Taxes in France for Individuals in 2026: Rates, Inheritance and Reliefs

A French tax resident pays income tax on worldwide income at progressive rates from 0% to 45%, and families are taxed as a unit: household income is split into “parts” according to family size. Since 1 January 2026, investment income has been taxed at a flat 31.4% instead of 30%, of which 18.6% is social charges. Property holdings worth more than €1.3 million are subject to IFI, and children inherit after an allowance of €100,000 from each parent. People hired by a French company from abroad can get up to eight years of partial exemption. Below you will find the rates, thresholds and worked calculations for two households, plus what has changed for Russian nationals since the double tax treaty was suspended.

Which taxes individuals pay in France

Tax residence: Article 4 B and the 183-day myth

Whether you are a French tax resident is decided by Article 4 B of the General Tax Code (Code général des impôts, CGI). It sets out three tests, and meeting any one of them is enough:

• Home or principal place of stay. Your home (foyer) is where your spouse or PACS partner and children normally live. If your family is in France, you are resident even if work keeps you in another country for most of the year. If there is no home, the test is where you spend most of your time.
• Professional activity. You work in France, employed or self-employed, and that work is not incidental.
• Centre of economic interests. France is where your main investments, your business or the centre of your professional activity are, or where most of your income comes from.

French law has no 183-day rule. Article 4 B does not mention a number of days. In its official guidance (BOFiP), the tax authority says that someone who spent more than six months in France during the year “as a rule” has their principal place of stay there. But it immediately adds that this is not an absolute test. The Conseil d’État has treated people as resident after less than six months in France when they spent noticeably more time there than in any other country. The reverse also applies: six months abroad will not help if your family, work or main income stayed in France.

A common mistake among people relocating is to count days and assume there is no tax below 183. If you moved with your family in September and rented a flat, your home has been in France from that moment. If you are resident in two countries under their domestic laws, the double tax treaty settles the question. Between Russia and France the residence articles still apply, but almost everything else is suspended; more on that in the next section.

In your first year, you declare all income received from the date of your move to 31 December. If you had French income before moving, you file two returns: one as a non-resident for 1 January to your arrival, and one as a resident for the rest of the year. If you are declaring in France for the first time, your first return is filed on paper form 2042.

The France–Russia treaty: what has been suspended since 2023

The double tax treaty between France and Russia was signed on 26 November 1996. It has not been terminated outright, but most of it no longer applies:

• Russia suspended Articles 5–22 and 24 of the treaty and paragraphs 2–9 of its protocol by Decree No. 585 of 8 August 2023.
• France suspended the same provisions on a reciprocal basis from the same date, 8 August 2023. The notice was published in the Journal officiel on 23 June 2024, and the tax authority’s guidance appeared in BOFiP on 23 October 2024.
• As of September 2026, official French websites show no document terminating the treaty in full. Articles 1–4, including the rules for determining residence, are not suspended.

What this means for a French resident with Russian income:

• Russian salary, dividends, interest, rental income and pensions are taxed in France under French law and in Russia under Russian law. The reduced 5% and 10% withholding rates on dividends no longer apply.
• Article 23 on tax credits does not work. Tax withheld in Russia is not credited against French tax; it is only deducted from the taxable base. Double taxation becomes very real.
• Russia has been on France’s list of non-cooperative jurisdictions since 2024 and remained on it when the list was updated on 15 April 2026. Payments to Russian persons are generally not deductible unless you can prove they are genuine.

If you work remotely for a Russian company and are moving to France, work out the tax on both sides in advance: sometimes it pays to change how you work before the move rather than after it.

Income tax: the 2026 scale on 2025 income

The scale is set each year by the Finance Act. The 2026 scale applies to 2025 income and is expressed per single part of the family quotient:

Each rate applies only to the income within its band. If your income per part is €45,000, the 30% rate applies only to the amount above €29,579. Before the calculation, 10% is automatically deducted from salaries for professional expenses: at least €509 and at most €14,555 per household member on the 2025 income return. You can claim actual expenses instead if they are higher.

The family quotient (quotient familial)

The household’s taxable income is divided by the number of parts, tax is calculated on one part, and the result is multiplied back. This moves families with children into lower bands.

The benefit of extra parts is capped: for a couple, each additional half-part above two reduces tax by no more than €1,807 in 2026. The tax office calculates the tax on the actual number of parts and the tax on two parts minus the cap, and charges whichever is higher. For a single parent raising children alone, the benefit of the first two additional half-parts is capped at €4,262.

