Capital Gains on Real Estate in France for Non-Residents in 2026

Introduction

A Paris apartment bought for €360,000 in 2012 sells for €580,000 in 2026. The gain looks like €220,000. The French tax code sees €139,000, and the tax on that figure ranges from €22,304 to €35,442 depending on where the seller pays social security.

That spread exists because a selling price is not a capital gain, a capital gain is not a taxable gain, and a taxable gain is not the final bill. Deductions, years of ownership, exemptions and your residency each intervene along the way. International owners face one more layer on top: social charge rates that vary by profile, a fiscal representative requirement, and reporting at home.

This guide walks through each step in order, from the definition to the calculation, the 2026 rates, the exemptions, a worked Paris example and what actually lands in your account. It is written for relocating families, diplomats, senior professionals and business owners, particularly American and British sellers.

What Is a Real Estate Capital Gain in France?

A real estate capital gain in France, the plus-value immobilière, is the positive difference between an adjusted sale price and an adjusted purchase price as defined by the tax code, not the raw profit you see on a bank statement.

Sale price minus purchase price is only the starting point

The intuitive calculation almost always overstates what France will tax. In the example above, the apparent €220,000 profit shrinks to a €139,000 gain once the purchase price is adjusted upward, and shrinks again once ownership years are counted.

If the adjusted result is negative, you have a moins-value, a loss. No tax is due on a loss, and we come back to what that means for recent Paris buyers later in this guide.

Gross gain vs taxable gain: four terms to keep apart

French practice separates four numbers, and mixing them up is the most common source of bad estimates:

• Adjusted sale price: the price in the deed, reduced by certain seller costs.
• Adjusted purchase price: what you paid, increased by acquisition costs and qualifying works.
• Gross capital gain: the difference between the two figures above.
• Taxable gain: the gross gain after holding-period allowances, calculated separately for income tax and for social charges.

The official definition on Service-Public (opens in a new window) follows exactly this sequence, and so does your notaire's file.

Which Property Sales Can Trigger a Taxable Gain?

Any privately held French property can produce a taxable gain when sold, except your current main residence, and living abroad at the time of signing does not remove the French tax.

1. Second homes, rentals and pieds-à-terre

The classic cases are a résidence secondaire, a rental investment, or the pied-à-terre you kept after leaving Paris. For sellers who live outside France, the gain falls under the specific non-resident levy of Article 244 bis A of the French tax code (opens in a new window), whatever passport you hold.

2. Inherited property, gifts, SCIs and foreign companies

A few situations catch owners by surprise:

• Inherited or gifted property is taxable on resale. The purchase price used is the value declared for inheritance or gift tax, which often limits the gain more than sellers expect.
• An SCI taxed under income tax follows the same rules as a private individual. An SCI that opted for corporate tax follows a different and usually harsher regime.
• A foreign company whose assets are mostly French real estate also falls under Article 244 bis A when shares or the property are sold.

If your ownership runs through any structure, confirm its tax status before you estimate anything.

How to Calculate Capital Gains on Real Estate in France

You calculate a French capital gain in four steps: adjust the sale price down, adjust the purchase price up, take the difference, then apply the holding-period allowances.

Step 1. Start with the adjusted sale price

Take the price written in the deed of sale and deduct, with receipts:

• Mandatory diagnostic costs paid by the seller
• Mortgage release costs
• Agency fees, when the mandate puts them at the seller's charge

Step 2. Build the adjusted purchase price

This is where most of the tax saving lives. Your original purchase price is increased by:

• Acquisition costs, at their real documented amount or a flat 7.5% of the purchase price
• Renovation and improvement works invoiced by registered contractors, at their real amount, or a flat 15% if you have owned the property for more than five years

The 15% flat rate requires no receipts, which makes it the default choice for many sellers. But on a fully renovated Haussmann apartment, real invoices frequently exceed 15% of the purchase price, so choosing the flat rate out of convenience can cost real money. Keep every contractor invoice from day one, even if the sale feels years away.

Step 3. The gross capital gain formula

Adjusted sale price minus adjusted purchase price equals gross capital gain.

That single line is the number everything else works from.

