Do I have to file at home while living in France?
Residence decides it, and residence is a question of facts rather than of where your post arrives. The one exception is US citizenship, which carries the filing obligation with the person wherever they go. So the first thing we establish is which system still claims you.
Is there a treaty between my country and France?
Treaty networks change with each protocol and each multilateral-instrument position, so we confirm the treaty in force for your specific year with the issuing authority rather than relying on a published summary. Where there is none, unilateral relief and domestic law do the work instead.
I own property in France. Where is the rent taxed?
In France, because that is where the property sits. The complication is the base: gross-rent withholding takes no account of mortgage interest, tax or repairs, so a leveraged property can face tax on turnover. An election onto net profit, where it exists, is what fixes that — and it has its own timing.
Does my spouse's foreign income affect my French tax bill?
It can, even where it is not itself taxable in France. France computes tax for many purposes on the household rather than on the individual, so the composition of the household and the income within it both feed into the calculation. Foreign income that a treaty protects from French tax may still be taken into account in setting the rate applied to the income France does tax. The practical consequence is that a spouse's earnings cannot simply be left out of the French picture because they arise elsewhere. They are declared, and their effect on the computation is worked through.
Do I pay French tax on a house I do not rent out?
Property ownership in France carries local charges that are assessed on the property itself and do not depend on any income arising. They are separate from income tax, fall due on their own timetable, and continue whether the house is let, used personally or left empty. Owners who file no French income tax return at all are sometimes surprised by them years later, together with the additional amounts that accrue for late payment. Treat the property charges and the income tax position as two separate obligations, each with its own paperwork and its own dates.
How is my home country pension taxed if I retire to France?
Which country may tax a pension depends on the kind of pension it is and on what the treaty in force for your year says about that kind. Government service pensions, state social security and private pensions are frequently dealt with differently from one another, so a single answer covering all of them is usually wrong. Whatever the outcome, the payer at home will generally keep withholding at the rate on its records until it is given the certification required to do otherwise. Establish the treatment first, then deal with the payer, then file.
Do I have to declare my foreign bank accounts in France?
France requires resident taxpayers to declare foreign accounts held, used or closed during the year alongside the income return, and the obligation attaches to the account rather than to the money in it. Accounts left open at home after a move are the usual omission, particularly dormant ones and those kept only to receive a pension. It is an information obligation with its own consequences for failure, separate from any tax on the income the account produces. List every account before preparing the return, including those closed part way through it.
I rent out my French flat. Where do I declare the rent?
In France first, because the rent arises from property situated there and local source property income is normally taxable where the property sits. If you remain resident elsewhere, the same rent then goes into your home return under home rules, with relief for the French tax borne. The two computations will not match: the expenses each system allows differ, and the French regime that applies depends on how the property is let and on the level of receipts. Prepare the French position first, because the home relief claim depends on it.
When does moving to France make me French tax resident?
On the facts of the move rather than on a date you nominate. French residence tests look at where the home is, where the centre of economic interests lies, where professional activity is carried on, and physical presence. Meeting any one of them can be enough. Because the home country applies its own test at the same time, a period of dual residence is common, and it is resolved, where a treaty applies for the year, by tie breaker rules taken in the order they are written. The conclusion is documented, because either authority may later ask.
Is there an exit tax when a green card holder leaves the United States?
Only for long-term residents — those who held the green card for long enough to be inside the expatriation regime — and then only if one of the covered expatriate tests is met. The step people skip is the formal one: the status has to be properly ended for tax purposes, and until it is, worldwide filing continues no matter where you live. Abandoning the card and forgetting the tax filing is the common, expensive sequence. See giving up a green card.
Do expats pay state taxes?
Sometimes — leaving the country does not automatically end a US state's claim. States apply their own domicile tests, and several are slow to accept that domicile has moved while a home, licence, registration or voter record stays behind. A few states have no income tax at all, which removes the question. The federal exclusions do not bind a state, so state exposure has to be reviewed separately from the 1040. See state residency and domicile.
