The France-Italy tax treaty, point by point

The tax treaty between France and Italy on income and wealth taxes was signed in Venice on October 5, 1989, along with a protocol and an exchange of letters on the same day. Inheritance tax is governed by a separate treaty, signed in Rome on December 20, 1990. This page outlines the most important articles and explains what it does not cover.

Two conventions: income and wealth in 1989, inheritances in 1990

The 1989 convention. It was signed in Venice on October 5, 1989, along with a protocol and an exchange of letters. It was published in the Official Journal on May 8, 1992. The administrative list of tax treaties (BOI-ANNX-000306, version of April 29, 2026) classifies it under the column "IR – IF": income tax and wealth tax. Its application to the real estate wealth tax (IFI), which replaced the ISF, is not established.

The 1990 convention. It relates to successions and gifts, signed in Rome on December 20, 1990. The administrative list classifies it in the column "S - D" (successions, gifts) and gives its publication: Official Journal of April 4, 1995.

No amendment or MLI recorded, without proof of absence. The list of tax treaties does not mention any amendments to the 1989 convention. The administrative guidelines (BOI-INT-CVB-ITA) also do not mention any, and Italy is absent from the table of treaties modified by the multilateral convention (BOI-ANNX-000511, version of April 29, 2026). These are omissions from these lists. They do not prove that no amendments exist: check the updated lists.

The essential rules

Dividends

For dividends, Article 10 caps the withholding tax at 15% of the gross amount in cases not otherwise addressed. The rate is 5% when the beneficial owner is a corporation subject to corporate income tax that has directly or indirectly held at least 10% of the capital for at least 12 months prior to the distribution decision (§ 2 a). A cap is not the actual withholding tax applied.

Interest and royalties

Article 11 caps the withholding tax at 10 % of the gross amount of interest. Article 12 caps it at 5 % of the gross amount of royalties. Article 11 also provides exemptions for certain types of interest, which are not detailed on this page.

Capital gains

Article 13 contains several rules. For gains on all property other than that referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 (real estate, permanent establishment, ships and aircraft in international traffic), paragraph 4 reserves taxation to the State of which the transferor is resident.

Point 8 of the protocol sets aside this rule for two categories of securities. Firstly, shares, units, or interests in a company that owns real estate are subject, in the State where the property is located, to the same tax treatment as capital gains on real estate. Secondly, gains derived from shares or units forming part of a substantial interest in the capital of a company resident in a State are taxable in that State, according to its domestic law; the interest is considered substantial if it represents a right to 25% or more of the company's profits. For a French transferor who holds an interest in an Italian company, or vice versa, please refer to the text.

Wages and the 183-day rule

According to Article 15, paragraph 1, salaries are taxable only in the state of residence, unless the employment is exercised in the other state. Article 15, paragraph 2, provides an exception based on duration: the stay in the other state must not exceed 183 days in total during the tax year in question. Two other conditions apply: the employer must not be a resident of the other state, and the remuneration must not be paid through a permanent establishment. The full text of the article should be read before any calculations.

This threshold is not that of Italian tax residence, which is not dealt with on this page.

Who is a resident?

Article 4 of the convention governs the case of a person resident in both States. Paragraph 2 establishes, in order: the permanent home, then the center of vital interests; failing that, the habitual residence; failing that, nationality; and finally, the amicable agreement of the competent authorities. When the convention applies, its concept of residence takes precedence over domestic tax domicile. French tax domicile is addressed on our page about leaving France.

Inheritance: the agreement of December 20, 1990

The convention was signed in Rome on December 20, 1990. It was approved by Law No. 91-1398 of December 31, 1991 and published by Decree No. 95-351 of March 28, 1995. It entered into force on April 1, 1995. It may be denounced, with a minimum notice of six months through diplomatic channels, for the end of a calendar year from the fifth year following that of entry into force (Article 19).

Article 11 provides a rule for eliminating double taxation. When the deceased or donor was domiciled in a state at the time of death or gift, that state deducts from the tax calculated according to its own legislation an amount equal to the tax paid in the other state on the property taxable in that other state. The deduction cannot exceed the portion of the first state's tax, calculated before deduction, corresponding to that property. The rules for allocating tax between the two states (real estate, personal property, the deceased's domicile) are not detailed here and should be consulted in the text.

What this page does not cover

The entry into force date of the 1989 convention, pensions, the elimination of double taxation on income and capital, and the protocol outside of point 8 are not presented here. The same applies to the content of the administrative guidance: the BOI-INT-CVB-ITA has been in force since September 12, 2012, and comprises chapters BOI-INT-CVB-ITA-10 and BOI-INT-CVB-ITA-20.

Numerical example (fictitious profile)

Situation. A fictitious French resident receives €60,000 in gross dividends, €30,000 in gross interest, and €20,000 in gross royalties from an Italian company during the year. He is a natural person.

Issue. He wants to know the withholding tax ceilings that the convention sets at the Italian source.

Strategy. He applies the ceilings of articles 10, 11 and 12 to each category of income, then has his resident status and the special cases of the text examined.

Result. The limits are €9,000 for dividends (€60,000 × 15 %), €3,000 for interest (€30,000 × 10 %), and €1,000 for royalties (€20,000 × 5 %), totaling €13,000. These amounts are maximums; they do not reflect the actual withholding taxes or the final tax liability in France.

What changes depending on your situation

• Your residence as defined in the agreement.
• The nature of the income: dividend, interest, royalty, capital gain, salary.
• The status of the beneficiary (natural person or company) and the conditions of their holding.
• The number of days spent in each state, and the method of counting.
• The nature and location of your assets, for inheritance purposes.

An article should be read in light of the facts in your case, and no result is guaranteed in advance.