Taxation of Foreign Estates

The taxation of foreign estates is essentially governed by the territoriality rules laid down by the French General Tax Code (Code général des impôts, CGI).

In this area, there are relatively few international tax treaties, particularly with regard to gift tax.

As for European Union law, it is of little significance in this area, although the European Commission has been concerned about potential double taxation and has proposed solutions to eliminate it, at least in part, and to remove any discrimination based on the location of persons and assets. In particular, Regulation (EU) 650/2012 of 4 July 2012 on international successions does not deal with tax matters. That being said, the legislation of the Member States must, of course, comply with the principle of the free movement of capital.

Difficulties to be resolved

Where an estate or a gift involves a foreign element, the main difficulty lies in the need, as far as possible, to avoid double taxation; this may arise from various situations:

• competing claims by two States as to the tax domicile of the deceased or the donor, or of the heirs or donees;
• differing assessments of where the assets are located;
• conflicts of sovereignty where one State taxes the transfer on the basis of the domicile of the deceased or the donor, while another State also taxes it on the basis of the location of the assets or the tax domicile of the heirs or donees (or, possibly, on the basis of a nationality criterion).

In France, certain difficulties are resolved under domestic law by means of a tax credit mechanism, which is capable of avoiding double taxation in most cases.

There are, however, residual difficulties which tax treaties are intended to resolve.

Territoriality rules

The territoriality rules depend on the domicile of the deceased or the donor, the domicile of the heirs or donees and the location of the assets. They are laid down in Article 750 ter of the CGI.

The same rules apply whether inheritance tax or gift tax is concerned (the position is different where there is a tax treaty, since few treaties also cover gift tax). Under French domestic law, nationality is in principle irrelevant.

The chargeable event for the tax due on a gift of cash made by private deed executed abroad is in principle the drawing up of the deed and not its disclosure.

The fact that sums formed part of the deceased's estate on the day of his or her death may validly be established by the decision of a foreign court; the tax authorities may rely on such a decision as the basis for supplementary inheritance tax assessments charged to the legatee pursuant to Article 750 ter of the CGI.

Deceased or donor domiciled in France

If the deceased or the donor is domiciled in France on the date of the transfer, all the assets transferred are in principle taxable, whether they are located in France or outside France and irrespective of the tax domicile, on that date, of the heirs, donees or legatees (CGI art. 750 ter, 1°).

The scope of gift and inheritance tax (droits de mutation à titre gratuit) is therefore, in principle, entirely general.

Deceased or donor not domiciled in France

If the deceased or the donor is not domiciled in France on the date of the transfer, two situations may arise:

• if the heirs, donees or legatees are not themselves domiciled in France, only transfers of assets located in France are, as a general rule, taxable (CGI art. 750 ter, 2°);
• if the heirs, donees or legatees are themselves domiciled in France, all the assets transferred are in principle taxable, whether located in France or outside France, except where the heirs, donees or legatees have not been domiciled in France for at least 6 years during the last ten years preceding the year in which they receive the assets (CGI art. 750 ter, 3°); in the latter case, only assets located in France are taxable. This provision makes it possible to tax in France the French and foreign assets included in estates opened abroad and in gifts, whether or not evidenced by a deed executed in France or abroad.

The law does not provide that legatees benefit from the exception in the event of non-domicile in France for at least 6 years during the last ten years, but this omission in principle has no consequence, since the administrative doctrine provides for it.

Taking into account the domicile in France of heirs and donees is intended to prevent wealthy individuals from transferring their tax domicile outside France and making tax-free gifts of assets located outside France to their heirs who have remained French residents; this principle was laid down by the Finance Act for 1999, which sought to curb the relocation of wealthy individuals.

International tax treaties

The territoriality rules laid down by the CGI apply only "subject to" tax treaties. They may therefore be set aside if a tax treaty lays down different principles; only an analysis of the situation by a lawyer can determine whether or not the applicable treaty sets them aside.

According to the case law of the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation), the highest court with regard to gift and inheritance tax, tax treaties must be regarded as directly applicable; indeed, unlike the Council of State (Conseil d'Etat), the Cour de cassation does not apply the principle of subsidiarity (or priority of domestic law over treaty law) but refers directly to the applicable treaty provisions.

This position of principle was affirmed in particular by the Cour de cassation sitting in plenary formation, with regard to the liability to inheritance tax of the transfer by an individual domiciled in Monaco of shares in a Monegasque non-trading company (société civile) whose assets consisted predominantly of real estate in France.