Step 4. Apply the holding-period allowances

France rewards long ownership with annual allowances that reduce the taxable base, on two separate tracks: one for the 19% income tax, one for social charges. The full schedule is in the table below. Income tax disappears entirely after 22 years of ownership, social charges after 30 years.

Special rules for inherited, gifted and LMNP property

Two cases change the arithmetic. For inherited or gifted property, the declared transfer value becomes the purchase price. For furnished rentals under the LMNP regime, sales completed since 15 February 2025 must add previously deducted depreciation back into the calculation, which can inflate the gain substantially for long-term landlords. The Notaires de France calculation rules (opens in a new window) detail both mechanisms.

How Much Tax Do You Pay on a French Property Capital Gain?

On the taxable gain, France charges 19% income tax plus social charges, and a surtax on larger gains; for non-residents in 2026 the social charges are 7.5%, 17.2% or 18.6% depending on your profile.

The 19% income tax and the 2-6% surtax

The 19% rate applies to every seller regardless of country of residence. Residents of listed non-cooperative jurisdictions pay 75%, a rare case. On top of the 19%, a progressive surtax of 2% to 6% applies when the income-tax base, after allowances, exceeds €50,000. In Paris, where long-held apartments routinely cross that line, the surtax is worth checking before you set an asking price.

Social charges: 7.5%, 17.2% or 18.6% in 2026

Three outcomes are possible in 2026:

• 7.5% if you are covered by a social security scheme in the EU, the EEA or Switzerland. British sellers covered by UK National Insurance kept this reduced rate after Brexit.
• 17.2% was the standard rate for everyone else through 2025.
• 18.6% is what notaires are currently applying to sellers outside that European group. The social security financing law for 2026 raised CSG from 9.2% to 10.6% and preserved the old rate for residents' property gains, but the drafting left the non-resident levy outside the carve-out. No administrative guidance has settled the point yet.

Not every notaire reads the 2026 text the same way (more common than sellers expect). Keep every document from the sale; if the wording is later corrected, those papers support a refund claim for the 1.4 extra points.

Why nationality alone does not determine your rate

Your rate depends on your social security, not your passport. A French citizen working in Dubai pays more than a Spanish resident, and an American in New York pays more than a Briton in London, on identical apartments:

• American seller, US Social Security: 19% + 18.6% as currently applied
• British seller, UK National Insurance: 19% + 7.5%
• EU resident covered by a national scheme: 19% + 7.5%
• French expat in Dubai or Singapore: 19% + 18.6% as currently applied
• Cross-border professional holding an S1 certificate: usually 19% + 7.5%, worth confirming case by case

Hand your notaire proof of social security coverage early. It is the single document that moves the bill by eleven points.

For sellers who prefer to hear the mechanics explained aloud, this short video walks through how the French capital gains tax is calculated and who qualifies for the reduced social charges rate, which mirrors the two decisions covered in this section.

When Are Capital Gains on French Property Exempt?

Your current main residence is fully exempt, and most expats who sell soon after leaving France can still pay nothing, provided they meet two conditions to the letter.

Selling your main residence

The general rule is generous: the sale of the home you actually live in at the time of sale is exempt from both income tax and social charges, with no ceiling. The property must genuinely be your main residence when you sign, which a seller who has already moved abroad no longer satisfies.

A former main residence after leaving France

This is the exemption that matters for expats. Your old Paris home stays exempt if two conditions hold:

• The sale completes by 31 December of the year after you transfer your tax residence out of France
• The property is neither rented nor lent, even briefly and even for free, between your departure and the sale

Your new country must be in the EU or have signed tax cooperation agreements with France, which covers the US and the UK. If you left Paris in June 2026 and the apartment is sitting empty while you decide, your deadline is 31 December 2027, and every month of hesitation spends that window.

The €150,000 exemption for EU and EEA nationals

A separate relief shelters up to €150,000 of net taxable gain per seller, for EU and EEA nationals who were French tax residents for at least two continuous years at any point before the sale. A married couple selling jointly can shelter up to €300,000 (2026 rules). It applies to one property per taxpayer. American and British sellers do not qualify, as the tax administration's non-resident exemption rules (opens in a new window) confirm.