Small tax bills are further reduced by the décote: if a single person’s tax is below €1,982, they deduct €897 minus 45.25% of the tax; for a couple the threshold is €3,277 and the reduction is €1,483 minus 45.25% of the tax. Tax below €61 is not collected.

Worked examples on the 2026 scale

Household 1: single professional, no children. Taxable salary for 2025: €50,000.

1. 10% deduction: €5,000. Taxable income: €45,000.
2. Parts: 1; income per part: €45,000.
3. Up to €11,600: €0.
4. From €11,600 to €29,579: €17,979 × 11% = €1,977.69.
5. From €29,579 to €45,000: €15,421 × 30% = €4,626.30.
6. Total: €1,977.69 + €4,626.30 = €6,603.99, rounded to €6,604. No décote: the tax is above €1,982.

Check with the formula from the tax authority’s brochure: €45,000 × 0.30 − €6,896.01 = €6,603.99. That is 13.2% of taxable salary, even though this person’s top band is 30%.

Household 2: married couple with two children. Taxable salaries for 2025: €50,000 and €40,000.

1. 10% deduction for each: €5,000 and €4,000. Household taxable income: €81,000.
2. Parts: 3; income per part: €27,000.
3. Tax per part: (€27,000 − €11,600) × 11% = €15,400 × 11% = €1,694.
4. Tax on three parts: €1,694 × 3 = €5,082.
5. Cap check. Without children, on two parts, income per part €40,500: €81,000 × 0.30 − €6,896.01 × 2 = €10,507.98.
6. Benefit from the children: €10,507.98 − €5,082 = €5,425.98. Cap for two half-parts: 2 × €1,807 = €3,614. The benefit exceeds the cap.
7. Household tax: €10,507.98 − €3,614 = €6,893.98, rounded to €6,894. No décote: the tax is above €3,277.

The household’s tax is 7.7% of €90,000 in salaries. We checked the method against the examples on service-public.gouv.fr: for a couple with one child and €80,000 of income, the same steps give €8,401, matching the tax authority.

Withholding at source and the annual return

Since 2019, tax on salaries and pensions has been withheld by the employer or pension fund (prélèvement à la source). The tax office sets the rate from your latest return and updates it every September. The self-employed, landlords and people paid by a foreign employer make monthly or quarterly instalments, which the tax office debits from their bank account. Dividends and interest are not subject to withholding at source; they are taxed by the bank or through your return.

A newcomer with no return on file gets a default rate of 0% to 43%, depending on monthly income. If the rate is too high, the difference is refunded after your first return. Marriage, PACS, the birth of a child or divorce must be reported within 60 days, as they change the rate.

Withholding does not replace the annual return. In 2026, 2025 income was declared online by 23:59 on:

• 21 May for départements 01–19 and non-residents;
• 28 May for départements 20–54;
• 4 June for départements 55–974 and 976.

Paper returns were accepted until 19 May 2026. The return for 2026 income opens in April 2027. Filing online is mandatory if you have internet access at home; otherwise the penalty is 0.2% of the tax, with a minimum of €60. If you have underpaid for the year, a balance of up to €300 is collected in a single payment in September, and anything above €300 in four instalments from September to December. Foreign accounts, including Russian ones, are reported in the “Comptes, contrats ou placements à l’étranger” section of the same return.

Very high incomes pay surcharges. The CEHR contribution: 3% on income from €250,001 to €500,000 and 4% above that for a single person; for a couple, 3% from €500,001 to €1,000,000 and 4% above. The CDHR contribution tops up the total tax burden of such households to 20%; it applies to 2025 and 2026 income, and the 2026 advance payment is due between 1 and 15 December 2026.

Social charges on investment income and the 31.4% flat tax

French residents pay social charges on investment income even when that income is exempt from income tax. The 2026 Social Security Financing Act raised CSG by 1.4 points, from 9.2% to 10.6%.

For income from assets, such as furnished lettings without professional status, the new CSG rate already applies to 2025 income declared in 2026. If you live in France but work and are insured in another EEA country or Switzerland, you do not pay CSG or CRDS; only the 7.5% remains.

The PFU flat tax applies by default to dividends, interest and gains on securities. From 1 January 2026 it is 31.4%: 12.8% income tax and 18.6% social charges. When the income is paid, the bank withholds a 12.8% advance; you can be exempted from the advance if your household income two years earlier was below €50,000 for a single person or €75,000 for a couple, by applying to the bank by 30 November of the previous year.

Instead of the PFU you can opt for the progressive scale for all your investment income at once. Dividends are then taxed on 60% of the amount (a 40% allowance), and 6.8% of CSG and expenses are deductible. The scale is better if your top band is 0% or 11%; at 30% and above, the PFU wins. From 2026 income onwards, you can withdraw the option for the scale retrospectively if it turns out to be the worse choice.