General principles

Tax treaties relating to inheritance tax or, where applicable, also to gift tax, often follow the model proposed by the OECD in 1982; they thus grant the State of the deceased's domicile the right to tax the entire estate.

They nevertheless allow the State in which the assets are located also to tax the transfer, as for example in the case of real property or a business (fonds de commerce) located in the territory of that State; in that case, they may provide for a mechanism to eliminate double taxation by means of a tax credit to be set off in the State of residence in respect of the tax paid in the State where the assets are located; where that State of residence is France, it is necessary to have a lawyer check whether or not the treaty gives entitlement to this credit.

Tax treaties therefore reflect French domestic law where the deceased or the donor is a French resident; they also allow France, subject to specific features relating in particular to companies whose assets consist predominantly of real estate, to tax transfers of assets located in France where the deceased was a non-resident (the same applies to gift tax).

General treaties on income and wealth sometimes contain specific provisions on gift and inheritance tax.

The French treaty network is not expanding; the last tax treaty concluded by France on gift and inheritance tax dates from 2006 (Franco-German treaty of 12 October 2006).

Not only is the treaty network not expanding, it is shrinking; thus France and Switzerland have no longer been bound by a tax treaty since France, on 17 June 2014, terminated the treaty of 31 December 1953; it was stated that this termination was motivated by the desire to put an end to the "erosion of the tax base to the detriment of French public finances" (Rép. Lefebvre: AN 5-4-2016 No. 82717); for the estates of persons who died on or after 1 January 2015, only the domestic law of each of the two States applies.

Which countries does France have an inheritance tax treaty with?

According to the official list of France’s tax treaties, reproduced in the site’s table of tax treaties (updated to 9 November 2026), France is bound by a treaty covering inheritance tax with 33 States and territories. Eight of these treaties also cover gift tax. In addition, there are two agreements of limited scope, with Portugal (3 June 1994) and Switzerland (30 October 1979), which only cover certain gifts and legacies made to the other State, to its public authorities or to certain public or non-profit bodies, and not the estates of private individuals.

A few points to read this list:

• With the United States and the United Kingdom, treaties specific to inheritance apply (1978 and 1963); they are presented on the pages France–US inheritance and France–UK inheritance.
• Some general income tax treaties also contain provisions on inheritance (see above).
• The treaty with Monaco is a treaty of a particular nature.
• France does not, however, have an inheritance tax treaty with, for example, Switzerland (for deaths occurring since 1 January 2015), Portugal, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Israel, China, Hong Kong or Singapore. On the French side, only French rules then apply, with, where relevant, the tax credit under article 784 A of the CGI for tax paid abroad on assets located outside France.

Where a treaty exists, it may sometimes, depending on the case and after analysis of the treaty, exempt all or part of the transferred assets in France. Its effect depends on its precise provisions and on each person’s situation (domicile of the deceased and of the heirs, nature and location of the assets): before taking any step, it is necessary to have the situation analysed by a lawyer to find out whether or not the treaty allows this exemption.

Application of tax treaties to gift tax

Whether or not a tax treaty covers gift tax is sometimes clear from the title of the treaty (for example, a treaty applicable to inheritance tax only, or to inheritance and gift tax); however, the title merely reflects the list of taxes covered. If the wording of the article on taxes covered is: "the taxes which are the subject of this treaty are… in the case of France, taxes levied on death" or "transfer duties on death", gift tax (transfers inter vivos) is not covered.

It is covered, on the other hand, where reference is made, for example, to "registration duties" in general (but not if only stamp duties are concerned), or to "gift and inheritance tax" (droits de mutation à titre gratuit), or to "duties (or taxes) on estates and gifts" (as in the Franco-American and Franco-German treaties).

Domicile of heirs or donees not taken into account

One of the most important consequences of tax treaties is that, unlike under French domestic law, the domicile of the heirs or donees is not taken into account. Tax treaties were, indeed, almost always negotiated at a time when the territoriality rules were based solely on the criteria of the deceased's domicile and the location of the assets. They may therefore, depending on the case, have the effect of depriving France of the right to apply Article 750 ter, 3° of the CGI (non-resident deceased, asset located outside France and resident heir); only an analysis of the situation by a lawyer can determine whether or not the applicable treaty has this effect.

