Taxes in France 2026: income tax, residency, freelancers

French taxes look daunting, but the basic logic is simple. France taxes by residency, not by passport, and the tax is progressive. We’ll take it in order, for those who have moved and work or freelance. The figures below are as of October 2026, and each one names its source card and the date it was checked.

The French tax system: which taxes everyone pays

Almost anyone who works or buys something pays the CSG and CRDS social contributions (on salary 9.2% and 0.5%) and value added tax (TVA: 20, 10, 5.5 or 2.1% in the price of goods); income tax is not paid by everyone, because the first band of the scale is 0%. The rates were checked on 26 October 2026. Here is a short map:

CSG and CRDS. On salary these are 9.2% CSG and 0.5% CRDS (service-public, card F2971, checked 1 June 2026). They are not charged on the whole amount but on 98.25% of gross pay, as long as it is no more than €192,240; above that threshold, on 100%. An example for €3,000 gross: the base is €2,947.50, and 9.7% of it comes to about €286. Of the CSG, 6.8% is deducted from your income when income tax is calculated. On a pension, CSG is charged at one of four rates: 0% (exempt), 3.8%, 6.6% or 8.3% - there is more on pensions in the guide Pensions in France. On unemployment benefit it is 3.8% or 6.2%, with an exemption for small incomes.

On investment and capital income, the overall rate in 2026 rose to 18.6%: 10.6% CSG, 0.5% CRDS and the 7.5% “prélèvement de solidarité” (for investment income in 2025 it was 17.2% with CSG at 9.2%). The rise was introduced by Law No. 2025-1403 of 30 December 2025. But not on everything: rental income from housing (revenus fonciers), plus-value on the sale of property, assurance vie, PEL and CEL are still taxed at 17.2% (service-public, card F2329, checked 30 June 2026). What is left of your salary in hand is covered in Salaries in France.

TVA is charged on the price of goods and services, and the rate depends on what you buy:

These are the rates for metropolitan France; in the overseas territories they are different. Sources: service-public, cards F22399 (food, checked 3 December 2025), F23567 (hygiene and health, 18 June 2025) and F23568 (housing repairs, 21 February 2026). If you work as a micro-entrepreneur, your turnover has its own TVA thresholds - see our guide to the micro-entreprise.

Housing taxes are described below in the section “Other taxes”; buying, selling and plus-value are covered in Real estate in France for foreigners. Income tax, withholding at source and returns are in the sections of this page, and inheritance in the section “Inheritance tax in France (droits de succession)”.

When you are a French tax resident

You are a tax resident (domicile fiscal) if at least one of three conditions is met (article 4 B of the tax code, the CGI):

• your home (foyer) or main place of stay is in France;
• your main professional activity is in France;
• the centre of your economic interests is in France.

Citizenship makes no difference: service-public (card F62, checked 1 January 2026) opens by saying the rule is the same for French citizens and foreigners.

What about the “183 days”? For the main place of stay, service-public counts 183 days a year or more, meaning over six months. But that is one way of meeting the first condition, not the only test: with fewer days you are still a resident if another condition is met. The tax administration (BOFiP) calls the “more than six months” rule the general one, not an absolute one.

What does it change for your return? A resident is taxed on all income, French and foreign. A non-resident is taxed only on income from French sources and on what a treaty between the two countries leaves to France (per the tax administration, DGFiP).

If two countries both treat you as a resident, the double-taxation treaty between them decides. Whether your country has one, and whether it applies right now, is in the next section.

Tax treaties between France and Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and others

Of the twelve former Soviet republics outside the European Union, eleven have an income tax treaty with France; Tajikistan is not on the official list. Two of these treaties do not apply in full: parts of the one with Russia have been suspended since 8 August 2023, and parts of the one with Belarus since 1 June 2024.

A treaty decides which country taxes your salary, pension, dividends or rent, and how you avoid paying tax twice. We checked against the list of France’s tax treaties in BOFiP, which includes only the agreements in force on 1 January 2026 (version of 29 April 2026). “No notes” in the table means the treaty is on that list with no footnote about a suspension.