Long-term ownership and other cases

Full income tax exemption arrives after 22 years of ownership, full social charge exemption after 30. One persistent rumour needs correcting: the reform that would have cut the 22 years to 17 was voted in one parliamentary reading in November 2025 but never entered the final 2026 budget law of 19 February 2026. The 22 and 30 year thresholds still apply.

And one common myth: the €15,000 small-sale exemption applies when the sale price is €15,000 or less, not the gain. It almost never helps a Paris seller.

What happens if you rent the property after leaving?

Renting the apartment, even for two weeks, kills the former main residence exemption. Case law has denied it to an owner who let the property for a single fortnight before selling. If you are weighing keeping the apartment as an income property against selling it clean, run both numbers first; tenant-finding support from Relocation in Paris (opens in a new window) exists for owners who choose the rental route, while support with planning your departure from Paris around the sale date is available through Estate in Paris relocation assistance (opens in a new window).

Worked Example: Calculating Capital Gains on a Paris Apartment

On a Paris apartment bought for €360,000 in 2012 and sold for €580,000 in 2026, the French tax comes to between €22,304 and €35,442 depending on the seller's social security profile.

Purchase price and allowable additions

The seller held the apartment 14 full years and uses both flat rates:

• Original purchase price: €360,000
• Acquisition costs at 7.5%: €27,000
• Works allowance at 15%: €54,000
• Adjusted purchase price: €441,000

Sale price and the gross gain

• Sale price in the deed: €580,000
• Gross capital gain: €580,000 - €441,000 = €139,000

Already the taxable starting point is €81,000 lower than the intuitive €220,000.

The taxable gain after 14 years of ownership

Fourteen years earn nine years of allowances (years 6 through 14):

• Income tax base: 54% allowance, leaving €63,940
• Social charges base: 14.85% allowance, leaving €118,358

Income tax, social charges and surtax, by profile

• Income tax at 19%: €12,149
• Surtax on the base above €50,000: €1,279
• Social charges: €8,877 at 7.5%, €20,358 at 17.2%, €22,015 at 18.6%

Total bills: €22,304 for an EU or UK profile, €33,785 at 17.2%, €35,442 at the 18.6% rate currently applied to US and other non-European sellers. Same apartment, same deed, a €13,138 spread. That distinction matters enormously.

Does the Timing of Your Sale Change Your Capital Gains Tax?

Yes. Crossing a holding-period anniversary or missing the post-departure deadline can move the bill by thousands of euros on the same apartment.

Holding-period anniversaries can shrink the taxable gain

Allowances count full years from the acquisition date, so the signing date matters:

• The apartment above, sold in year 13 instead of year 14: €35,931 instead of €33,785 at the 17.2% rate, a €2,146 difference for a few months
• A larger case, €410,000 of gain: €55,019 in year 21 against €50,774 in year 22, when income tax vanishes

A December signing and a January signing can sit on opposite sides of an anniversary. Check your acquisition date in the deed before you agree a completion date.

The deadline after leaving your French main residence

The 31 December rule works in the other direction: it punishes waiting. Count back from the deadline and allow roughly three months between the compromis and the final deed, plus marketing time. In practice, listing within a year of departure is what keeps the exemption comfortably in reach, though your timeline may differ.

Sell now or wait?

This is a trade-off, not a tax question alone. A later sale can mean a smaller taxable gain but also a different market. Paris prices have stabilised after the 2022-2024 correction, at around €9,560 per m² for older apartments in the second quarter of 2026, up 0.6% over a year according to the Notaires du Grand Paris, with wide gaps between arrondissements. A lower tax bill does not automatically mean a higher net outcome if the achievable price moves against you, which is why the decision starts with a current valuation of your Paris apartment (opens in a new window) rather than with the tax table.

Who Calculates and Pays the Capital Gains Tax When You Sell?

You never wire the French tax yourself. The notaire calculates the taxable gain, files form 2048-IMM and withholds the tax from the buyer's funds on completion day.