Only the Franco-German tax treaty of 12 October 2006 takes into account the tax residence of the heirs, donees or legatees. By way of exception to the principle that assets not located in the other State are in principle taxable only in the State of residence of the deceased or donor, it in principle allows France to tax all the assets received by an heir, legatee or donee domiciled in France at the time of the death or of the gift. The tax paid in Germany may then, depending on the case, be set off against the tax calculated under French legislation, except for the assets that the treaty allows France to tax as the State where they are located; only an analysis of the situation by a lawyer can determine whether, and to what extent, this set-off is possible.

Where the tax treaty does not provide for the possibility of taking into account the domicile of the heirs or donees, the position of the tax authorities is not entirely clear. It had been stated, with regard to the Franco-Italian tax treaty of 20 December 1990, that, "in accordance with the objectives pursued by the legislature", if a donee domiciled in France receives movable and immovable property located in Italy which (according to the question, although the answer does not repeat this point) is given to him or her by a donor domiciled in Italy, that treaty does not deprive France of the right to tax, but the tax that may have been paid abroad in respect of assets located outside France may be set off against the French tax (Rép. Morel-A-L'Huissier: AN 8-2-2011 No. 92034: BF 4/11 No. 436).

This answer was not, however, incorporated into the Bofip (official tax doctrine database); current administrative doctrine merely states that, "save in special cases" (without further detail), the treaties concluded by France preclude the application of Article 750 ter, 3° of the CGI because they allocate taxing rights according to the State of tax residence of the deceased (or donor) and the location of the assets forming part of the estate (or gift), without taking into account the situation of the heirs or legatees (or donees). These treaties may therefore have the effect of depriving France of the right to tax assets bequeathed or given by a non-resident deceased or donor to a French-resident beneficiary, if they are located outside France (in the other Contracting State or in a third State) or are not taxable under the treaty; in each situation, it is necessary to have a lawyer check whether or not this is the case. In my view, the "special case" referred to in the above-mentioned administrative doctrine can only be that of explicit tax treaties, such as the Franco-German treaty.

Non-discrimination clause

The OECD model tax convention on estates and gifts contains a provision prohibiting discrimination based on nationality. Such a provision is often included in the tax treaties signed by France, but not systematically; for example, the Franco-American treaty of 24 November 1978, as amended, does not contain a non-discrimination clause.

The fact that the tax treaty does not include the principle of non-discrimination is, however, of no consequence where there exists, between France and the foreign country concerned, an income tax treaty that prohibits discrimination whatever the taxes concerned, even if they are not covered by the treaty. In that case, discrimination is in principle prohibited with regard to gift and inheritance tax on the basis of the "income" treaty, even if the "estates" treaty does not contain a specific non-discrimination clause.

The case of the Franco-American treaty

In the Franco-American context, the treaty of 24 November 1978, as amended by the amendment of 8 December 2004, in principle provides that, for the calculation of the French tax due on an estate or a gift made by a person who, at the time of his or her death or of the gift, was a citizen of the United States or was domiciled in the United States, the same allowances and credits are granted as if the person had been domiciled in France. The same in principle applies where the deceased or donor was domiciled in France and the beneficiary is a citizen of the United States or is domiciled in the United States. Only an analysis of the situation by a lawyer can determine whether or not the treaty leads to these allowances and credits.

In addition to the treaty non-discrimination clause, European Union law may lead to the prohibition of restrictions or discrimination on the basis of the principle of the free movement of capital, which the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) considers applicable in the field of inheritance tax.

Such a principle has the effect of prohibiting a State from applying discriminatory rules as regards the value of taxable assets, the taking into account of personal allowances, the deduction of debts, etc. It also has the consequence of prohibiting restrictions on the tax deductibility of gifts made to bodies established and recognised as being of public interest in another Member State.

As regards France, it was held, under the legislation prior to the Amending Finance Act for 2014 No. 2014-1655 of 29 December 2014, that France could not restrict the exemption from gift and inheritance tax provided for gifts and legacies to public bodies or bodies recognised as being of public utility to bodies located in France or in a State of the European Union or of the European Economic Area bound to France by a tax treaty.

Mutual agreement procedure

The treaty-based settlement of difficulties in applying tax treaties generally follows the same rules as for treaties concerning taxes on income and wealth; the treaty mutual agreement procedure is a specific, non-judicial remedy that allows the taxpayer to apply to his or her State of residence to request that it examine the case and find a solution eliminating double taxation by mutual agreement with the other State.

In practice, the difficulties most often concern:

• the determination of the domicile of the deceased (or, where applicable, of the donor);
• issues relating to the allocation of debts;
• conflicts between legislations in determining which treaty provision governs the transfer of an asset.

