Leaving France: tax in the year you go, the exit tax and what follows

Leaving France for tax purposes is not a single act. It is the result of a situation: you stop being domiciled in France once your home, your main place of stay, any non-secondary professional activity and the centre of your economic interests are no longer there. Selling the flat or changing your address does not decide it alone, and no form declares that you have gone. Impots.gouv.fr is clear on the commonest case: if your household stays in France, you stay domiciled in France, even if you work elsewhere for most of the year. Our page on French tax residency goes through those criteria. In the year you leave, you remain taxed on all your income up to the departure date, then on French-source income only. Assets kept in France stay taxable, and the treaty with your new country shares out the tax. Some people also have to look at the exit tax before going, because one of its deadlines runs before the move itself.

Before you go: the order of things

None of these steps replaces the criteria, but they stop a file getting lost between two offices:

1. Check the exit tax if you hold substantial securities. For some countries, the deferral must be requested at least 90 days before the move.
2. Create your online tax account on impots.gouv.fr before leaving, and take your login details with you.
3. Report your new address to your last public finance centre, online from that account.
4. Tell your employer and pension funds if you go on receiving salary or pension, since the tax on these generally changes. The notes to form 2041-E show, by type of pension and country, whether it stays taxable in France.
5. Tell your bank. It will say whether accounts or products must close. To pay online, you need an account in France or the SEPA area.
6. Ask your health insurer and top-up cover before leaving: your rights depend on your country of residence and your status.
7. Contact the tax office in your new country. It has its own rules, even if you still pay tax in France.

Filing the departure year: two forms, one cut-off date

For a departure in year N, the return is compulsory. It goes in during N+1, as usual, and confirms your new address. Your last centre manages your file until that return is processed. If you then have taxable French-source income, the non-resident tax office (SIP-NR) takes over. If you have none, say so clearly in the additional information section.

Two groups stay on one return for the whole year, with all household income, at their usual office: state, local authority and public hospital staff posted abroad whose household stays in France, and cross-border couples married or in a PACS under a community regime. The BOFiP also says the six-month marker does not apply in the year domicile moves abroad.

Exit tax: who, on what, and how payment can wait

You are affected if two conditions meet. You were a French tax resident for at least 6 of the 10 years before the move. And your shares, securities or rights reach at least €800,000 in all, or at least 50% of a company’s profits. Income tax and social levies then apply to three things: unrealised gains, receivables from an earn-out clause, and gains placed under a tax deferral regime.

That is not necessarily a bill on departure. Payment can be suspended by a deferral, either automatic or on request. It must be requested, with a guarantee, on form 2074-ETD only for a non-cooperative state or territory, or a non-EU state with no assistance agreement with France. That request goes in at least 90 days before the move. The deferred tax then falls away, unless there is a sale, buyback or liquidation in the meantime:

These periods apply to moves since 1 January 2019. The forms follow the income tax calendar: 2074-ETD in N+1, then 2074-ETS3 each year of follow-up, with the deferred amount carried to box 8TN of form 2042-C. Another change of country must be reported within 2 months. We stop at these general rules. The exact figure depends on the securities and their valuation, and it calls for professional advice.

After departure: your French income and assets

As a non-resident you stay taxable on French-source income, subject to the treaty: rent, activity carried on in France, gains, pensions from French funds. Withholding may apply, and it does not remove the duty to file. The scale and family quotient apply with a minimum rate: in the page we read, last changed in February 2025, 20% up to €29,315 for 2024 income and 30% above, or your average rate if you show it is lower. That threshold may have changed for more recent income.

A move to a non-cooperative state or territory closes the PEA. The gain then bears income tax and social levies if the plan is under 5 years old, and social levies alone beyond that. For local taxes, the office where the property is stays in charge, even if your income tax goes through SIP-NR.

Mistakes a close reading of the texts helps you avoid

The first is believing in a 183-day rule. The texts we read have none: 182 days in France does not prove you have left if your spouse and children still live there. The second is forgetting the centre of economic interests: according to impots.gouv.fr, French-source income above your foreign income is enough to place it in France, which matters if you keep a business or large rents. The third is assuming your new country treats you as a resident. A treaty only helps if it applies to your situation: see dual tax residency and, for Dubai, the article on the France-UAE treaty, where one point stays unsettled. On presence, the counter above shows your days per year. By default, it shows a departure in late June with a return at Christmas. To keep that record during the transition, the Taxlag app can help.