiscal accrédité), who guarantees the tax to the French administration. The official tax guidance (BOFiP) lists when you are exempt from this obligation:
- you live in an EU or EEA country that has a mutual tax assistance agreement with France (Liechtenstein is the exception);
- the sale price does not exceed the threshold set in the rules; it is assessed per seller, and a married couple or PACS partners taxed jointly count as one seller;
- the sale is fully exempt because of the holding period;
- the sale concerns your exempt former main home.
Living outside the EU or EEA, for example in the United States, and selling above the threshold with a taxable gain? Then you will usually need one. Ask the notaire early: the representative must be in place before the deed is signed, and the notaire can tell you what applies.
7. Taxe foncière in the year of sale
Whoever owns the property on 1 January is liable to the tax office for that year's taxe foncière. Buyers and sellers often agree in the deed that the buyer pays back a share for the rest of the year. According to impots.gouv.fr that is a private arrangement between you: the tax office still sends the bill to the owner on 1 January.
A checklist before you sign
- Find your purchase deed and the invoices for works.
- Work out how many full years you have owned the property.
- Check whether an exemption applies, and whether you need a représentant fiscal.
- Ask the notaire for an estimate of the tax, so you know the net proceeds.
- Ask an adviser in your own country how the sale is treated there.
Also read our guides on the documents you need and on the sale process from compromis to deed. Ready to sell? Create your free account and place your home, or start with our page on selling your house in France.
