Selling and buying from abroad

A non-resident selling property in France pays a 19 % withholding on the capital gain, whatever the country of residence, plus social levies of 17.2 %, reduced to the 7.5 % solidarity levy alone for people affiliated to a social security scheme of the European Economic Area, Switzerland or the United Kingdom. Holding-period allowances wipe out the income tax after 22 years and the social levies after 30 years. Two exemptions are specific to non-residents, the former main residence sold by 31 December of the year after departure, and the article 150 U II 2° exemption capped at 150,000 € of net gain. The notaire computes, files form 2048-IMM and withholds everything on the day of the deed.

A seller domiciled outside the European Union, Iceland and Norway must appoint an accredited tax representative to sell property in France once the price exceeds 150,000 €, assessed per seller, a married couple counting as one. A seller domiciled in the European Union, Iceland or Norway is exempt, as is any sale of a property fully exempt through its holding period. The representative, who can be neither the notaire nor a lawyer, files the return, pays the withholding and remains jointly liable until the end of the reassessment period.

An owner living abroad sells without returning to France thanks to a power of attorney. Three routes exist, written by the notaires of France, the authentic power of attorney received by video conference by a French notaire, allowed by decree no. 2020-1422 of 20 November 2020, the power of attorney drawn up before a foreign notary or a consulate then legalised or apostilled, and the private power of attorney whose signature is certified by the consulate or a public officer. For an ordinary sale the private form is enough; the authentic form is required when the deed itself demands it on pain of nullity, gift, mortgage, marriage contract, lease-purchase.

Rent from a property located in France remains taxable in France, even for an owner living abroad, subject to the tax treaty with the country of residence. Article 197 A of the tax code applies a minimum rate of 20 % up to a threshold revalued each year, 29,315 € for 2024 income according to impots.gouv.fr, and 30 % above, unless the taxpayer asks for the average rate that would result from the scale applied to all French and foreign income, retained only if lower. Social levies of 17.2 % are added, or the 7.5 % solidarity levy alone for people affiliated to an EEA, Swiss or UK scheme. The return is filed on forms 2042, 2042-NR and 2044.

A non-resident is liable to the property wealth tax only for property and property rights located in France, held directly or through company shares in proportion to the French property they hold, and only if their net value exceeds 1.3 million euros on 1 January, subject to the tax treaty with the country of residence. Only debts relating to those assets are deductible. The return is filed on form 2042-IFI, attached to the income tax return, or on form 2042-IFI-SK with form 2042-IFI-COV when there is no French-source income.

Property located in France always goes through a French notaire for that asset, whatever the residence of the deceased or the heirs. Within the European Union the law governing the estate is that of the deceased's last habitual residence, unless a will chose the law of nationality. French inheritance duties apply to the French-situated building in every case, and to all assets received when the heir has been domiciled in France 6 of the last 10 years. The return is filed within 6 months of a death in France, 12 months of a death abroad, with payment, at the non-residents collection office.

An owner living abroad pays the same local taxes as a resident, with no exemption specific to that situation. The property tax on built properties is owed by whoever owns the property on 1 January, even when it is rented out, and a sale during the year does not change the taxpayer in the eyes of the tax office, the parties share it in the deed. Its base equals 50 % of the cadastral rental value. The residence tax disappeared for main homes on 1 January 2023, but remains due on a second home, that is a furnished dwelling you can occupy at any time, and municipalities in tight housing areas may add a surcharge. Both notices come from the tax office of the place where the property is.

The surveys for a sale are the same for a seller living abroad, and none requires their presence. The energy performance certificate (DPE) is mandatory for every dwelling, except independent dwellings under 50 sq. m and historic monuments, it must be less than 10 years old at the preliminary contract or the deed, and those made between 1 January 2018 and 30 June 2021 are no longer valid since 1 January 2025. Its class appears in the listing, and a dwelling rated F or G carries the mention of excessive energy consumption. A certified surveyor visits, the BRIVEO agent opens, and the reports are uploaded to the online sale file.

French law attaches no nationality or residence condition to buying a building. The law of the place where the property stands applies, and a French notaire receives the deed whatever the buyer's address. The path is that of any buyer, offer, preliminary contract, 10 calendar days to withdraw, conditions precedent, notarial deed, with two particular points, signing remotely by power of attorney or by remote appearance, and the check on the origin of funds, which the notaire must document. Acquisition costs weigh 7 to 8 % of the price on older homes, 2 to 3 % on new builds, and most départements raised their duty from 4.5 to 5 % from 1 April 2025, except for a first home used as the buyer's main residence.

An SCI under income tax is transparent, it files its result on return 2072 and each partner is taxed on their share, as if they held the building directly. The partner living outside France therefore declares their share of the rent in France, at the minimum rate of 20 % or 30 %, plus social levies. When the SCI sells the building, their share of the gain bears the 19 % levy and social levies, and a tax representative is required when the fraction of the price going to non-resident partners exceeds 150,000 €. Selling the shares follows the same rate if the company is predominantly real estate. On the other hand, the two exemptions specific to non-residents, the former main residence and the 150,000 € of gain, do not apply to a dwelling held through an SCI, and the shares enter the wealth tax in proportion to the French property.

