Having a bank account abroad is legal. However, people whose tax domicile is in France are in principle required to declare to the French tax authorities, every year, the accounts they have opened, held, used or closed outside France (Article 1649 A of the French General Tax Code, or CGI). This declaration is, as a general rule, made with the income tax return, on form no. 3916-3916-bis, often simply called “form 3916”.
This article explains in plain terms which accounts are concerned, who must declare them, what the exceptions are and what the law provides if an account has been omitted. It complements the page on declaring foreign bank accounts. Every situation has its own features: in case of doubt, a lawyer’s analysis helps determine the most appropriate steps.
In brief
- People whose tax domicile is in France in principle declare every year the accounts opened, held, used or closed abroad, for their whole tax household.
- This in principle covers bank accounts, accounts with foreign neobanks, brokers or payment institutions, and digital-asset accounts; life insurance contracts taken out abroad are declared on the same form.
- The balance does not matter: an empty or dormant account is in principle concerned, and a closed account still is for the year in which it was closed.
- Exception: certain online payment accounts (PayPal type), linked to an account in France, when the amounts received do not exceed €10,000 a year.
- The declaration is in principle made with the income tax return: box 8UU (8TT for life insurance) and one form 3916-3916-bis per account.
- An omission may lead to a fine of €1,500 per account and per year and extend to ten years the period during which income tax can be reassessed.
Contents
Who must declare an account abroad?
The obligation in principle applies to individuals whose tax domicile is in France, in mainland France as in the overseas departments, whatever their nationality. It also applies, as a general rule, to associations and to companies without a commercial form established in France, for example a property-holding civil company (SCI), which declare their accounts with their profit return.
For an individual, the declaration in principle covers the whole tax household: the taxpayer’s accounts, those of their spouse or civil partner (PACS) when they are taxed jointly, and those of children and other dependants, for example a savings account opened abroad by a minor child’s grandparents. They are, as a general rule, declared with the household’s income tax return, one form per account.
Tax domicile is determined under Article 4 B of the CGI (home or principal place of stay, main professional activity or centre of economic interests in France) and, where applicable, under the relevant tax treaty (see can you be a tax resident in two countries?). A person who is not tax resident in France is in principle not concerned. Conversely, a person who settles in France in principle declares, from their first income tax return in France, the accounts they have kept abroad.
Which accounts must be declared?
The rule is broad: in principle, it covers all accounts opened, held, used or closed during the year with an institution established outside France that usually receives funds or securities on deposit: a bank, payment institution, broker or platform. An account is “held” when you are its holder, joint holder, beneficiary or beneficial owner; it is “used” as soon as a credit or debit transaction has been made on it during the year, for example under a power of attorney.
The main accounts concerned
- current accounts, savings accounts, term deposits and foreign-currency accounts opened with a foreign bank;
- accounts opened with a neobank or a payment institution established outside France, even when used from France through an app (see the article on Revolut, N26, eToro, Wise or Degiro accounts);
- securities and brokerage accounts, including the account opened with a foreign broker to receive shares granted by an employer (see the page on the taxation of foreign RSUs and stock options);
- digital-asset accounts opened with a platform established abroad (Article 1649 bis C of the CGI; see declaring foreign cryptocurrency accounts);
- life insurance or capitalisation contracts taken out with an institution established outside France, declared on the same form (Article 1649 AA of the CGI; see how to declare a life insurance policy held abroad).
Dormant, empty or closed accounts
Since 1 January 2019 (law of 23 October 2018 on the fight against fraud), the obligation also covers accounts that are merely held, even when no transaction was made on them during the year: dormant accounts are therefore in principle concerned, as is an almost empty account.
An account closed during the year is in principle declared one last time for that year, with its closing date; it no longer appears in subsequent returns. Closing an account does not, however, erase the years for which it may not have been declared.
What is in principle not an account abroad
- an account opened with a bank established in France, even if it is denominated in dollars, pounds sterling or another currency;
- a cryptocurrency wallet kept by yourself, without a platform, which is not an account opened with an institution: it is in principle not covered by the form, but any capital gains still have to be declared;
- online payment accounts that meet the conditions of the exception presented below.
The exception for small online payment accounts
According to the tax authorities’ guidelines (BOI-CF-CPF-30-20), an online payment account, of the PayPal type, does not have to be declared when three conditions are met at the same time:
- it is used to pay for online purchases or to receive the price of sales of goods made online;
- opening it requires holding another account opened in France, to which it is linked;
- the amounts received during the year on all such accounts do not exceed €10,000.
If one of these conditions is not met, for example because the amounts received exceed €10,000 in the year, the account is in principle to be declared. This exception does not, in principle, apply to ordinary bank accounts or to neobank accounts used as current accounts, which generally do not meet these conditions.
Special cases
Some situations raise more delicate questions. The table below sets out the principles generally applied; each situation nevertheless deserves a case-by-case analysis.
| Situation | Must the account be declared? |
|---|---|
| Joint account between spouses or PACS partners taxed jointly | In principle yes, once for the household, on one form. |
| Joint account with a person from another tax household (brother, adult child not attached to the household…) | In principle yes, by each tax household domiciled in France. |
| Account of a dependent child, minor or attached adult | In principle yes, with the parents’ return, one form per account. |
| Account of a relative on which you hold a power of attorney | In principle yes when you used the power of attorney during the year for yourself or for a person resident in France; the situation deserves to be examined when it is used solely for the benefit of a person who does not live in France. |
| Foreign account of a commercial company of which you are a director or shareholder | The commercial company is in principle not subject to this obligation. However, the Conseil d’État has ruled that a person domiciled in France who uses an account opened abroad may have to declare it, even when its holder is a commercial company (CE, 8 March 2023, no. 463267). |
| Civil company (SCI…) or association established in France | In principle yes, by the company or association itself, with its profit return. |
| Neobank assigning an IBAN beginning with FR | It all depends on the institution that actually keeps the account, in France or abroad: the IBAN is an indication, but it is not always enough to settle the question. |
How is an account abroad declared?