Example. €10,000 of dividends in 2026. Under the PFU: €1,280 tax + €1,860 social charges = €3,140. On the scale in the 11% band: €10,000 × 60% × 11% = €660 tax + €1,860 social charges = €2,520, and a further €680 of deductible CSG reduces your taxable income.

Payroll contributions: what comes off your gross salary

In France, salaries are quoted gross. Employee contributions are deducted first, then tax at your withholding rate. The employer pays its own share of contributions on top, which is not part of your salary. The employee share in the private sector for 2026:

Employees aged 65 and over also pay a 2.4% solidarity contribution on gross salary. In addition, almost everyone has contributions deducted for the company health insurance (mutuelle) and sickness and disability cover (prévoyance). These depend on the company’s contract, so check them on your payslip.

Example: €3,500 gross a month, non-managerial employee. Pension contributions: 0.40% + 6.90% + 3.15% + 0.86% = 11.31%, or €395.85. CSG and CRDS: 9.7% of 98.25% of gross, €333.56. Total €729.41, or 20.84% of gross. That leaves €2,770.59 before mutuelle, prévoyance and tax. Taxable salary is slightly higher than take-home pay, because the non-deductible 2.4% CSG and 0.5% CRDS are included in it.

The impatriate regime: up to eight years of relief

Article 155 B CGI grants a partial income tax exemption to people who come to work in France from abroad. The conditions:

• you were not a French tax resident for the five calendar years before starting work;
• you are hired by a company in France, either transferred by a foreign company in the same group or recruited directly from abroad by a French employer; the regime is also open to company officers treated as employees for tax purposes, even if they hold shares in the company;
• you move your tax residence to France when you start work and work in France as your main activity.

The regime is not available to people who came to look for work on their own or who already lived in France when they were hired.

Duration: until 31 December of the eighth year after starting work. Start on 1 January 2025 and the relief runs until 31 December 2033. Moving to another company in the same group keeps the regime; leaving the group ends it.

What is exempt from income tax:

• the relocation bonus (prime d’impatriation), either at the amount in your contract or, if you prefer, 30% of net taxable salary, even if the contract has no bonus;
• the part of your salary paid for work done abroad for your employer;
• 50% of foreign dividends and interest, 50% of intellectual property income and 50% of gains on securities, provided the income comes from a country whose treaty with France includes an administrative assistance clause.

Limits: the taxable part of your salary cannot be lower than the pay for the same job at your company or similar companies in France. The bonus and the foreign-work portion together are exempt up to 50% of total remuneration, or, if you prefer, the foreign-work portion alone up to 20% of taxable salary.

Two more reliefs for newcomers. For five years, IFI is calculated only on property in France; this applies to all new residents, with no employment condition. And an employed impatriate can ask to opt out of the French basic and supplementary pension schemes and not pay those contributions.

The link with the talent passport. Holders of a talent passport (passeport talent) hired by a French company from abroad may qualify for the regime. The conditions for each category are covered in France’s talent passport: categories and requirements. For founders of their own company, the regime is not automatic: you need a salary as an officer treated as an employee and must meet the other conditions. The route for entrepreneurs is explained in the talent passport for entrepreneurs.

A common mistake is to remember the regime only after signing the contract. The relocation bonus has to be written into the contract or an annex before you start work; without it, only the 30% option remains.

For comparison, new residents in Spain can use the Beckham Law: 24% on income up to €600,000 for six years. The other differences are set out in Spain or France.

Property taxes: IFI, taxe foncière, taxe d’habitation

IFI: the real estate wealth tax

You pay IFI if the net value of your property on 1 January 2026 exceeds €1,300,000. Residents count property worldwide; a new resident after five years abroad counts only French property for five years. Debts relating to the property are deducted: mortgages, works and taxes. Your main home is valued with a 30% discount. Once the threshold is crossed, tax is calculated from €800,000:

For values between €1,300,000 and €1,400,000, the tax is reduced by €17,500 minus 1.25% of the value. IFI plus the taxes on the previous year’s income cannot exceed 75% of that income.

Example: a €2,000,000 flat in Paris with no debt, which is your main home. After the 30% discount, €1,400,000 is taxable. Tax: €500,000 × 0.5% = €2,500 plus €100,000 × 0.7% = €700, for a total of €3,200. The reduction at €1,400,000: €17,500 − €17,500 = 0. Result: €3,200 in 2026. If the flat were let, the full €2,000,000 would be taxable and the tax would be €7,400.

