Moving guide · US → France
Moving from the US to France: your money's survival guide (with jokes)
Congratulations, you're moving to France. You'll trade "have a nice day" for "bonne journée", your 401(k) for a lot of blank stares, and one tax return for… well, two. Here's how your money actually gets taxed once you land, and why it's far less scary than the paperwork looks.
- US citizens keep filing a US return every year, wherever they live. The IRS is the friend who never stops texting.
- France taxes its residents on income from everywhere, but the US–France tax treaty does a lot of the heavy lifting for you.
- US Social Security and IRA or 401(k) withdrawals are taxed by the US only.
- For US citizens, France gives back its own tax on US dividends, interest and gains, so in practice France takes about nothing on them.
- Early retirees with no pension yet can owe a French health contribution (the "PUMa") of 6.5% on investment income above about €24,000.
- Think twice before buying French funds or an assurance-vie: for a US taxpayer they come with the dreaded PFIC rules.
1. The IRS doesn't do goodbyes
If you're a US citizen, you file a US return (Form 1040) every year for the rest of your life, even if your new address is a farmhouse in the Dordogne with more goats than neighbours. Add the FBAR when your foreign bank accounts together pass $10,000 at any moment of the year, and Form 8938 when they pass $200,000 at year end ($400,000 for a couple) while living abroad.
Green-card holders can leave the US tax system by formally giving up the card. One catch: if you held it in 8 of the last 15 years and your net worth tops $2 million, the US "exit tax" can apply. Talk to someone before you mail that card back.
Joke break: the IRS is the only ex who follows you to Paris, asks for your bank statements, and still calls it "foreign".
2. Your state may still think you live there
Most states let you go once you move abroad. A few are clingy: California, Virginia, New Mexico and South Carolina can keep taxing you if you still look "domiciled" there. Sell or rent out the house with a proper lease, change your driver's licence and voter registration, and keep proof of your French address. Think of it as a breakup text your state can't misread.
3. France taxes everything, but the treaty is on your side
Once you live in France (usually more than 183 days a year, or your home and family are there), France taxes your income from everywhere. Then the 1994 US–France treaty, updated in 2004 and 2009, decides who gets the first bite:
| Income | Who taxes it |
|---|---|
| US Social Security | The US only. France leaves it out, but counts it to set the rate on the rest of your French income. |
| IRA, 401(k), 403(b) withdrawals | The US only, same as Social Security. |
| Qualified Roth withdrawals | Tax-free in both countries. |
| US dividends, interest and gains, for a US citizen | The US taxes them. France computes its tax, then credits it back in full, social levies included, so you pay about €0 in France. |
| The same income for someone who isn't a US citizen | France taxes it at 31.4% (12.8% income tax + 18.6% social levies), with a credit for the 15% US tax withheld on dividends. |
| A French pension, if you worked in France | France. A US citizen also reports it in the US and gets a credit for the French tax. |
| Rent from a US property | The US, and France with a credit. |
French real estate wealth tax (IFI) only applies above €1.3 million of real estate, and newcomers don't count property outside France for their first 5 years in France. Your Florida condo can relax.
4. The French health contribution nobody mentions
French healthcare is excellent and cheap at the doctor's office. The bill for the system comes separately: if you live in France, have little or no work income and no pension yet, and your investment income is above half of the social security ceiling (about €24,000 in 2026), you pay 6.5% on the part above it. It's called the "cotisation subsidiaire maladie", everyone calls it the PUMa, and it arrives in November of the following year, like a very French Halloween. Once you receive a pension, any pension, it stops.
5. Don't let a French bank sell you French funds
To the IRS, a French mutual fund, a French-listed ETF or an assurance-vie invested in funds is a "passive foreign investment company", or PFIC. It sounds like a sneeze and costs like the flu: gains taxed at the top rate plus an interest charge, and one Form 8621 per fund, per year. Keep investing through US-domiciled ETFs at a US broker that accepts clients living in France (not all do). Many French banks will politely decline to open accounts for US citizens anyway, thanks to FATCA paperwork.
Joke break: you came for the croissants, not for Form 8621. Keep it that way.
6. Two examples, with real numbers
Computed with Bordo's 2026 tax rules for one typical year, rounded. Your numbers will differ: try yours in the app.
Jake, 58, single, retiring to Bordeaux
Savings: $1.6M: $900k of US index funds in a brokerage account, $500k in an IRA, $200k in a Roth IRA. He pays himself about $5,300 a month and starts Social Security at 67.
| This year's income | $14,000 dividends · $2,000 interest · $18,000 gains on shares sold · $20,000 from his IRA |
| US federal tax | about $2,600 |
| French income tax and social levies | €0: France computes about €8,100 and credits it all back under the treaty |
| French health contribution (PUMa) | about €340 |
| Total | about $3,000 a year, under 5% of what he spends |
That's less than Jake's yearly cheese budget, which, to be fair, is now considerable.
The Parkers, a family of 4, moving to Lyon
Household: Dan, 50, and Mia, 48, both US citizens; Ella is 12 and Sam is 9. Savings: $2.8M: $1.6M brokerage, $1M in IRAs, $200k in Roth IRAs. They spend about $9,000 a month.
| This year's income | $24,000 dividends · $6,000 interest · $30,000 gains · $40,000 from their IRAs |
| US federal tax | about $4,000 (married filing jointly, with the child tax credit) |
| French income tax and social levies | €0: about €11,800 computed, credited back under the treaty |
| French health contribution (PUMa) | about €230 |
| Total | about $4,300 a year |
France also counts the family in "parts": 1 per parent, ½ per child for the first two. Three parts divide the income before the brackets apply, a nice discount for families on whatever France does tax. Public schools are free, and US 529 college plans have no French equivalent, so ask before you add to them.
Bonus: by Christmas the kids will speak better French than you and will start negotiating bedtime in it.
7. Before you go: your plan Pro
A move like this needs a plan and a checklist. There is a lot to get right, in the right order: which accounts to keep, what to sell before you go, how to leave your state for good, and the French and US forms to file each year. Every household's list is different, so Bordo Pro builds yours: each step with its date, the forms for your situation and a reminder before every deadline.
Bordo works out your monthly paycheck and your taxes in both countries, with the treaty rules and the PUMa above, free. PFIC checks, FBAR reminders and state residency come with Bordo Pro.
This guide shares experience and the rules as we understand them in 2026. It is not tax or legal advice: for your own situation, talk to a licensed adviser in each country. Moving the other way? Read Moving from France to the US.