The declaration is in principle made every year, together with the income tax return, in the spring. It covers the previous year: in 2026, you declare the accounts opened, held, used or closed in 2025.
- on income tax return no. 2042, box 8UU reports bank accounts and digital-asset accounts, and box 8TT life insurance contracts taken out abroad;
- one form no. 3916-3916-bis is, as a general rule, completed for each account: account number, type and opening and closing dates, name and address of the institution, personal or professional use, capacity as holder or as holder of a power of attorney;
- the form does not ask for the balance of a bank account and does not create any tax by itself.
The income from the account (interest, dividends, capital gains) is declared separately, in principle on form no. 2047 and then on return no. 2042, with a possible tax credit if the tax treaty provides for it, which only an analysis of the situation by a lawyer can confirm or rule out (see the articles for which foreign accounts do you have to pay tax? and on foreign interest and dividends). The form is explained box by box in the guide form 3916: how to declare a foreign account, step by step.
What does the law provide in the event of an omission?
Every year, as part of the automatic exchange of information, the French tax authorities receive data on many accounts held abroad by French residents. An undeclared account is therefore increasingly likely to be known to them; box 8UU is sometimes even pre-ticked on the online return. The law provides in particular for:
- a fine of €1,500 per undeclared account and per year, increased to €10,000 when the account is located in a State or territory that has not concluded with France an agreement giving access to banking information (Article 1736, IV of the CGI); for a digital-asset account, the fine is in principle €750 per account, or €1,500 when the value of the accounts exceeds €50,000 during the year;
- if income or assets linked to the account were not declared, the corresponding tax, with late-payment interest and, depending on the case, an 80% surcharge (Article 1729-0 A of the CGI), which then replaces the fine without being lower than it;
- a reassessment period for income tax extended from three to ten years (Article L169 of the French Tax Procedure Code), unless the total balance of the accounts abroad did not exceed €50,000 at any time during the year (see the article on limitation periods).
The special unit for voluntary disclosures (STDR), which applied reduced surcharges, closed at the end of 2017; regularisation nevertheless remains possible under the ordinary rules. Before taking any step, it is advisable to consult a lawyer in order to analyse the situation: depending on the case, filing the missing forms and, if income was omitted, an amended return may be a solution; in other situations, a carefully prepared regularisation procedure may be preferable. See the articles regularising an undeclared foreign account: what to do if you forgot to declare it? and what fines apply for failing to declare an account abroad?, as well as the page on regularising an undeclared foreign account.
What I see in my cases
Powers of attorney generally cause difficulties in my cases. A person who holds a power of attorney over a parent’s account, without ever having used the funds, often does not think they have to report it; the tax authorities, however, may ask them to regularise. These situations call for careful presentation and, often, negotiation. The same goes for sub-accounts that a bank sometimes opens without informing its client, which I see in particular with Portuguese banks: depending on the case, each one may be an account to report.
The forgotten accounts I come across most often are securities accounts, life insurance policies and retirement accounts, those holding a lot of money. A dormant or almost empty account in principle remains subject to the reporting obligation: fines are often applied all the same, because that is the law.
FAQ
Is it legal to open a bank account abroad?
In principle yes: a French tax resident may open an account abroad. They are, however, in principle required to declare it every year on form no. 3916-3916-bis and, if the account produces income, to declare that income in France, in principle on form no. 2047.
Must an almost empty or dormant account be declared?
In principle yes: since 2019, the obligation concerns the existence of the account, whatever its balance and transactions. Depending on the situation, closing an account that is no longer needed may also be considered; it is then declared one last time for the year of its closure.
Must a closed account be declared?
In principle yes, one last time for the year of its closure, with the closing date. For past years, closing the account does not erase a possible omission: the fine for an undeclared account may in principle cover the last four or five returns, and income tax may, depending on the case, be reassessed over a longer period (see limitation periods).
Must my account with a foreign neobank be declared?
In principle yes, when the institution that keeps the account is established outside France, even if the account is used from France through an app. When the neobank assigns an IBAN beginning with FR, the answer depends on the institution that actually keeps the account. See the article on Revolut, N26, eToro, Wise or Degiro accounts.
I have just moved to France: must I declare the accounts I kept in my home country?
In principle yes, from the first year of tax residence in France: the accounts held abroad that year, even old or dormant ones, appear on the first income tax return filed in France. Earlier years, during which you were not a French tax resident, are in principle not concerned.
I do not know the account’s opening date: what can be done?
It usually appears on the account opening agreement, the statements or the bank’s letters, and the institution can provide it. When it is still unknown at the time of filing, how to complete the form deserves to be examined with a lawyer; an online return can in principle be corrected afterwards, when the online correction service is open, usually during the summer.
Does declaring an account abroad mean paying tax?
In principle no: declaring the account is an information return. It is the income from the account (interest, dividends, capital gains) that may be taxable in France, under its own rules.
Read more
- Form 3916: how to declare a foreign account, step by step
- Undeclared Revolut, N26, eToro, Wise or Degiro Account: What to Do
- Declaring Foreign Cryptocurrency Accounts in France
- Life Insurance Policies Held Abroad: How to Report Them?
- What Fines Apply for Failing to Declare an Account Abroad?
- Regularising an Undeclared Foreign Account: What to Do If You Forgot to Declare It?
