Moving to France is a tax event, not just a life event. The day you become French tax resident, your worldwide income enters the French system, some home-country accounts lose their advantages, and a set of one-time opportunities — pension timing, gain realization, the impatriate regime — either gets used or expires unused. This guide is the checklist I wish every client had found 12 months before their move.
What's in this guide
- Before the move: the six decisions
- The impatriate regime: 8 years of gifts
- Your home-country accounts: keep, close or restructure?
- Your first 90 days in France
- Banking in France (and the RIB chicken-and-egg)
- Moving large sums: the currency question
- Rebuilding your investment life, in the right order
- The family layer: marriage, wills, protection
- FAQ
Before the move: the six decisions
Your tax residency start date (usually your arrival date — see the French taxes guide for the tests) splits your financial life into "before" and "after". Six things to decide while you're still on the "before" side:
- Pension timing. The famous one: a UK 25% tax-free lump sum is generally better taken before French residency (France doesn't automatically exempt it). US readers: no action needed on 401(k)/IRA — the treaty protects them (below).
- Gains and losses. Selling investments with big embedded gains? Compare the tax on both sides of the date. Sometimes "before" wins, sometimes "after" (France's flat 30% can actually be lower than some home-country rates) — it's arithmetic, not ideology.
- Your home. Sell before, sell after, or rent it out? Each has a different tax path (and renting creates permanent cross-border filings). Decide deliberately.
- Impatriate eligibility. Moving for a job? The 155 B regime (next section) shapes where your investments should live. Check before signing anything.
- Currency plan. Large transfers deserve a plan, not a panic (see below).
- Paper trail. Gather 3 years of tax returns, payslips, account statements — France will ask for them (visa, banks, mortgage), always translated, sometimes apostilled.
The one-sentence rule: if a financial event is coming anyway (a lump sum, a sale, a bonus), choosing which side of the residency date it lands on is often worth more than a decade of clever investing afterwards. That's why the ideal first call with me happens 6–12 months before the move.
The impatriate regime: 8 years of gifts 🎁
France quietly runs one of Europe's most generous inbound tax regimes (article 155 B). If you're recruited to work in France (intra-group transfer or direct hire) after being non-resident for the previous 5 calendar years, then until December 31 of your 8th year:
| Benefit | What it means |
|---|---|
| Impatriation bonus exempt | The "expat premium" in your package escapes income tax — or, for direct hires, a flat 30% of your compensation can be treated as exempt bonus |
| 50% off foreign investment income | Half of your foreign-source dividends, interest and capital gains is exempt from French income tax — huge if your portfolio stays invested abroad (a Luxembourg contract pairs elegantly here) |
| IFI wealth-tax window | For 5 years, only your French real estate counts for the wealth tax |
Caps and conditions apply (the combined exemption is limited against comparable French salaries), and the regime is use-it-or-lose-it: structure your investments around it in year one, not year six. Almost no bank will tell you this — it's not their product. It is, however, exactly my job.
Your home-country accounts: keep, close or restructure?
| Account | Verdict when you become French resident |
|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 401(k) / IRA / Roth IRA | KEEP. Treaty-protected: distributions taxable in the US only, France credits the tax. Never roll them into a French product. Practical snag: some US brokers restrict foreign-resident clients — fix with a custodian change, not a cash-out. |
| 🇺🇸 US brokerage account | Keep, but review holdings: US funds stay fine for US persons; non-US persons returning home should check both sides. |
| 🇬🇧 ISA | Loses its magic. France ignores the wrapper — gains and dividends become French-taxable; no new contributions as a non-UK resident. Often run down or restructured around the move, rebuilt in French wrappers. |
| 🇬🇧 SIPP / workplace pension | Usually keep. No French QROPS in practice; draw under treaty rules (France taxes most UK pensions). Timing of the 25% lump sum = the big pre-move decision. |
| 🇦🇺 Superannuation | Handle with care. No clean French equivalent; specialist advice before drawing as a French resident. |
| Plain foreign bank accounts | Keep freely — but declare every one, every year (form 3916). Fines apply per forgotten account. |
Every move is a different puzzle — nationality, employer, assets, family.
Bring yours, and leave with a written order of operations.