The entry-into-force dates come from BOFiP’s guidance on individual countries; where we did not open that guidance, the table gives only the dates of signature and publication.

The 1985 Soviet convention. For Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, the BOFiP list shows the convention of 4 October 1985 marked “ex-URSS”, meaning it was concluded with the former USSR. On Belarus the tax administration is explicit: the convention “continue à produire ses effets à l’égard de la Biélorussie” (still applies to Belarus), and it came into force on 28 March 1987. Ukraine and Uzbekistan, according to BOFiP, replaced the Soviet convention with treaties of their own.

Russia: what has been suspended since 8 August 2023

The treaty with Russia was signed on 26 November 1996 and has applied since 9 February 1999. On 8 August 2023 the Russian president, by decree No. 585, suspended certain articles of tax agreements with 38 countries, France among them (information notice from the Russian Ministry of Finance of 14 August 2023). Federal Law No. 598-FZ of 19 December 2023 suspended the same provisions. For France, the suspension covers articles 5-22 and 24 and points 2-9 of the protocol; the decree sets no end date.

France in turn suspended the same articles and points from the same date: this is how the principle of reciprocity in international agreements works (article 55 of the French Constitution). The procedure is set out in the guidance BOI-INT-CVB-RUS of 23 October 2024. Neither that guidance nor the BOFiP list as of 1 January 2026 records a denunciation, that is, a full withdrawal from the treaty: the list keeps it, with the note “suspension partielle” (partial suspension).

The suspension reaches the rules on almost every kind of income. BOFiP groups them as follows: business profits and income from independent professions; dividends, interest and royalties; capital gains; salaries, pensions and public-service pay; directors’ fees, the income of artists and sportspeople, and payments to students; capital. Article 23 on eliminating double taxation is not suspended, but for this income the tax administration says it has been “rendue inopérante” (made inoperative): “l’imposition de ces revenus est désormais déterminée par le droit interne de chaque État” (the taxation of this income is now determined by each state’s domestic law). What this means for a French resident with income from Russia (BOI-INT-CVB-RUS):

• a salary from Russia is taxed in France under income tax, as a salary (§ 220);
• a Russian pension, old-age pensions included, is also taxed in France under income tax (§ 230);
• the treaty’s reduced withholding rates on dividends (5% or 10%, against the general 15%) no longer apply (§ 170), and interest is no longer taxed only in the country of residence (§ 180);
• tax withheld in Russia on this income gives no right to a tax credit in France; it can only be deducted from the taxable base under the ordinary rules (§ 270);
• since 2024 the treaty no longer governs the property wealth tax (IFI) (§ 110).

There is a transition period: salaries and pensions for periods that ended no later than 30 September 2023 are still dealt with under the treaty. The sums for your own case are best worked through with an accountant (expert-comptable).

Belarus: what is suspended until the end of 2026

Belarus is covered by the 1985 Soviet convention. Belarus suspended its articles 7 (dividends), 8 (interest) and 11 (income from immovable property and capital gains) from 1 June 2024 to 31 December 2026, and France did the same on a reciprocal basis (BOI-INT-CVB-BLR of 18 June 2025). Tax withheld in Belarus on dividends and interest gives no tax credit in France; income under article 11 is taxed under French rules, with no treaty exemption. The other articles are not affected.

Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the rest

The treaty with Ukraine of 31 January 1997 has applied since 1 November 1999, the one with Kazakhstan of 3 February 1998 since 1 July 2000, and the one with Uzbekistan of 22 April 1996 since 1 October 2003. All three cover taxes on income and on capital, and none carries a note of suspension. The newest of the eleven is the treaty with Moldova: signed on 15 June 2022, published in May 2024.

Income tax treaties do not cover inheritance: for an estate in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus or Kazakhstan, see the “Inheritance tax in France” section below.

