What should I declare to the tax authorities when arriving in or returning to live in France?

Written by Alexis Sagnier, financial and real estate investment advisor, insurance broker, AMF certified, founder of Balmont Conseil (Lyon). ORIAS 13003497. Last reviewed: 23/10/2026.

What should I declare to the tax authorities upon returning to France after living abroad?

You must declare your income from your arrival date to December 31st the year following your return, using forms that list your accounts and contracts held abroad. The details depend on what you received in France during your absence.

• You had income from French sources before your return You file two tax returns. Form 2042-NR covers only your French income from January 1st to the date of arrival. Form 2042 and its attachments (including form 2047 for foreign income) cover your French and foreign income from the date of arrival to December 31st.
• You had no income from French sources before your return : no 2042-NR. You declare your income from the return date to December 31st.

Upon arrival, also update your address in your online tax account. If you did not have any French-source income during your stay abroad, the tax authorities will require form 2043 along with supporting documents, which should be sent to your local tax office.

Foreign accounts and contracts. You attach the form 3916 (Or 3916-bis) to your tax return for bank accounts, assurance-vie policies, and digital asset accounts opened, used, or closed abroad, even if you are only the authorized representative. Trusts are subject to a separate obligation (Article 1649 AB of the French General Tax Code).

The penalties are quantified:

• €1,500 per undeclared bank account, €10,000 if the account is in a State without an administrative assistance agreement with France on banking information;
• €1,500 per undeclared foreign assurance-vie contract, €10,000 in the same case;
• An increase of 80 % of the evaded duties may replace the fine when the sums have not been taxed; the fine then constitutes the minimum.

This oversight has a second cost: the administration's recovery period increases from three to ten years in the event of a failure to comply with these obligations. We will explain in detail. Controls, forms, and penalties and preparing for a return in dedicated pages.

Repatriation: How should a foreign executive organize their assets upon arriving in France?

A foreign executive begins by checking whether he meets the conditions of the expatriate regime, then organizes his assets around three points: his date of arrival, his accounts and contracts abroad, and his real estate.

The expatriate tax regime (article 155 B of the general tax code). This scheme applies to employees, or managers taxed as employees, recruited abroad by a French company or sent to France by a foreign company. Two additional conditions apply: you must not have been a tax resident of France for the five calendar years preceding your appointment, and you must be a tax resident from that date onward. Individuals who came to France of their own volition are excluded.

For a start date from July 6, 2016, the short-term scheme until December 31 of the eighth year following the commencement of duties. It stops earlier if you leave the company in question. The main advantages are:

• the exemption of the additional remuneration directly linked to the activity carried out in France (the expatriation bonus), within limits set by law;
• the exemption up to 50 % of certain passive income received abroad;
• the exemption up to 50 % of certain capital gains from the sale of securities, capital losses being taken into account only up to 50 %;
• the deduction of supplementary pension and insurance contributions paid before arrival.

Social security contributions remain due on all capital gains. Details of the conditions are provided in our page dedicated to the expatriate tax regime.

The organization of wealth. In the order in which we process a case:

• Tax residence : the date and criteria that make you a resident (home, activity, economic interests) determine the start of taxation in France.
• Assurance-vie and foreign accounts : their list, their declaration (form 3916) and their fate after arrival are decided before arrival, not at the time of the first declaration.
• Real estate : the five-year period described below sets the date from which foreign real estate enters the tax base.

Arriving in France with foreign assets: Wealth tax and income tax

Upon arrival, you are taxed on your worldwide income from your arrival date, but your foreign real estate remains outside the real estate wealth tax (IFI) for five years.

Income tax. As a resident, you are taxed in France on your income, regardless of its origin. If a tax treaty exists with the country of origin, it prevents double taxation: a tax credit or an exemption in France, with the income being taken into account for the tax rate ("effective rate"). This income is declared on form 2047. Without a treaty, foreign income is taxable in France.

The IFI. It applies when the net taxable real estate assets exceed €1,300,000 as of January 1st. A resident is taxed on their assets located in France and abroad. However, a person who was not domiciled in France for the five preceding calendar years is taxed, until December 31st of the fifth year following their arrival, only on their properties located in France. No employment conditions are required for this rule: it also applies outside the expatriate regime.

The IFI tax scale in 2026:

• up to €800,000: 0 %;
• from €800,000 to €1,300,000: 0.50 %;
• from €1,300,000 to €2,570,000: 0.70 %;
• from €2,570,000 to €5,000,000: 1 %;
• from €5,000,000 to €10,000,000: 1.25 %;
• above €10,000,000: 1.50 %.

A discount applies to assets valued between €1,300,000 and €1,400,000. After five years, a tax credit can be applied to the IFI (French wealth tax) for the tax of the same nature paid abroad, up to the limit of the French portion relating solely to assets located outside France.

Illustrative example (figures invented for calculation purposes, with no link to a client). A household arrives in France with net real estate assets of €2,000,000, of which €1,200,000 is abroad and €800,000 is in France.

• For the first five years, only the €800,000 located in France is taken into account: this amount is below the threshold of €1,300,000, there is no IFI.
• After this period, the €2,000,000 is taken into account: (€1,300,000 − €800,000) × 0.50 % = €2,500, plus (€2,000,000 − €1,300,000) × 0.70 % = €4,900, i.e. €7,400 before any reductions and tax credit for tax paid abroad.

This difference of €7,400 per year, excluding discounts, is being prepared: the end of the five-year period is a date to anticipate, because foreign real estate then enters into the base.

What we do

Alexis Sagnier, founder of Balmont Conseil (Lyon, for almost 14 years), is a financial investment advisor and member of ANACOFI, an insurance broker, ORIAS registration number 13003497. The firm is not independent and receives commissions on contracts sold. If you are arriving in or returning to France, the first step is an initial consultation: you tell us your current situation, we tell you what we can handle and what requires the advice of a tax specialist in your country of origin.

Sources

• impots.gouv.fr, "I have returned to France after living abroad, what steps do I need to take?"«
• impots.gouv.fr, form and instructions 3916 / 3916-bis
• BOFiP, sanctions for failure to comply with reporting obligations (accounts, assurance-vie contracts, trusts)
• BOFiP, extension of the resumption period (BOI-CF-PGR-10-50)
• impots.gouv.fr, instructions for form 2074-IMP, 2025 income (expatriates)
• impots.gouv.fr, technical sheet «Special tax regime for impatriates»
• impots.gouv.fr, instructions for form 2047, foreign source income
• impots.gouv.fr, instructions for the 2026 IFI tax return
• service-public.gouv.fr, IFI: persons and assets concerned
• impots.gouv.fr, practical guide 2026, IFI