Your first 90 days in France
- Validate your visa (online, within 3 months of arrival for VLS-TS holders).
- Open the French bank account (next section) — everything else needs a RIB.
- Health cover: your private policy carries year one; apply to the state system (PUMa) after 3 months of stable residence; UK State Pensioners activate the S1.
- Get your tax number (numéro fiscal) — via the tax office or your first contact with impots.gouv.fr; needed for almost everything financial.
- Utilities in your name — French bureaucracy runs on proof-of-address documents (justificatifs de domicile); an EDF bill is worth gold.
- Start the paperwork folder — physical and scanned. France loves documents; organized newcomers win months.
Banking in France (and the RIB chicken-and-egg)
- The RIB (relevé d'identité bancaire) is your account ID — landlords, employers, utilities all ask for it. Payments run on SEPA transfers and direct debits, cheques still exist (yes, really), and debit cards rule daily life.
- The chicken-and-egg: banks want an address, landlords want a RIB. Bridges: international-friendly online banks to start, your employer's banking partner, or an account opened via your advisor's network. It resolves within weeks — plan for the gap.
- 🇺🇸 Americans: some French banks decline US persons because of FATCA paperwork. Don't take it personally; take the list of banks that say yes (I keep one).
- Credit history doesn't travel. France has no imported credit score — your file (income, deposit, clean statements) is your reputation. A broker who knows newcomer files makes the difference for mortgages.
Moving large sums: the currency question
Converting a house sale or savings from GBP/USD/AUD into euros is often the largest single financial transaction of the move — and people routinely hand their bank a 2–4% spread without noticing.
- Use a currency specialist for large amounts — materially better rates than retail banks, plus tools banks won't offer.
- Forward contracts can lock today's rate for a completion date months away — exactly what a property purchase timeline needs (see the property guide).
- Don't gamble the move on a hunch. If you'd be hurt by a 5% swing, hedge; if you're relaxed either way, stage the transfers. Currency strategy is risk management, not fortune-telling.
- Not everything must convert. A Luxembourg contract can hold USD or GBP sleeves — sometimes the best conversion is the one you don't do.
Just ask me. I work with currency-exchange partners who offer far better rates than the banks on large transfers. One quick email and I'll put you in touch — a better rate on a big transfer can quietly save you thousands, and it costs you nothing to be introduced.
Rebuilding your investment life, in the right order
- Step 1 — boring and vital: 3–6 months of expenses in a Livret A (tax-free, instant access).
- Step 2 — the assurance vie clock: open early, feed it monthly.
- Step 3 — impatriates: place foreign-income assets where the 50% exemption bites.
- Step 4 — protection first, performance second: prévoyance replaces income if life goes sideways; France's state layer is good but not complete, especially for self-employed newcomers.
- Step 5 — then the wealth builders: PEA for European equities, property, SCPI income, Luxembourg from €50k.
The family layer: marriage, wills, protection
The least glamorous section, and the one that protects everything else:
- Couples: France is brutal to unmarried partners at inheritance (60% tax) — and your matrimonial property regime may shift with an international move. Review marriage/PACS status and options on arrival.
- Wills: coordinate home-country and French wills, with an explicit choice of national law where useful — the full story is in the inheritance guide.
- Beneficiary clauses: your assurance vie's clause is a mini-will — draft it deliberately, not with the insurer's default text.
- Kids: school costs (public = ~free; private international schools = budget line), and their own savings clocks — a child's assurance vie or savings plan started now is a graduation gift with compound interest.
Written by Vincent Auvrignon
Independent financial advisor (CGP) in France — CIF, IOBSP, MIA, ORIAS n°25004390, member of CNCEF. I've done the international move four times myself (Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea) — I know exactly which boxes people forget. More about working with me →
The honest, regulatory bit 🤝 — everything on this page is general education, shared in good faith and to the best of my knowledge at the time of writing. It is not personal advice: figures are indicative, rules change, past performance never guarantees future results, and every situation is genuinely different. Before any decision, we verify what applies to your case — that's exactly what the free first call is for. I'm a regulated French advisor (CIF — ORIAS n°25004390), and formal recommendations always come in writing, after a signed engagement letter.