Retiring in France
France: the tax picture for FIRE
France taxes income on a progressive scale with a top rate of 45%. There is no separate personal allowance; the first €11,600 of taxable income is taxed at 0%, then 11%, 30% and 41% bands apply before the 45% rate begins above €181,917 (the 2026 single-person scale — Ember models one household share, so couples and families using the quotient familial will see tax over-stated). Investment gains sit outside the income bands: France applies the 30% flat PFU (prélèvement forfaitaire unique), social charges included, with no annual exemption. At death, France charges droits de succession on the recipient rather than the estate, scaled by relationship — a spouse or PACS partner inherits fully exempt, while non-relatives face a flat 60% after a €1,594 allowance.
For cost of living, France is modelled at a factor of 1.0 — a low-confidence, illustrative figure. The income scale is a draft encoding, and the bands exclude France's social charges (CSG/CRDS — up to 9.1% on pensions, 17.2% on investment income), the CEHR high-income surtax and the low-income décote; the capital-gains rate carries low confidence.
Income tax (2026)high confidence
| Band | Rate |
|---|---|
| €0 – €11,600 | 0% |
| €11,600 – €29,579 | 11% |
| €29,579 – €84,577 | 30% |
| €84,577 – €181,917 | 41% |
| above €181,917 | 45% |
What this model doesn’t capture (10)
- quotient conjugal (2 parts) modelled for spouse households via 2×barème(RI÷2) (CGI Art. 6-4, 193, 194; imposition commune assumed mandatory — the Art. 6-4 a–c exceptions presuppose non-cohabitation and the Art. 6-5 marriage-year election is immaterial to a multi-decade projection); per-child half-parts and the plafonnement du quotient familial (Art. 197) still NOT modelled
- CSG/CRDS/prélèvements sociaux (social charges ~9.7% employment / up to 9.1% pensions / 17.2% investment) not modelled
- CEHR high-income surtax (3–4% over €250k single / €500k couple) not modelled
- décote (CGI Art. 197-I-4) not modelled — over-states tax for modest incomes; the couple/imposition-commune décote (base ≈€1,470, applies while impôt brut ≲€3,248) is ~1.65× the single décote (≈€889 / ≲€1,964), so a modest-income spouse household's FR tax can be over-stated by up to ~€1,470/yr. Direction is conservative (over-statement), same as the single path — no sign flip in the marriage-bonus comparison. Any future décote implementation must apply it ONCE to the doubled result using the couple parameters, never the single décote per half then doubled
- taux effectif on treaty-exempt foreign income not modelled
- 10% standard salary/pension abattement is NOT modelled anywhere — engine-verified 2026-07-22: no upstream code applies it (offset pension items enter the barème at full gross; the only pre-band pension deductions in the engine are JP 公的年金等控除 and the US senior deduction). FR pensions are therefore taxed on full gross, OVER-stating tax by up to the real cap (€4,439/foyer, floor €454 — service-public.gouv.fr F1419). The previous wording ('applied upstream') was wrong about engine behaviour; queue with the 157 bis + décote reliefs for an owner-signed retiree-relief slice
- PFU flat tax (~30%) on financial income is a separate schedule, not modelled
- régime des impatriés (inbound-worker partial exemption) not modelled
- IFI (impôt sur la fortune immobilière) not modelled — net real-estate wealth above €1,300,000 is taxed on a 0.5–1.5% scale (from the €800k band) for 2026; the proposed broader 'unproductive-wealth' tax was debated but NOT enacted
- selfEmployment: no regime module — self-employed social contributions / business-income surcharges for this jurisdiction are not modelled
Capital gainshigh confidence
Capital gains are taxed at a flat 31.4%.
31.4% flat PFU (prélèvement forfaitaire unique) on securities gains: 12.8% IR + 18.6% social charges (social-charges rate raised from 17.2%, effective 1 Jan 2026). Assurance-vie, PEL/CEL and immovable-property gains keep the 17.2% social-charges rate (30% total).
Inheritance & estate taxmedium confidence
Tax is charged on each recipient, scaled by their relationship to the deceased.
Recipient-side droits de succession. Spouse/PACS partner fully exempt (Loi TEPA 2007) — encoded via a €10bn synthetic spouse allowance + 0% band (sentinel; the boolean flag drives behaviour). 'other' covers non-relatives / beyond the 4th degree (flat 60%, €1,594 allowance); nieces/nephews (55% after €7,967) collapse into 'other' and are over-taxed. Direct-line & sibling barèmes frozen through 31 Dec 2028.
When should you claim your France state pension?medium confidence
France state pension (régime de base)
Normal pension age 64. Deferring adds about 5% for each year you wait, up to age 70. You can't claim before the normal age.
Modelled defer-only: the surcote is +1.25% per quarter worked past full rate. The décote (early, quarter-dependent) is simplified out — confidence low.
The best age to claim isn’t just about these factors — it depends on your life expectancy, your other income, and which country you’re tax-resident in when the money lands. Deferring into a lower-tax country can flip the answer entirely. Optimise your claim age →
Cost of living
100%
of a UK baseline (100%) — a rough, illustrative comparison, not a forecast.
UK private pension
Under the UK treaty, a UK-sourced private pension paid to a resident here is generally taxed only where you live (not by the UK).
Common questions
How are capital gains taxed in France?
Financial gains fall under the 30% flat PFU (prélèvement forfaitaire unique), which already includes social charges. There is no annual exemption, so the 30% applies from the first euro of gain. Our data marks France's 30% rate as low confidence, so treat it as a modelling approximation rather than a filing-grade figure.
Is there inheritance tax in France?
Yes — France charges droits de succession on the recipient, not the estate, with rates and allowances set by the heir's relationship to the deceased. A surviving spouse or PACS partner is fully exempt. Non-relatives pay a flat 60% after a €1,594 allowance; our model folds nieces and nephews (properly 55% after €7,967) into that band, so it over-taxes them. The direct-line and sibling scales are frozen through 31 December 2028.
How does Ember model the cost of living in France?
France carries a cost-of-living factor of 1.0 in our model, meaning no adjustment is applied. Our data flags that figure as low confidence — it is illustrative rather than a measured index. Treat the 1.0 as a starting assumption in your FIRE plan rather than a precise figure.
What does France do to your FIRE date?
The free calculator compares your number across every covered country; the full planner models your actual accounts, pensions, residency moves and these exact tax rules — with the maths behind every figure shown.