Leaving France for the Netherlands: exit tax, five-day registration and the 30-day tax year %

Moving to the Netherlands requires three steps. You must leave your French tax residence, process the exit tax if your assets meet the thresholds, and register with the Dutch municipality within five days of your arrival if you are staying for more than four months. France Diplomatie presents the Netherlands as a member of the European Union. The list of 11 states and territories included in the report appended to the 2027 draft budget does not include the Netherlands.

Leaving French tax residence

The BOFiP (French Official Tax Bulletin) uses three categories of criteria: personal (home or main residence), professional (main activity), and economic (center of interests). Only one is required. Spending less than six months in France does not guarantee protection: the length of stay is not an absolute criterion.

The Netherlands also considers your residence. Article 4 of their General State Tax Law states that a person's place of residence is assessed "according to the circumstances." This article does not specify a minimum number of days.

If both States consider you a resident, the convention of 16 March 1973 decides in its article 4 § 3, in this order:

1. your permanent home, and then, if you have one in each state, the center of your vital interests; ;
2. failing that, the State where you habitually reside; ;
3. then nationality; ;
4. Finally, the agreement of the competent authorities.

Our page on the convention details the other articles.

Exit tax: what the information leaflet stipulates for departure to the Union

Two conditions must be met. You must have been a tax resident of France for at least six of the ten years preceding the transfer. You must hold at least 50% of the profits of a company, or securities with a total value of €800,000. Official documents do not express this threshold in the same way: the information sheet uses "at least," while the explanatory note uses "greater than." We cannot definitively state this: verify with the official source. If your securities are close to €800,000, have your file reviewed.

A sale, a repurchase followed by cancellation, or a liquidation before the deadline results in the loss of the tax relief. The report appended to the 2027 draft budget law mentions the decree of April 15, 2026, amending the decree of February 12, 2010, and lists 11 non-cooperative states and territories. We have not read the text of the decree. The classification is verified as of your departure date.

Five days to register with the municipality

Anyone arriving from abroad for more than four months must register as a resident with their local municipality within five days of arrival. According to the registration page, registration is open to Dutch nationals, citizens of the European Union, the EEA, and Switzerland, and holders of a valid residence permit; we do not detail the requirements for a residence permit. Your partner and children must also register at the town hall. Registration assigns you a Citizen Service Number (BSN). For stays of less than four months, registration as a non-resident is possible.

France Diplomatie, for its part, indicates that for stays exceeding four months, or for those wishing to engage in paid employment, European citizens must prove their right to residency with a BSN (Basic Nationality Certificate), which can be obtained from the town hall. This section was updated on July 8, 2013, with the note "still valid on July 14, 2024": cross-reference it with the Dutch pages.

Upon arrival: what the Dutch tax authorities do

The Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) states that you become a "resident taxpayer" upon arrival. You pay Dutch income tax and file your tax return in the Netherlands. Dutch income tax law applies to individuals who live in the Netherlands and to non-residents who receive Dutch income there.

For the year of arrival, the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) offers Form M, available online or on paper, to those who only lived in the Netherlands for part of the year. The page does not mention a deadline; this should be verified on the website. A DigiD is used to file online. For income earned outside the Netherlands, the Belastingdienst states that you do not automatically pay Dutch tax on it and advises you to check your situation; it indicates that double taxation is avoided in certain cases. Box 1 also includes income from abroad: our page on living in the Netherlands provides further details on this.

If you are socially insured in the Netherlands, you pay national contributions and health insurance contributions.

Salary of €90,000 and 30 % scheme: numerical example (fictitious profile)

The 30 % scheme applies to employees recruited outside the Netherlands. Your employer can pay you up to 30 % of your salary, including allowances, tax-free. This arrangement lasts for a maximum of five years. You must have lived more than 150 km from the Dutch border for more than 16 of the 24 months preceding your first day of work; the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) specifies that you must not have lived in Belgium, Luxembourg, or certain parts of Germany, France, or the United Kingdom. The minimum annual salary, excluding allowances, is €48,013 for 2026 for a specific expertise. The tax-free allowance is capped at €78,600.

Situation. A fictitious employee, recruited in Lyon, goes to the Netherlands for a position paying €90,000 gross per year. Her employer applies the 30 % rule.

Issue. She wants to measure the effect on the scale of box 1, which groups together income from work.

Strategy. It calculates the maximum compensation (30 % of €90,000), checks the minimum salary, then applies the 2026 scale to the two bases: 35.75 % up to €38,883, 37.56 % up to €78,426, 49.50 % beyond.

Result. The maximum severance pay is €27,000, below the ceiling of €78,600 (reached at a salary of €262,000 or more). The remaining salary, €63,000, exceeds the minimum of €48,013. The calculation yields €34,482 on €90,000 and €22,959 on €63,000, a difference of €11,523. These amounts are before tax credits, which we have not reviewed. The profile and salary are fictitious. The Belastingdienst (Tax Administration) page dates from January 2026 and does not address any changes for 2027.

What France continues to impose

As a non-resident, you remain taxable in France on your French-source income, subject to the tax treaty. The minimum rate is 20% of the % taxable income up to €29,579 of income received in 2025, and then 30% of the % taxable income thereafter. The option for the average rate remains available if it is more advantageous for you. The IFI (French wealth tax) now only applies to your real estate located in France, exceeding €1.3 million. Local taxes on a second home remain payable.

For the year of departure, form 2042 covers your income from January 1st to the departure date. Form 2042-NR only includes your French-source income taxable in France thereafter. The non-resident tax office will then process your case.

For capital gains on securities held by a non-resident, the BOFiP (French Official Tax Bulletin) targets those who held more than 25% of the rights to profits in a French company at some point during the five years preceding the sale: 12.8%. The convention also contains a clause specific to nationality. Article 13, paragraph 5, allows each State to tax gains on a "substantial interest" in a company resident there, realized by an individual resident in the other State, if that individual is a national of the first State but not of the other, and was a resident of that State at some point during the five preceding years. The text does not specify a percentage.

What changes depending on your situation

• The value of your securities and the ranking of the destination state on the date of departure.
• The act of maintaining a home, business, or investments in France.
• Your nationality, if you hold shares in a French company.
• The type of contract: employee recruited in France or abroad, manager.
• Your family situation and the arrival date of each person.

The rule depends on your situation. No results are guaranteed.