Income tax (impôt sur le revenu): the scale on 2025 income

The tax is progressive and computed per part (quotient familial). The number of parts depends on your family situation and on how many people are in the tax household (foyer fiscal). The scale on 2025 income (2026 return), per one part, according to service-public, card F1419, checked 15 April 2026:

The band limits were raised by 0.9% by the 2026 finance act (no. 2026-103 of 19 February 2026). Parliament sets the scale every year in the finance act: limits are usually raised with inflation, but only if the act expressly says so. The scale for 2026 income will come from the 2027 finance act, so the table above is good for one year.

Withholding at source

Since 1 January 2019 prélèvement à la source has applied. For employees and pensioners, the employer or the pension fund withholds the tax. For the self-employed and people with direct income, for example from letting a flat, the tax office debits advance payments from your bank account every month, or quarterly under some conditions.

Until you have filed your first return, your personal rate can’t be worked out. The tax office applies a default rate (taux par défaut): it depends on your monthly salary and runs from 0% to 43% (service-public, card F34009, checked 15 April 2026).

You file the annual return regardless, even with zero income: withholding at source doesn’t cancel that duty.

Your first return in the year you move, and accounts abroad

If you arrived in France in year N, you file in the following year (N+1): you declare all income received from the date of arrival to 31 December of year N. A paper form 2042 in this case goes to the tax office (SIP) for your new address. If you had French income before you came and filed as a non-resident, the income up to your arrival goes on form 2042-NR and everything received after arrival on form 2042 (impots.gouv.fr page, updated 17 December 2025).

The tax number (numéro fiscal) has 13 digits and is personal: each spouse has their own. It is at the top of the first page of the return and on the tax notice (avis d’impôt).

When to file: the 2026 deadlines by zone

The return for last year’s income is filed in spring, and the last day depends on your département number. In 2026 (2025 income) online filing opened on 9 April, and the tax administration set out the deadlines in its campaign press kit (DGFiP, 2026):

City by city that meant: Nice (06) and Marseille (13) by 21 May, Montpellier (Hérault, 34) by 28 May, Perpignan (66), Toulon (83) and Avignon (84) by 4 June. In every zone a paper return had to be posted by 19 May 2026, and the postmark date was what counted. Non-residents filed online by 21 May, and on paper by 19 May as well.

Filing online is compulsory if your main home has internet access and you are able to fill in the return yourself. Skip it, and the tax office adds a surcharge of 0.2% of the tax, at least €60. People living where there is no mobile coverage are exempt and file on paper (service-public, card F358, checked 5 June 2026).

The 2026 campaign is closed: every date above belongs to it, that is, to 2025 income. The 2027 return on 2026 income opens in April 2027 (F358), and the tax office will announce the zone deadlines in spring - check them on impots.gouv.fr then.

Your first return: paper only, by post only

Online filing is compulsory with one exception: your first return. If you are declaring income in France for the first time and weren’t included on your parents’ return last year, you have no online access: you fill in the paper form 2042 and send it to the SIP for your address. Your personal account on impots.gouv.fr comes from the second year, set up with three identifiers (listed below) or through FranceConnect. Logging in through FranceConnect doesn’t replace the first paper return.

The tax office leaves no room for doubt: “si vous souhaitez déclarer vos revenus et/ou votre patrimoine en France pour la première fois, vous ne pourrez pas effectuer cette démarche en ligne. Vous devez donc envoyer uniquement par la voie postale à votre service des impôts une déclaration papier”. In other words, a first return can’t be filed online, and the paper one goes to your service des impôts by post only (impots.gouv.fr page updated 10 March 2026). The page on the 2026 campaign says the same thing in terms of identifiers: “Si vous ne possédez pas de numéro d’accès en ligne, ni de revenu fiscal de référence, vous ne pouvez pas déclarer en ligne cette année”. You find the form for the right year (millésime 2026 for the 2026 campaign) through the search on impots.gouv.fr. That campaign page also has a line for recent arrivals who don’t have a numéro fiscal yet: it sends them to the procedure on the non-residents’ page about creating an espace Finances publiques. There, setting up an account through a form without the three identifiers is allowed only if you have income taxed by withholding, or you already have a numéro fiscal but pay no income tax; you are asked for your état civil, address and a copy of an identity document.