In the event of difficulty, it may be possible, after taking the advice of your lawyer, to refer the matter, in France, to the international dispute prevention and resolution office (bureau SJCF-4B, which took over the responsibilities of the former Mejei) of the Directorate General of Public Finances (Direction générale des finances publiques, DGFiP) (64-70 Allée de Bercy, Télédoc 849, 75574 Paris Cedex 12; bureau.sjcf4b@dgfip.finances.gouv.fr).

The Franco-German treaty of 12 October 2006 provides for an arbitration procedure. It specifies that, if the competent authorities fail to reach a mutual agreement within a period of twenty-four months counted from the day of receipt of the request from the taxpayer(s) concerned, they may agree to have recourse to an arbitration commission; this procedure is therefore optional and left to the discretion of the States.

Determination of tax domicile

The tax domicile does not necessarily coincide with civil domicile; the determination of the tax domicile of individuals is governed by specific rules, identical to those laid down for income tax (Article 750 ter of the CGI expressly refers, with regard to tax domicile, to Article 4 B of the same Code, relating to the determination of tax domicile for income tax purposes; BOI-ENR-DMTG-10-10-30 No. 30).

For the purposes of gift and inheritance tax, in the same way as for income tax, a person (whether the deceased, the donor, the heirs or the donees) is thus in principle considered to be domiciled in France if he or she has in France:

• either his or her home (foyer), understood, according to the tax authorities, as the place where the taxpayer normally lives, i.e. the place of his or her habitual residence, provided that this residence in France is permanent; the tax authorities state that the taxpayer's habitual residence remains his or her home even if he or she is required, for professional reasons, to stay elsewhere temporarily or for most of the year, provided that the family normally continues to live there and all its members gather there; the definitions put forward by administrative doctrine are not, however, entirely consistent with the case law, which defines the home differently, as being located where the taxpayer has the centre of his or her family interests and where he or she normally lives;
• or, in the absence of a home, the place of his or her principal residence, understood as the place of his or her actual presence, generally for a period of more than six months; if the length of stay in France is less than six months but longer than in other States, this criterion also results in domicile in France;
• or the place of his or her professional activities, unless these are carried on on an ancillary basis; this place means the place where the activity is actually carried on;
• or the centre of his or her economic interests, i.e., according to the tax authorities, the place where the main investments are made, or the place where professional activities are carried on, or the place from which most of his or her income is derived.

These criteria are alternative and not cumulative; for example, if it turns out that one of them is met by the deceased, his or her entire estate is taxable in France, even if the heirs are not themselves French residents and the assets are not located in France (unless, of course, a tax treaty provides for a different solution).

In principle, these criteria are applied in light of the clarifications provided by the administrative courts, which rule on the application of the territoriality rules for income tax; indeed, these clarifications are generally adopted by the civil courts, which have jurisdiction over gift and inheritance tax. In this regard, moreover, the tax authorities state that officials responsible for auditing gift and inheritance tax must, where there is doubt as to the tax domicile, contact their colleague responsible for income taxation, while taking into account any change of domicile that may have occurred between 1 January and the date of the chargeable event.

For the application of the centre of economic interests criterion, the civil courts would probably adopt the approach of the Conseil d'Etat, which holds that a taxpayer's centre of economic interests cannot be established merely by finding that assets are located in France, since those assets must be income-producing; as the public rapporteur Laurent Olléon stated in his conclusions on that decision, "what must be compared is the level of income derived by the taxpayer in each country, whether income from his work or from his property".

Illustrations from case law

Few decisions have been handed down by the civil courts on tax domicile for the purposes of gift and inheritance tax. The following two, which in substance follow the administrative case law, are nevertheless worth noting:

1. a. A person who held dual Venezuelan and French nationality and who died in the Netherlands Antilles was considered to be domiciled in France at the time of death; that person indeed had his or her home in France, even though he or she had actually stayed more frequently in Venezuela than in France during the last years of his or her life, the residence in France having remained "the base of the couple and the family" and his or her home within the meaning of Article 4 B of the CGI; this decision adopted the statement of principle from the case law of the Conseil d'Etat, stating that "the taxpayer's home, which determines tax domicile, means the place where the person concerned normally lives and has the centre of his family interests, without taking into account stays made temporarily elsewhere, in particular owing to the requirements of his profession"; the judgment also stresses that the fact that the taxpayer's centre of economic interests was located abroad is irrelevant since, of the three statutory criteria, it is sufficient for only one to be demonstrated to result in domicile in France; finally, the judgment confirms that tax domicile must be assessed solely by reference to the tax provision, without regard to the Civil Code.
2. b. A taxpayer who carried on his activity mainly in New Caledonia, where he managed a company, was not considered to be domiciled in France at the time of his death, even though he died in France after having stayed there for more than six months during the previous year; indeed, those stays did not result from personal or professional convenience but solely from the need to treat an illness that could not be treated in New Caledonia; the transfer to France by the deceased of his principal place of residence, which in no way showed an intention to establish his principal establishment in metropolitan France, did not establish that he had his tax domicile there.

