When does France officially become your home?

We look at what it means to have your ‘home’ in France, as well as other important considerations including signing up for social security benefits and understanding your French marriage regime (régime matrimonial).

Residency, domicile, home: what officials mean by these terms

Concepts of residency, domicile or home in France can have several different meanings depending on the context.

For example, with regard to visas and residency cards, the main issue is first having a right of residence (droit de séjour, the word séjour literally meaning ‘stay’), which is the basic legal right to remain in France for immigration purposes.

If you stay longer than three months, a visa or residency card provides this right, though it may be for a fixed period (as in the case of a visa de long séjour temporaire) or may need to be renewed after a certain time.

Obtaining a 10-year carte de résident de longue durée – UE adds the concepts of legal and uninterrupted residency (séjour régulier et ininterrompu). Under EU rules this usually means five years living in France with legal residency status, being enrolled for healthcare cover and not being dependent on state support.

Absences from France must generally not exceed 10 months in total over the five-year period, or six consecutive months at any one time, although exceptions can apply for important reasons such as work assignments or training placements abroad.

Note that the term régulier (or régulière) with regard to residency means ‘in accordance with the rules’, rather than ‘frequent’.

The term domicile often appears when officials ask for a justificatif de domicile (for example when renewing a residency card). In this context it simply means proof that you have an address in France that you actually live at, commonly demonstrated with a utility bill dated within the previous six months.

The French social security system uses the concept of résidence stable et régulière as a criterion for joining the system. In practice, this refers to living legally in France for at least three months (that is, longer than a short stay).

To remain eligible, you must also normally continue to be habitually resident, which generally means spending at least six months of the year in France. Checks may occasionally be carried out, for example by sending official correspondence to your address.

When it comes to tax, the question arises as to where your main home is (if you have more than one property) and whether you are considered tax resident in France.

For the French tax authorities, your résidence principale is the home that you use “effectively and habitually” and where your strongest personal ties are located. This affects certain local taxes and whether capital gains tax may apply when selling a property.

Your main home should be declared to the tax authorities through the tax website impots.gouv.fr.

Tax residency in France

While all of the above concepts are relevant to British people moving to France, tax residency (domicile fiscal) is particularly important.

This is defined in France’s main tax law, the Code général des impôts.

The key point to understand is that France does not become your tax domicile automatically after a fixed period of time or when you obtain a particular residency document.

Instead, it can apply immediately if you move to France on a settled basis and intend it to be your main home. Tax residency is therefore not a matter of choice, but is determined by legal criteria.

Once you become tax resident in France, you must declare all worldwide income to the French tax authorities. This declaration is normally made in May or June of the year following the one in which the income was received.

This does not necessarily mean all of that income will be taxed in France. The final tax liability depends on factors such as household size, income level and international tax treaties.

If there is any doubt about where a person is tax resident, the authorities look at several criteria.

The first is whether your foyer (literally ‘hearth’) is in France. In tax law this refers to the place where you habitually live and where your main personal ties are located. Factors considered include where you work and where your partner or dependent children live.

If this cannot be clearly established, the second indicator is the lieu de séjour principal – the place where you spend most of your time physically living. This often involves assessing whether you spend most of the calendar year in France or more time in France than in any other country.

If uncertainty remains, further criteria may be examined (see Chapter 12 on income tax for more detail).

For British nationals, your tax situation may also involve the UK tax system. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) determines UK tax residency using the Statutory Residence Test, which considers factors such as the amount of time spent in the UK and personal ties there.

The UK–France double taxation agreement determines which country has the primary right to tax different types of income, helping to prevent the same income from being taxed twice.