From the second year you file online. To log in to your personal account (espace Finances publiques) you need the three identifiers or FranceConnect (DGFiP press kit, 2026):

• numéro fiscal - 13 digits, personal: each spouse has their own. It is at the top of the first page of your latest return and on your latest avis d’impôt.
• numéro d’accès en ligne - 7 digits, shared by a couple and new every year. It is at the top of the first page of the latest paper return sent to you.
• revenu fiscal de référence (RFR) - the third identifier on the tax office’s list.

Accounts abroad

One more risk, for anyone who still has bank accounts in another country, is declaring accounts abroad:

You declare accounts that were opened, used or closed during the year (form 3916 / 3916 bis), and you do it together with your income tax return. Source: service-public, card F34342, checked 9 July 2026, and impots.gouv.fr, page updated 10 March 2026.

If you are not a French resident: which tax and where to file

A non-resident pays tax in France only on French income, at the minimum rate of 20% (30% on income above €29,579; figures for 2025 income) or at their own average rate if that is lower, and files online with the non-residents’ tax office, DINR. This happens when you haven’t moved yet but already let your flat in France, or you have left and a French pension or rent is still coming in. The figures below come from the DGFiP press kit for non-residents (March 2026) and impots.gouv.fr pages. This is general information: check your own case with your service des impôts.

Who counts as a non-resident. Someone whose foyer fiscal is abroad but who has income from French sources that is taxable in France. You are a resident if you meet at least one of the three criteria of article 4 B CGI: your home or main place of stay is in France, your main job is here, or your centre of economic interests is here (in detail in “When you are a French tax resident” above). If both countries treat you as a resident, the treaty between them decides.

What is taxed. French income is listed in article 164 B CGI, including rent from property in France, dividends and interest on French securities, pay and other activity in France, plus-value on property, and pensions when the payer is in France.

Who handles your file. Non-residents deal with DINR (Direction des impôts des non-résidents) for everything except local taxes. It has around 300,000 tax households worldwide: 30,000 in Belgium, 17,200 in Italy, 15,700 in Germany and 15,400 in Spain, for example. Non-residents must file online; paper is allowed only in specific cases (impots.gouv.fr page updated 26 February 2026). In 2026 the deadline was the same as zone 1: 21 May online, 19 May on paper.

The average rate. Foreign income isn’t taxed under it; it only serves to work out the percentage, as the tax office puts it: “le revenu mondial, qui n’est donc pas taxé”. In the online return, at step 3, you tick “Bénéficier du taux moyen d’imposition (s’il est plus favorable)”. If the average rate comes out higher than the minimum, the minimum applies.

Withholding for non-residents. This is not the withholding at source that residents have. The special withholding is taken from pay for work in France and from pensions paid from France. The €17,122 and €49,667 thresholds are annual. The pension fund or employer applies the scale to the payment period, so for a monthly pension or salary the thresholds are €1,427 and €4,139 a month (impots.gouv.fr page updated 18 March 2026). Don’t read €17,122 as a monthly figure. The ordinary prélèvement à la source for a non-resident covers only a few kinds of income, mainly rent (revenus fonciers) and self-employed earnings.

The year you move in or out. A non-resident’s usual annual return is form 2042, online. Form 2042-NR is for the year you leave France or come back: it carries the income for the part of the year when you were non-resident, and form 2042 the part when you were resident. In the online return, 2042-NR sits under the “Déclarations annexes” tab (DINR press kit, 2026). The tax office’s example is about coming back: the following year you file 2042-NR with French income from 1 January to the date of arrival, and 2042 with all income from that date, “de source française ou étrangère”. For first-time arrivals the mechanism is similar, but check your own case with your service des impôts.

The tax simulator on impots.gouv.fr is no use to non-residents: “ce simulateur peut être utilisé uniquement si vous résidez en France”.