Domicile of the heir or donee (or legatee)

For the application of Article 750 ter, 3° of the CGI, the tax domicile of the heir (donee or legatee) is assessed according to the income tax rules (CGI art. 4 B). Residence in France must be established on the day of the chargeable event for the transfer free of charge; the criterion of domicile during a period of 6 years in the ten years preceding the chargeable event is in principle met even where the domicile has been discontinuous.

In application of these principles, a gift made to a child under 6 years of age does not in principle fall within the scope of Article 750 ter, 3° of the CGI since the duration condition cannot, by definition, be met (Rép. Zimmermann: AN 12-7-2005 No. 58326: BF 10/05 No. 1031, not incorporated into the Bofip). It has also been specified that no distinction is to be made according to whether the heir, donee or legatee is a minor or an adult, and that nothing prevents a child under 18 from having had his or her tax domicile in France for more than 6 years during the last ten years preceding the year in which he or she received assets (Rép. Reichardt: Sén. 20-8-2015 No. 14014, specifying that a minor dependent on his or her parents does indeed have his or her home in France if the parents are themselves domiciled in France).

Tax issues generally associated with international gifts

Beyond the traditional context of abuse of law (abus de droit), several issues deserve attention in the case of an international gift.

In particular, the situation of donees who received a manual gift (don manuel) that was not taxable in France, and who then settle there, deserves attention.

Under domestic law, two provisions aim to combat this possibility of tax evasion:

• Article 757 of the CGI, which subjects certain manual gifts to gift and inheritance tax (droits de mutation à titre gratuit);
• Article 784 of the CGI, which requires the recall of prior gifts, thereby establishing a taxable event for those gifts that were not subject to gift and inheritance tax.

Place where the deed is executed

The place where the deed of gift is executed is not a criterion determining the territorial scope of gift tax.

Thus, a gift executed before a French notary is in principle subject to French gift tax only if the conditions of Article 750 ter of the CGI are met or if a tax treaty grants France the right to tax.

However, a deed of gift executed in France may be of strategic interest, particularly where registration is not contemplated in the donor's country.

It may also be of interest if the donor's estate may, where applicable, be taxed in France.

In that case, the tax recall provided for by Article 784 of the CGI in principle requires a demonstration that the previous gift was not taxable.

Proof may be provided by means of the registration of the deed of gift previously executed in France.

If a gift is executed abroad, it may be taxable in France where the conditions of Article 750 ter of the CGI are met or if the applicable tax treaty grants France the right to tax.

In principle, deeds of gift relating to assets taxable in France must be submitted for registration in France.

The deed in question will not necessarily be a notarial deed. Whatever the nature of the instrument, the deed is in principle submitted for registration:

• at the registration office for the donor's domicile, if the donor is domiciled in France;
• at the non-residents' tax office where the donor is domiciled outside France.

In the event of late submission of the foreign deed to the registration department, late-payment interest is in principle due under the ordinary rules of French domestic law.

Manual gifts in international transfers (CGI, Art. 757)

Under Article 757 of the CGI, manual gifts are subject to gift tax:

• where they are recorded in a deed subject to registration containing their declaration by the donee or the donee's representatives;
• where they are the subject of judicial recognition;
• where the person who benefited from the gift informs the tax authorities (administration fiscale) of it.

Under Article 635 A of the CGI, manual gifts must be declared or registered by the donee or the donee's representatives within one month of the date on which the donee disclosed the gift to the tax authorities.

Manual gifts that are disclosed and that are taxable in France must in principle be registered using form no. 2735:

• at the tax office for the donee's domicile if the donee is domiciled in France;
• at the non-residents' tax office otherwise.

The taxable event for gift tax is, in principle, the date on which the donee discloses the manual gift. It is therefore not the gift that may have been made previously.