IFI is declared together with income tax, on the same deadlines.

Taxe foncière and taxe d’habitation

Property tax (taxe foncière) is paid by whoever owns the property on 1 January, even if it is let. The base is half the cadastral rental value (valeur locative cadastrale), and rates are set by the commune and other local authorities, so the amount varies a great deal from town to town. The same bill includes the refuse collection charge, which can be passed on to the tenant. The bill arrives in the last quarter of the year.

Residence tax (taxe d’habitation) on main homes was abolished from 1 January 2023. It is now paid only on second homes: furnished properties you can use at any time, as owner or tenant. The base is the cadastral rental value, and the rate is set by the commune. Communes in areas with a housing shortage can vote to add a surcharge. Owners must declare how the property is used in their account on impots.gouv.fr by 1 July after a purchase or change; otherwise the penalty is €150 per property.

Inheritance and gift tax in France

The tax depends on the relationship. Spouses and PACS partners inherit tax-free. Everyone else receives an allowance (abattement) and pays tax on their share according to a scale.

The direct line scale for 2026: up to €8,072, 5%; €8,073 to €12,109, 10%; €12,110 to €15,932, 15%; €15,933 to €552,324, 20%; €552,325 to €902,838, 30%; €902,839 to €1,805,677, 40%; above that, 45%. A brother or sister is fully exempt if they lived with the deceased for the five years before death, are unmarried, and are over 50 or unable to work.

Example: a child inherits €300,000 from their father. After the allowance, €200,000 is taxable. Tax: €8,072 × 5% = €403.60; €4,037 × 10% = €403.70; €3,823 × 15% = €573.45; €184,068 × 20% = €36,813.60. Total €38,194.35, or 12.7% of the inheritance. If the same €300,000 went to a brother, after the €15,932 allowance the tax would be €125,387.60. An unrelated person inheriting €50,000 would pay €29,043.60.

When France taxes assets abroad. If the deceased was a French tax resident, all their assets worldwide are taxed. If not, only assets in France are. The exception: if the heir is resident in France on the date of death and has been for at least six of the last ten years, assets abroad are taxed too. This matters if you are bringing your parents to France: once they move, their flat in Russia falls within the French inheritance tax base. When the deceased was non-resident, the return is due within six months if the death occurred in France and within 12 months if it occurred abroad.

Gifts

For gifts, allowances renew every 15 years: €100,000 to a child from each parent, €31,865 to a grandchild, €5,310 to a great-grandchild, €80,724 to a spouse or PACS partner, and €15,932 to a brother or sister. On top of that, a donor under 80 can give an adult child, grandchild or great-grandchild a further €31,865 in cash tax-free. Over 15 years, a child can receive €131,865 tax-free from one parent under 80.

Until 31 December 2026, a temporary relief applies: cash for buying a home or for energy renovation can be given tax-free up to €100,000 from one donor to one recipient, and up to €300,000 in total to one recipient.

Micro-entrepreneurs: contributions and the versement libératoire

A micro-entrepreneur pays social contributions as a percentage of turnover every month or quarter. No turnover, no contributions. Rates for 2026:

A micro-entrepreneur pays income tax in one of two ways:

• On the scale. A flat expenses allowance is deducted from turnover: 71% for trade, 50% for BIC services and 34% for liberal professions, with a minimum of €305. The rest is added to the household’s other income.
• Versement libératoire. Tax is paid together with contributions as a percentage of turnover: 1% for trade, 1.7% for BIC services and 2.2% for liberal professions. The condition is that household income two years earlier did not exceed €29,579 for a single person, €59,158 for a couple, €73,947.5 for a couple with one child, or €88,737 for a couple with two children. You opt in with Urssaf by 30 September for the following year, or by the end of the third month after registering.

Example: a single designer in a liberal profession with €60,000 of turnover for the year and no other income. Contributions: €15,360. With the versement libératoire, €1,320 of tax is added, for a total of €16,680. Without it, €60,000 × 66% = €39,600 is taxable, and tax on the scale is €4,984. The difference is €3,664 in favour of the versement libératoire, if you meet the income condition.

You can exceed the turnover threshold for one year; the regime is lost if you exceed it two years in a row.

Common mistakes when relocating

• Counting 183 days. You become resident as soon as your family, work or main income is in France.
• Relying on a credit for Russian tax. Since 8 August 2023 there is no credit, and double taxation of Russian income is real.
• Leaving the relocation bonus out of the contract. For the impatriate regime, it must be set before you start work.
• Forgetting your parents’ property in Russia. Once they move to France, the whole estate will be taxable.
• Failing to report foreign accounts on your return.
• Opting for the scale on dividends in the 30% band. In that band the PFU is almost always cheaper.