The notaire calculates the taxable gain

The notaire works from documents: your purchase deed, contractor invoices, occupancy history, social security certificate. The quality of that file, not negotiation, decides the figure. A missing invoice folder quietly converts real works into the 15% flat rate.

Tax is withheld at completion

At the deed signing, the calculated tax is deducted from the price and paid to the Treasury with the 2048-IMM filing. You receive the net balance. Keep certified copies of the filed declaration; they are the proof of French tax paid that your home-country return will need. Sellers with French filing obligations also report the gain on their annual return.

When a non-resident needs a fiscal representative

Sellers residing outside the EU and EEA must appoint an accredited fiscal representative when the sale price exceeds €150,000 per seller and the gain is not fully exempt. British sellers have needed one since Brexit. The fee is unregulated and comes out of your proceeds, so request quotes early rather than accepting whichever firm appears at the compromis stage.

Selling remotely from abroad

Most non-resident sales complete by power of attorney, signed before a notary in your country of residence (this is easier to arrange than it sounds, but the paperwork takes weeks). Two protections matter:

• Ask for the projet de liquidation, the draft tax calculation, before signing any power of attorney
• Never sign a power of attorney that leaves the net price blank

If you disagree with the notaire's figures, the time to ask questions is before the deed. Afterwards, the route is a formal réclamation to the tax administration.

US and UK sellers: home-country reporting

France taxes the gain first, then your home country takes its turn. American sellers report the sale to the IRS and typically offset the French tax through the IRS foreign tax credit (opens in a new window) on Form 1116. British sellers report through Self Assessment and claim relief for French tax under HMRC's rules on foreign income and gains (opens in a new window). In most cases the treaty mechanism means you pay the higher of the two rates overall, not both in full.

How Much Will You Actually Keep From the Sale?

Your net proceeds are the sale price minus the tax and four other deductions, and the tax is rarely the largest of them.

The net proceeds formula

Sale price minus:

• capital gains tax
• outstanding mortgage and release costs
• agency fees, if seller-paid
• fiscal representative fee, if required
• diagnostics and other seller costs

equals estimated net proceeds.

Capital gains tax is only one line in that sheet. Government guides stop at the tax; a seller planning a move, a purchase elsewhere or a currency transfer needs the full column.

If you sell at a loss, the tax disappears but so does the offset

Paris has just been through a correction. Apartments resold after five years showed an average price fall of 10.1%, while ten-year holders remained up 21.1%, roughly €89,570 on a typical 53 m² apartment, per the Notaires du Grand Paris (January 2026 study) (opens in a new window). A loss means no tax at all. It also means nothing to deduct elsewhere, since a private moins-value cannot offset other income. Buyers from 2019-2022 should verify where they actually stand before assuming a taxable gain exists.

How Estate in Paris Helps International Owners Plan a Sale

Every number in this guide starts from one input, the sale price, and that is where Estate in Paris works: establishing what your apartment will really sign for, then defending that price from the first offer to the signing at the notaire's.

A valuation built on signed sales, not asking prices

France has no MLS, and listing prices are not signed prices. Estate in Paris values your property from recent transactions in the neighbourhood and from the qualities of the apartment itself, floor, view, quietness and features, rather than from what similar listings are asking. For the tax calculation, that matters twice: the valuation sets the gain you should expect, and it anchors the price a buyer will actually pay.

Qualified buyers protect your deadline

For a seller working against the 31 December deadline or a holding-period anniversary, a failed buyer costs months. Every buyer, French or international, is qualified before a viewing takes place: project, timeline and financing capacity are checked first, so you only receive serious visitors. Presentation is handled the same way, with professional photography and video, floor plans and home staging when useful, which matters when you cannot prepare the apartment yourself from abroad.

One advisor from the offer to the notaire's office

A dedicated advisor negotiates on your behalf from the offer through to the deed and reports back after every viewing, in English, whatever your time zone. The tax side stays where the law puts it: the notaire computes and withholds the tax, and this guide's checklist of documents, purchase deed, contractor invoices, social security certificate, is what you bring to that table. Details on how a sale engagement with Estate in Paris works (opens in a new window) are on the FAQ page, and the full process is described under selling a Paris property from abroad with Estate in Paris (opens in a new window).