Case law and the Administration's doctrine take the same position, namely that the applicable legislation is that in force on the date on which the donee discloses the manual gift to the Administration.

It might therefore, in principle, seem advisable to disclose to the French authorities manual gifts made abroad, even if they are not taxable in France.

Depending on the case, this may limit the tax pitfalls that the donee might face in the absence of such formalisation; whether such a step is advisable should be assessed with a lawyer. An impatriate who had previously carried out their wealth transfer by way of international gifts would, in principle, be better protected in this respect.

Gifts made abroad without a deed

Gifts made abroad, and not recorded in a deed, relating to real estate, businesses (fonds de commerce), clienteles or offices, and to a leasehold right or the benefit of a promise to lease real property must in principle be declared within one month of taking possession, where they are taxable in France.

Gifts made abroad relating to other assets are, as a general rule, subject to registration and to gift and inheritance tax only if they are recorded in a deed constituting the complete title to the gift. However, it frequently happens that such gifts are not recorded in a proper written instrument.

Tax recall in international transfers (CGI, Art. 784)

The civil law hotchpot (rapport civil) is distinct from the tax recall (rappel fiscal) of prior gifts.

The tax recall of gifts has a direct impact on the calculation of gift and inheritance tax.

The recall period for prior gifts is 15 years.

In the case of prior gifts, the value of the assets that were the subject of those gifts, except gifts made more than 15 years earlier, is in principle added to the value of the assets included in the new gift or in the estate return.

Only gifts made less than 15 years earlier must be added back for the calculation of the tax pursuant to Article 784 of the CGI.

With regard to gifts made less than 15 years earlier, the tax recall in principle has the following consequences:

• the allowances are applied after deduction of those from which the persons concerned benefited on the gifts made to them by the deceased less than 15 years earlier;
• where a progressive scale applies, the assets whose transfer has not yet been subject to gift and inheritance tax are deemed to be included in the highest brackets of the taxable assets;
• reductions in tax are granted after deduction of those from which the gifts made by the deceased less than 15 years earlier benefited.

Gifts made more than 15 years earlier are in principle not subject to the tax recall. In that case, the heir, legatee or donee may use the full allowances, the lowest brackets of the progressive scale and the maximum tax reductions.

The tax recall is a fourth case of taxation of manual gifts (CGI, Art. 757), as it in principle applies to all gifts, whatever their form.

Must a foreign manual gift that was not taxable be recalled for tax purposes within the meaning of Article 784 of the CGI?

The answer is given expressly by Article 784 of the CGI, which provides that all gifts, whatever their form, are subject to the tax recall.

What about gifts made by notarial deed (acte authentique)?

Legal commentators and practitioners are divided on this question.

Some simply consider that a registered foreign manual gift or a gift received by notarial deed before a foreign notary is not subject to recall in the context of a gift or an inheritance taking place in France.

It would also be possible to consider that a gift registered abroad starts the 15-year tax recall period running.

The question is therefore whether a gift registered abroad starts the 15-year tax recall period running, or whether a gift registered in France is absolutely required for the period to start running.

In practical terms, it might in some cases seem advisable to register in France the deed executed abroad.

That gift would then, where applicable, be subject to the tax recall under Article 784 of the CGI, which should be neutral if the gift was taxed abroad and fell outside the scope of French gift tax.

What I see in my cases

The difficulties described in this article are the ones I find in my cases: an often long foreign procedure against a short French deadline, tax treaties that are sometimes decisive but unfamiliar to the tax authorities, and foreign tax whose credit is examined very closely. What makes the difference is how the file is presented: clear, complete and documented, it most often makes it possible to rely on the treaty and the credit from the outset, without a long and uncertain procedure. That said, the treaty still has to apply: only a case-by-case analysis, by a lawyer, can determine whether or not it can reduce or eliminate the French tax.

The estates I handle involve, besides the United States and the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Israel, Spain, Portugal, Hong Kong, Singapore and China. It is generally the heirs who consult me; shares and real estate are the assets that raise the most questions. When the funds remain blocked abroad while the duties are payable in France, one solution may be to negotiate a payment schedule with the tax authorities, which is not straightforward. More rarely, the deceased’s tax domicile is disputed: these cases are complex, because the heirs do not always have access to the necessary supporting documents.

FAQ

Read more

• Taxation of International Inheritances and Gifts: FAQ
• International inheritance tax return in France: who, where, when and how?
• International Inheritance
• International Gifts
• Table of Tax Treaties