International mobility simulator: Is tax expatriation really in your best interest?

Evaluate the financial benefits of your expatriation

Provide details about your situation: income, asset composition, any unrealized capital gains, and your intended country of destination. The simulator will estimate the tax differential, the likely impact of the exit tax, and the net financial benefit of the transaction. Your data will not be stored or transmitted.

Why the benefits of living abroad are never simply a matter of tax rates

The promise of tax expatriation is seductive in its simplicity: one country has a 0% income tax rate, while France has up to 45%, so the savings would equal the difference. This reasoning is flawed, and it is costly.

The tax rate displayed by a country is only one of four variables. The first adjustment comes from the bilateral tax treaty: France has signed treaties with almost every country, and these treaties determine which country taxes which income. Certain income from French sources—rental income, capital gains on real estate, sometimes dividends—remains taxable in France regardless of your country of residence. The tax rate of the host country does not apply to everything.

The second adjustment comes from the exit tax. By transferring your tax residence outside of France, you potentially trigger taxation on your unrealized capital gains from significant shareholdings. This is not a punitive exit tax, but a deferral mechanism—a secure deferral, however, which can represent considerable sums if not properly anticipated.

The third adjustment stems from the true cost of relocation: the cost of living in the host country, housing, international schooling, dual residency during the transition, and structuring costs. The fourth, and crucial, comes from the fact that a wealth and tax expatriation It is only legally valid if it corresponds to a real and substantial relocation. A sham expatriation is an abuse of rights, which can be reclassified by the administration.

What most online comparison tools overlook is precisely these four corrections. The Balmont simulator incorporates them, because that's where the difference between the displayed gain and the actual gain lies.

The 4 blind spots of a poorly planned tax expatriation

Blind spot 1: the exit tax on unrealized capital gains

As provided for in Article 167 bis of the General Tax Code, the’exit tax This tax targets taxpayers holding significant shareholdings at the time of their departure. The principle: unrealized capital gains are taxed as if they had been realized. A deferral of payment exists—automatic for the European Union, and upon request and with guarantees elsewhere—but it must be managed, declared, and secured. An executive who moves abroad the year before selling their company without having addressed the exit tax can turn a brilliant deal into a disaster.

Blind spot 2: Tax residency is not a matter of declaration.

You don't become a French non-resident for tax purposes simply by ticking a box. Article 4 B of the French General Tax Code (CGI) defines objective criteria: home, principal residence, and center of economic interests. As long as one of these criteria links you to France, you remain a French tax resident—even if you live abroad. Tax residency is established factually; it cannot be declared.

Blind spot 3: The host country's tax treaty changes everything

Two countries with a 0% income tax rate can offer radically different situations depending on their tax treaty with France. The treaty determines the treatment of French rental income, pensions, dividends, and capital gains. It may also include anti-abuse clauses. Choosing a country of expatriation without reading its tax treaty is like navigating without a map.

Blind spot 4: the instability of preferential regimes

The attractive tax regimes of host countries are not set in stone. Portugal's non-habitual resident (NHR) regime, long considered emblematic, has been closed to new entrants and replaced by a more restrictive system. An expatriation project built on a preferential tax regime must take into account the risk that this regime may change—and include a plan that can operate even without it.

Case study: Antoine, 46 years old, SME manager in Lyon

Antoine runs a small business that he plans to sell in three years. He intends to move to Dubai before the sale to optimize the taxation of his capital gains. The simulator highlights the reality of the operation:

The stated gain—€600,000 in avoided taxes—is not inaccurate, but it is conditional. It assumes a genuine, long-term, and well-planned expatriation prior to the sale, a secure exit tax settlement, and acceptance of significant relocation costs. If poorly prepared, the transaction exposes Antoine to reclassification, which would negate the benefit and impose additional penalties.

The simulator doesn't say "go" or "don't go." It says: here's the actual gain, here are the conditions to be met, here are the risks. A decision is made based on this information.

From simulation to mobility strategy

The simulator quantifies the interest. Securing the project involves a three-step method:

1. The audit of tax residency. First of all, verify that the planned expatriation can actually break the criteria of article 4 B. A project that leaves the center of economic interests in France is not a tax expatriation, it is a tax risk.
2. The sequencing. The order and timing of operations are crucial: when to transfer domicile, when to sell, when to handle exit tax, and how to comply with the tax laws of the host country. A good strategy that is poorly sequenced will fail.
3. Structuring and securing. Choosing the ownership vehicle, potential holding company, declaration and guarantees for exit tax, documentation of the actual installation. This is what transforms a proposed project into a solid structure.

Our enhanced asset intelligence models mobility scenarios—country, timeline, structure—and quantifies the net benefit for each. The chosen strategy, and its legal safeguards, are developed and signed by Alexis Sagnier.

Designed by Alexis Sagnier

Wealth Management Advisor, member of ANACOFI. Specialist in international wealth management, Alexis assists executives, expatriates and expatriate managers in optimizing their financial structure.

The simulator incorporates the 2026 macroeconomic parameters (Livret A rate, INSEE inflation, PFU taxation) and the allocation models used by the firm.