UK resident, what did Brexit change when selling my property in France?
Since 1 January 2021 the United Kingdom is a third state to the European Union and the European Economic Area. For the owner who lives there and sells in France, three things changed. They must appoint an accredited tax representative when the price exceeds 150,000 € and the property has been held for less than 30 years. Their social levies went from 7.5 % to 17.2 %, unless they meet the three conditions of the 2048-IMM notes, insured under the UK scheme, national or legal resident of France, the United Kingdom or a Union state, and outside any French scheme, in which case they stay at 7.5 %. And the 150,000 € gain exemption, reserved to nationals of the Union or of the European Economic Area, now escapes them, barring dual nationality. The 19 % levy, the holding-period allowances and the former main residence exemption have not moved. To stay in their house, the rule is that of any visitor, 90 days in any 180-day period.
Since 1 January 2021, a third state
The French tax administration answered as early as February 2021 in its Brexit questions and answers. On the tax representative it writes that, the United Kingdom no longer belonging to the European Union or the European Economic Area, a seller domiciled or headquartered in the United Kingdom will have to appoint a tax representative. The ordinary exemptions remain, a sale price of 150,000 € or less, or a property held for more than 30 years, which exempts the gain anyway. Above that, the representative, an accredited company or a buyer domiciled in France accepted by the administration, signs return 2048-IMM with the seller and is liable for the tax.
The levy itself has not changed, 19 % under article 244 bis A of the tax code, the same for every non-resident since 2015, with the holding-period allowances from the sixth year.
The exemptions, the one lost and the one kept
The exemption of article 150 U II 2°, 150,000 € of net gain on a dwelling, is reserved to nationals of a member state of the European Union or of another state party to the agreement on the European Economic Area. A British national no longer qualifies, even after twenty years in France. They regain it if they also hold the nationality of a member state, Irish for instance, and meet the conditions of prior domicile in France and of time since departure.
The former main residence exemption, for its part, does not depend on nationality but on the state of settlement, which must be a member of the Union or bound to France by a treaty on administrative assistance and a treaty on assistance in recovery. The owner who leaves France for the United Kingdom and sells their house by 31 December of the year after departure, without having made it available to a third party in between, asks the notaire for it, who checks that the 2008 treaty meets those conditions. And the holding-period allowances apply as for any seller. The French-British tax treaty of 19 June 2008 avoids double taxation, the gain declared in the United Kingdom gives a credit for the tax paid in France, the seller's UK adviser applies it.
Staying in your house, 90 days in 180
A British owner enters France without a visa for a short stay, within 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole Schengen area, and service-public provides a calculator for those days. Beyond that a long-stay visa is needed, and France-Visas states that the owner of a second home who wants to spend several months there falls under the temporary long-stay visa for visitors. The European entry and exit system now records every border crossing by third-country nationals, so the count is kept at the border, with nothing for the traveller to declare.
Many British owners sell for that reason, the house becomes hard to live in for more than three months at a stretch. BRIVEO receives the mandate by electronic signature, the agent shows the property, and the notaire receives the deed by power of attorney or remote appearance, without the seller having to come back.
Frequently asked questions
I am British and Irish, am I still entitled to the non-resident exemption?
Yes. The 150,000 € exemption turns on the nationality of a member state, and Ireland is one. You must have been fiscally domiciled in France for at least 2 continuous years before the sale, and sell by 31 December of the tenth year following your departure, or have had free disposal of the property since 1 January of the previous year.
I am selling for 140,000 €, must I appoint a tax representative?
No, the price does not exceed 150,000 €, you are exempt as of right. The notaire declares and withholds the 19 % levy and the social levies on the day of the deed.
Can I sell without coming back to France?
Yes. The sale mandate is signed electronically, the surveys are carried out by a professional the agent lets in, the preliminary contract and the deed are signed by power of attorney or by remote appearance before the notaire. Nothing requires a trip.
Read next
- DGFiP, « Brexit, liste de questions-réponses à destination des particuliers » (16 février 2021), questions 5 et 6
- impots.gouv.fr, notice du formulaire 2048-IMM (2024), dispense de CSG et de CRDS des personnes relevant du régime britannique
- impots.gouv.fr, international, « Je vends un bien immobilier. Est-ce que je bénéficie des mêmes exonérations que les résidents ? » (modifiée le 5 juillet 2022)
- service-public.gouv.fr, « Calculer la durée maximale autorisée de courts séjours dans les pays Schengen »
- France-Visas, « Ressortissants britanniques », courts séjours et visa de long séjour temporaire visiteur
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Social levies, 17.2 % or 7.5 %
Before Brexit, the UK resident covered by the National Health Service fell under the European regulation coordinating social security systems and paid only the 7.5 % solidarity levy. The tax administration wrote in 2021 that UK residents would no longer benefit from the exemption from CSG and CRDS, giving an overall rate of 17.2 %. The protocol on social security coordination annexed to the trade and cooperation agreement then restored the exemption, and the official notes to form 2048-IMM take it up under three cumulative conditions, being insured under UK social security, being a national or legal resident of France, the United Kingdom or another member state of the European Union, and not being covered by a compulsory French social security scheme.
A British pensioner settled in Kent who sells their house in the Lot therefore pays 7.5 %, on presenting the notaire with proof of affiliation, their National Insurance number and a certificate from the Department for Work and Pensions or the NHS. Without proof, the notaire withholds 17.2 % and the difference is then claimed back through a formal tax claim.
The seller resident in the United Kingdom, before and since Brexit