Australians in France: The Complete Money, Super & Investing Guide

Australians are the easy case that thinks it's the hard case. Because Australia taxes by residence (not citizenship), the moment you stop being an Australian tax resident, France becomes your main game — with none of the fund-ownership traps Americans face. What Australians do carry across the world are three specific questions: what happens to the super, what happens to the Age Pension, and what happened at the border tax-wise when you left. This guide answers all three, then opens the French toolbox.

The good news first: you're not American 🎉

If you've read horror stories about expats and investing, they were probably written by Americans. The US taxes its citizens forever, wherever they live, and punishes them for touching foreign funds. Australia does none of that.

• Once you cease Australian tax residency, Australia generally only taxes your Australian-source income (rents from an Australian property, some dividends at source).
• France taxes you as a normal French resident — worldwide income, with the 1976 France-Australia income tax treaty preventing double taxation through credits.
• And crucially: no PFIC-style trap. Assurance vie, Luxembourg contracts, SCPI funds, the PEA — everything on this site's investment menu is open to you without home-country penalties.

So where's the catch? It's concentrated in three places: the super, the Age Pension, and the exit itself. Let's take them in order of importance.

Superannuation: the one true red flag 🔴

Your super is probably your biggest asset — and it's the one thing about which I'll refuse to give you a quick answer, because nobody honest can.

Here's the problem in plain English: superannuation is a uniquely Australian animal (a trust-based retirement fund with tax-free withdrawals from 60 in Australia), and the France-Australia treaty was written in 1976 — it simply has no clear box for it. French practice on super withdrawals by residents (lump sum vs pension phase) is not uniform, and the difference between the possible readings is enormous.

SMSF holders: read this twice

A self-managed super fund adds a second trap: if the fund's "central management and control" moves overseas with you, the SMSF can lose its complying status — with severe Australian tax consequences on the entire fund. Australians moving abroad typically restructure before departure (Australian-resident trustees, or rolling into a public/industry fund). This is Australian specialist territory: get SMSF advice before you book the flight, not after. My role is to coordinate — I make sure the French side of your plan never forces a bad move on the Australian side.

The Age Pension from France

Yes, the Age Pension can follow you to a village in Provence — with two catches that surprise almost everyone:

The planning consequence: if you're approaching pension age and dreaming of France, the order of operations matters — claim first, move second, and know your AWLR number before you build a budget around the pension. (Check your exact situation with Services Australia — rules and rates are theirs, and they change.)

Leaving Australia: CGT event I1 and the former-home trap

The Australian tax system says goodbye with paperwork. When you cease Australian tax residency:

• CGT event I1 is triggered: a deemed sale of your CGT assets other than "taxable Australian property" (Australian real estate stays in the Australian net regardless). You can instead elect to defer — keeping those assets inside Australia's CGT net until you actually sell.
• ⚠️ The former-home trap: foreign residents have lost the main-residence exemption on Australian homes (narrow life-event exceptions aside). Translation: selling your old Sydney or Melbourne house after you've moved to France can create a full Australian CGT bill that selling before the move would have avoided entirely. If a sale is on the horizon, run the numbers on both sides of the departure date — before booking removalists.
• Ask your Australian accountant for your departure position in writing (election made or not, cost bases) — your future French advisor (👋) will thank you, because it determines who taxes what when you eventually sell.

Bringing your money over (the smart way)

This is the classic real-life case: years of savings sitting in an Australian account, earning a few dollars of interest a year, while life happens in euros. Three things to know:

1. Transferring your own money is NOT a taxable event — not in Australia, not in France. Moving capital isn't income. What France taxes is the interest the account earns while you're resident here (worldwide income), and what it requires is disclosure: every foreign account goes on form 3916 with your French return (€1,500 fine per forgotten account — a formality, but a mandatory one).
2. The real cost is the exchange rate. Banks quietly take 2–4% on AUD/EUR. On A$300,000, that's the price of a car. I work with currency partners offering far better rates than banks — one email and I'll introduce you, no cost, no obligation. Large transfers can also be staged or hedged if the AUD is having a moody year.
3. Then put it to work. Idle cash loses to inflation in any hemisphere. The classic landing spots for a French resident are just below. 👇

Your French toolbox, wide open 🧰

Because there's no Australian tax shadow following you, you get the full menu — the same one French savers use:

Healthcare: no Medicare safety net here 🏥

One practical surprise: France is not covered by Australia's Reciprocal Health Care Agreements — Medicare means nothing here (unlike in the UK or Italy). The plan:

• Year one: private health insurance (it's a visa requirement anyway for retirees on the long-stay visitor visa);
• After 3 months of stable residence: apply to join the French state system (PUMa) — excellent care, modest costs, topped up by an inexpensive mutuelle;
• Full detail in the Retire in France guide (visa income rules included).

Inheritance: the shock nobody warned you about ⚖️

Here's the cultural collision: Australia abolished death duties decades ago, so most Australians have never thought about inheritance tax in their lives. France, meanwhile, runs one of Europe's most assertive regimes — and there is no France-Australia inheritance treaty to soften it. As a French resident (or an owner of French assets):

• Your children each get a €100,000 allowance, then pay progressive rates up to 45%;
• An unmarried partner pays 60% after a token allowance — the single most expensive surprise for Aussie couples who never saw a reason to marry;
• French forced heirship reserves a share of your estate for your children — though the EU succession regulation lets you choose Australian law in your will for the civil side (the tax stays French).

The fix is the same toolbox the French use: assurance vie passes up to €152,500 per beneficiary completely tax-free (premiums before 70) — to anyone you name, including an unmarried partner. Marriage or PACS makes the survivor fully exempt. The complete picture, including the 6-month declaration deadline, is in the French inheritance guide. If you take one action after reading this page, make it this one.

Your Australian assets: keep / review / stop 🚦

Written by Vincent Auvrignon

Independent financial advisor (CGP) in France — CIF, IOBSP, MIA, ORIAS n°25004390, member of CNCEF. I lived in Australia (and New Zealand, Japan and South Korea) during my 12 years abroad — so when you talk about your super or your old place in Melbourne, I actually know what you mean. Several of my current clients are Australians in France. More about working with me →