Micro-entreprise for freelancers

If you freelance or work for yourself, the easiest start is the micro-entreprise regime. Contributions are a percentage of turnover, and with zero turnover there are no social contributions (the regime has a minimum-contributions option, in which case you pay even without turnover). The turnover ceilings excluding VAT (HT) for 2026-2028 (service-public, article A18813 of 26 February 2026; BOFiP of 19 August 2026):

Before 2026 the ceilings were €188,700 and €77,700. The micro regime stops applying in year N only if the ceiling was exceeded two years running, in N-1 and N-2; one year over it doesn’t end the regime. For 2026 income the tax office looks at turnover excluding VAT (HT) for 2025 and 2024 (service-public, card F23267, checked 13 May 2026).

Inheritance tax in France (droits de succession)

French inheritance tax is due in three situations (article 750 ter of the tax code, as the tax administration explains it in BOFiP):

• the deceased was a French tax resident: the whole estate is taxed, wherever the property is and wherever the heirs live;
• the deceased lived abroad, while you are a French resident on the day you inherit and have been one for at least 6 of the last 10 years (the years need not run in a row): everything you receive is taxed, in France and beyond it;
• in every other case, only property located in France is taxed.

The tax is worked out on each heir’s own share. A personal tax-free allowance (abattement) comes off first, and what is left is taxed at the rates in force on the day of death. The allowance doesn’t depend on the citizenship of the deceased or of the heirs. Figures from service-public, card F14198, checked 9 February 2026:

A brother or sister pays nothing at all if they lived with the deceased for the last 5 years, are single, widowed, divorced or separated by a court ruling, and are either over 50 or unable to work because of their health.

The direct-line scale (children, parents, grandchildren) applies to what remains after the allowance: up to €8,072 - 5%, up to €12,109 - 10%, up to €15,932 - 15%, up to €552,324 - 20%, up to €902,838 - 30%, up to €1,805,677 - 40%, above that - 45%. The card’s own example: a child receives €150,000, €50,000 of it is taxed, and the bill comes to €8,194.35.

The return is due within 6 months of the death if the person died in metropolitan France, and within 12 months if they died abroad; the tax is paid in full when you file. If the deceased lived abroad, the return goes to the tax office for non-residents (SIP non-résidents). Filing late costs 0.20% a month plus a surcharge of 10 to 80% (F80, checked 29 January 2025).

And if the inheritance is in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus or Kazakhstan? France has no inheritance tax treaty with any of them. The official BOFiP list (version of 29 April 2026) shows only income tax treaties with these countries, plus wealth tax treaties with Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, and not a single one on inheritance. So only the French rules above apply. Inheritance tax paid abroad is deducted from the French tax under article 784 A only in the first two situations and only on the part that relates to property abroad; anything paid over is not refunded.

A notaire is compulsory if the estate includes real estate, if there is a will, a marriage contract or earlier gifts, or if you need an acte de notoriété, the document that establishes who the heirs are. In simple cases you can file the return yourselves; and if a notaire fills it in, you are still the ones answerable to the tax office (F80).

Other taxes

The housing tax (taxe d’habitation) on a main home was abolished from 1 January 2023, but it is still charged on a second home. The property tax (taxe foncière) is paid by whoever owns the property on 1 January of the year: the owner or the usufructuary (service-public, cards F42 and F59, checked 24 August and 25 September 2026). Taxes on buying and selling property have a guide of their own: real estate in France for foreigners.

Always check next year’s scale and limits on impots.gouv.fr. In complicated cases (freelancing with foreign clients, income in several countries) get an accountant (expert-comptable).

Which regime a freelancer should pick and how to file your first return are things you can ask in our chat.

The “Vibe South of France” community chat on Telegram - taxes, moving and life in the South

See also:

• Working in France as a Russian-speaker
• Real estate in France for foreigners
• How to move to France: every legal route
• Salaries in France: gross and net SMIC, regional averages
• Micro-enterprise in France for foreigners: permits, contributions, ceilings