Tax in France is part of your relocation plan, not a separate job for after the move. The date of your contract determines the impatriate regime, your choice of residence permit determines how you pay contributions, and your parents’ move affects inheritance tax. If you are choosing between the talent passport and other routes, tell us about your situation and we will assess, free of charge, which route fits and how it will affect your taxes. For an overview of the routes, see French residence permits; for the steps of the move, the guide how to move to France from Russia; and for the timeline to a passport, French citizenship.

Frequently asked questions

What taxes do individuals pay in France?

Residents pay income tax on a 0–45% scale, social charges on salaries and on investment income (18.6% from 1 January 2026), property tax on their home and residence tax on any second home. IFI applies to property worth more than €1,300,000, and inheritances and gifts are taxed according to the relationship.

How much is income tax in France?

From 0% to 45% in bands: 0% up to €11,600 per part, 11% up to €29,579, 30% up to €84,577, 41% up to €181,917 and 45% above. This is the 2026 scale on 2025 income. The effective rate is lower than the top band: a single person with €50,000 of taxable salary pays €6,604, or 13.2%.

How is salary taxed in France?

Employee contributions are deducted from gross pay first, 20.84% on a salary of €3,500 a month excluding company health cover, and then income tax at your personal withholding rate. The tax office sets the rate based on your household and income. A couple with two children and salaries of €50,000 and €40,000 a year pays €6,894 in income tax.

How is investment income taxed in France?

By default, dividends, interest and gains on securities are subject to the 31.4% flat tax: 12.8% tax and 18.6% social charges. You can opt for the progressive scale instead, which is better if your top band is 0% or 11%.

What is inheritance tax in France?

Spouses and PACS partners pay nothing. Children pay 5–45% after a €100,000 allowance from each parent, brothers and sisters 35–45% after a €15,932 allowance, nephews and nieces 55%, and unrelated people 60%. A child inheriting €300,000 pays €38,194.35.

What property taxes are there in France?

Every owner pays property tax, and owners of second homes also pay residence tax. If the net value of your property exceeds €1,300,000 on 1 January, IFI applies at rates from 0.5% to 1.5%. For IFI, your main home is valued with a 30% discount.

Do you need to spend 183 days in France to become a tax resident?

No. The law sets no number of days: you are resident if your home or principal place of stay, your main work or your centre of economic interests is in France, and one test is enough. More than six months a year is only a guideline used by the tax authority, not a cut-off.

Is the double tax treaty between Russia and France still in force?

Partly. Since 8 August 2023, Russia and, in response, France have suspended Articles 5–22 and 24 of the 1996 treaty. The residence rules remain, but tax credits do not work: Russian tax only reduces the French taxable base.

Official sources

• impots.gouv.fr: tax residence tests under Article 4 B CGI
• BOFiP: domicile, principal place of stay and the six-month rule
• Légifrance: Article 4 B of the General Tax Code
• BOFiP: consequences of suspending the France–Russia treaty
• Journal officiel of 23 June 2024: notice of partial suspension of the treaty
• Journal officiel: list of non-cooperative jurisdictions, orders of 15 April 2026
• service-public.gouv.fr: 2026 income tax scale
• service-public.gouv.fr: family quotient for couples and its cap
• impots.gouv.fr: 2026 brochure, tax calculation, décote and formulas
• service-public.gouv.fr: withholding tax at source
• impots.gouv.fr: 2026 return deadlines
• impots.gouv.fr: filing in the year you move to France
• service-public.gouv.fr: CEHR and CDHR high-income contributions
• service-public.gouv.fr: social charges on investment income
• Entreprendre Service Public: 31.4% PFU from 1 January 2026
• service-public.gouv.fr: PFU or the scale for dividends
• service-public.gouv.fr: private sector employee contributions
• impots.gouv.fr: the impatriate regime, Article 155 B CGI
• service-public.gouv.fr: IFI, who pays and which assets
• service-public.gouv.fr: calculating IFI
• service-public.gouv.fr: property tax
• service-public.gouv.fr: tax on second homes
• service-public.gouv.fr: calculating inheritance tax
• BOFiP: territorial scope of inheritance and gift tax, Article 750 ter CGI
• service-public.gouv.fr: gift allowances and rates
• service-public.gouv.fr: gifts for buying a home until 31 December 2026
• Entreprendre Service Public: micro-entrepreneur contributions
• Entreprendre Service Public: micro-entrepreneur tax regime and versement libératoire