Leaving France: exit cleanly, keep what you built

Leaving France is a tax event with its own calendar. Done in order, it is clean; improvised, it follows you for years, through French filings, trailing taxation and wrappers that no longer fit your new country.

Leaving France is not a single act but a sequence. The year of departure splits into a resident period and a non-resident one, and the date you fix decides which income falls on which side. Everything else follows from that date: what happens to each French wrapper, whether exit tax is in play, and which returns you still owe once you have gone. Follow that sequence and it stays a matter of paperwork; skip a step, and French obligations can keep surfacing years after you have gone.

The departure sequence

Fix the exact date of the transfer of residency — the year of departure is split in two, resident then non-resident, and the date drives everything;
check the exit tax if your securities portfolio exceeds €800,000 (article 167 bis): deferrals and reliefs exist, but the timing of any later sale interacts with them;
decide what happens to each French wrapper: an assurance-vie survives your departure and keeps its policy anniversary, but its French tax treatment does not end — the gains inside a withdrawal made as a non-resident remain subject to the levy of Article 125-0 A of the French tax code, at a rate the treaty with your new country may reduce or remove, while French social charges are in principle no longer due; French property keeps you in the French system for rents and possibly wealth tax;
file the final return correctly the following spring — non-residents keep filing in France for French-source income.

If your next stop is another expatriation, the order of operations matters twice: what France does at exit, and how your next country welcomes what you bring. The firm plans both sides in one pass.

Exit planning depends on the treaty between France and your destination, on your holdings and on the exact date of your change of residence. Selling assets shortly after departure can crystallise a French exit-tax charge that would otherwise have been relieved, and an operation carried out solely to avoid French tax may be challenged as an abuse of law (Articles L. 64 and L. 64 A of the Book of Tax Procedures). This page describes general mechanisms; it does not replace a review of your file.

Exit tax on departure Three cumulative conditions, deferral of payment, and what a later sale does to the deferred tax.Your French property after you go Real estate stays taxable in France whoever owns it and wherever they live.Your assurance-vie after you go The contract survives departure and keeps its anniversary; the treaty decides the rate on withdrawal.Your final return and loose ends The split year, what keeps being filed after you have gone, and the threads people forget to update.

Frequently asked questions

Do I keep filing French tax returns after leaving?

Yes, if you keep French-source income — rents above all. You file as a non-resident for those revenues, and the year of departure itself requires a split filing: resident until the transfer date, non-resident after.

What happens to my assurance-vie when I leave France?

The contract survives and usually travels well: French withholding rules apply to withdrawals as a non-resident, subject to the treaty with your new country, and some new countries tax the contract their own way. Whether to keep, restructure or unwind it depends on the destination.

Does the French exit tax apply to foreigners?

It applies to residents transferring their tax domicile out of France after six years of residence in the last ten, when their securities portfolio exceeds the legal threshold — nationality is irrelevant. Deferral mechanisms usually prevent immediate payment; the trap is selling too soon afterwards.

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The group's other websites

Private Equity Valley Private equity and unlisted fund selection SCPI Valley SCPI (property fund) selection and analysis Éthique & Patrimoine Wealth advice and responsible investment

Also worth reading: the White paper — Private Equity 2026 published by Private Equity Valley — Unlisted assets: selection, risks, access.

Written by Stéphane Molère, Président d'Éthique et Patrimoine — page last reviewed on 2026-08-27 — rules quoted are those in force at that date.