Foreign pensions and retirement savings once you live in France
Almost everyone who moves to France arrives with retirement savings built under another system. Nobody explains what happens to them, and the question surfaces years later, usually at the worst moment.
France taxes its residents on worldwide income (article 4 A of the French tax code), so a pension paid from abroad is within the French tax base from the day you become resident. What the double tax treaty does is allocate the right to tax, article by article and category by category: private pensions, government-service pensions and lump sums are usually treated separately, and one household can fall under two different rules for two different pots. Nothing about this is automatic, and none of it depends on where the money physically sits.
Three questions decide every foreign pension case, and they are worth separating before any decision is taken.
The mechanics differ by scheme, which is why this section is split by country rather than treated as one problem. UK pensions and SIPPs once you are tax resident in France covers defined benefit against defined contribution and the tax-free lump sum question; Swiss pension pillars when you leave Switzerland for France covers the second pillar and pillar 3a; The Singapore CPF account once you settle in France covers who actually contributes and what a full withdrawal requires; and 401(k), IRA and Roth accounts for US residents of France covers the one treaty that follows US citizens wherever they live.
- Who may tax the payment. The treaty answers this by category, and the answer for a company pension is often not the answer for a state or civil-service pension.
- How France characterises what you receive. A regular payment is generally taxed as a pension under article 79 of the French tax code. A single lump sum is a different matter: several countries pay retirement savings out as capital, and France has no equivalent concept, so the treatment has to be established rather than assumed.
- Whether the account or contract itself must be reported. This is separate from tax and catches people out: reporting obligations attach to holding the thing, not to receiving income from it.
The reporting point deserves emphasis because it costs the most and surprises the most. Article 1649 A of the French tax code requires the declaration of accounts opened, held, used or closed outside France, and article 1649 AA does the same for life assurance and capitalisation contracts taken out with a provider established abroad. Neither obligation depends on the account producing income, and neither waits until you retire. The fine for an unreported bank account under article 1736 IV is €1,500 per account per year. Whether a particular foreign retirement scheme falls inside one of those texts is a question of characterisation, decided on the scheme's own documents.
The order that saves money
Establish the date you became French tax resident. Read the treaty article that covers your pension type, not the treaty in general. Ask the scheme, in writing, whether it can pay a lump sum and under what conditions. Settle the reporting question before the first French return, not after. Only then consider whether anything should be moved. Transfers are the last step, and for most people they never come.
Frequently asked questions
Does my foreign pension become taxable in France as soon as I move?
It enters the French tax base from the day you become resident, because France taxes residents on worldwide income under article 4 A of the French tax code. Whether France actually taxes it depends on the treaty article covering that specific type of pension, and on the method the treaty uses to relieve double taxation. Some pensions remain taxable only in the paying state; others become taxable only in France; a few produce a French tax computed on the worldwide figure but relieved by a credit.
Do I have to declare a foreign pension account I am not drawing from?
Very probably yes, and this is the point that costs people money. The obligations in articles 1649 A and 1649 AA of the French tax code attach to holding an account or a contract abroad, not to receiving anything from it. A dormant pot with no distribution is still held. Whether your particular scheme falls within one of those texts depends on how it is legally built, which is why the scheme documents have to be read rather than assumed.
Should I move my pension to France?
In most cases there is nowhere to move it to, and in the remaining cases the answer is usually no. France has no receiving vehicle designed to accept foreign occupational pensions, transfers are generally irreversible, and the costs of the receiving structure are paid over the whole remaining life of the money. The work that pays off is almost always the French side: establishing the treaty treatment, settling the reporting, and planning the timing of the first drawdown.
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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 2026-08-30 — rules quoted are those in force at that date.