The French-Swiss tax treaty of 9 September 1966 gives France the taxation of gains from a building located in France. The Swiss resident who sells therefore bears the 19 % levy, and social levies reduced to the 7.5 % solidarity levy alone if they are insured under the Swiss social security scheme, AVS and health insurance. Switzerland being neither in the Union nor in the European Economic Area, an accredited tax representative is compulsory above 150,000 € of price when the property has been held for less than 30 years, and the 150,000 € gain exemption stays reserved to nationals of a state of the Union or of the European Economic Area, a French citizen settled in Geneva qualifies, a Swiss citizen does not. On buying, no restriction, and rent as well as French real estate wealth remain taxable 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.

Rent from a furnished dwelling located in France is industrial and commercial profit, not property income, and it stays taxable in France when the owner lives abroad. Below 77,700 € of receipts, the micro-BIC regime applies a 50 % flat deduction, reduced to 30 % and 15,000 € for an unclassified tourist rental. Above that, or by election, the actual regime deducts expenses and depreciation. The non-resident pays at the minimum rate of 20 % or 30 %, plus social levies, and the administration states that the 7.5 % solidarity levy remains due even from someone insured under a European or Swiss scheme. The activity is registered with the one-stop business counter within 15 days. From 2026 income onwards, non-professional status is judged on worldwide income, which ends the involuntary switch to professional status for many expatriates.

The law of 10 July 1965 gives the distant co-owner three ways to weigh on the general meeting. They may take part by video conference or any electronic means that identifies them, if the meeting has decided on the technical means and if they warn the managing agent 3 clear days ahead. They may vote by post, on the form attached to the notice, received by the managing agent 3 clear days before the meeting. They may finally give a proxy to the person of their choice, another co-owner or a third party, never the managing agent, each proxy holder carrying no more than 3 proxies unless all their votes stay under 10 % of the association. The notice goes out at least 21 days before the session, electronically if the co-owner has agreed, and a decision is challenged within 2 months of the notification of the minutes.

The rural land agencies, the Safer, hold a pre-emption right over real estate for agricultural use, land, farms, farmhouses that belong to them, in the zones set by decree and above a minimum area specific to each territory. A village house with its garden is not concerned, a farmhouse with its hectares may be, and the notaire decides. The notaire notifies the sale to the Safer at least 2 months before the deed, the Safer answers within 2 months, its silence counts as waiver. It may pre-empt at the agreed price, or offer a lower price, and the seller then has 6 months to accept, give up the sale or go to court. For the seller abroad nothing changes but the calendar, the preliminary contract carries the no-pre-emption condition and the agent handles viewings.

After an inheritance or a gift it is common for a parent to keep the usufruct of a home in France while a child settled abroad holds the bare ownership. Selling the full ownership requires the agreement of all, usufruct holders and bare owners, and the price is shared according to the respective value of the rights, most often under the scale of article 669 of the tax code, which depends on the age of the usufruct holder on the day of the sale, unless the parties carry the split over to the price, by quasi-usufruct with a restitution claim, or to a new property bought as a reinvestment. Each holder is taxed on their own gain, the usufruct holder who had their main residence there is exempt for their share, and the non-resident bare owner bears the 19 % levy and social levies on theirs, with a tax representative if their fraction of the price exceeds 150,000 €.

A building located in France is gifted by notarial deed, before a French notaire, whatever the residence of the donor or the donee, and French gift duties always apply to that building under article 750 ter of the tax code. The allowances are those of any donee, 100,000 € per parent and per child, renewable every 15 years, then the direct-line scale from 5 % to 45 %. The donor may keep the usufruct, duties then fall only on the bare ownership, valued by the donor's age. Nobody has to travel, each signs by notarial power of attorney or by remote appearance. The country of residence may tax as well, and the few treaties France has signed on gifts settle the split.

An owner living abroad declares in France only their French-source income, rent first, sometimes French pensions or salaries. The gain on a sale does not appear there, the notaire has already declared and withheld it. The year of departure is declared in two parts, the 2042 for income from 1 January to departure and the 2042-NR for French income after departure, then the non-residents tax office takes over the file. The return is filed online, on the first zone's calendar, 21 May 2026 for 2025 income, and the tax is paid by direct debit from an account in the SEPA area. Local taxes remain managed by the office of the place where the building stands.

Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, French Guiana and Mayotte are French départements, and the non-resident who sells or buys there follows the ordinary law described in this guide, 19 % levy on the gain, social levies, tax representative above 150,000 €, transfer duties, notaire and land registry. Three differences matter. The minimum tax rate on rent is lowered to 14.4 % and 20 % for overseas-source income. VAT on a new home is at the local rate of 8.5 % in Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion, and provisionally does not apply in French Guiana or Mayotte. And the risk statement weighs more, cyclones, earthquakes, coastal flooding, in a sale file that the seller abroad entrusts to an agent on the spot.

With BRIVEO, the seller who lives abroad does not come back to France. They value their property online on the published sales of their municipality, open an account without an identity document, and the assistant LAIA gathers the sale file with them, title, surveys, property tax, co-ownership documents, the identity document being requested only when the property goes on the market. The mandate is signed electronically and entered in the register of mandates. The BRIVEO agent takes the photos, lets in the surveyor and shows the property, this is the Delegated Viewing, charged 5% of the price including VAT, borne by the seller and due on the day of the deed only, against 2% when the seller shows the property themselves. Offers arrive in the account, the seller accepts online, and the notaire drafts the preliminary contract then the deed, signed by power of attorney or by remote appearance. The net price, after the levy on the gain and the fees, is wired by the notaire to the seller's account, wherever it is.