Deadlines for Americans living in France to file their taxes are fast approaching, with citizens encouraged to complete forms early to avoid interest on payments they must make.
Most American citizens living abroad must file an annual US tax return, even if they earn no income from the US and complete a return in the country they are domiciled.
A household with an annual income (from any source) of $15,750 for a single taxpayer and $31,500 for a married couple filing jointly must complete a US tax return.
This increases to $17,750 (single) / $34,700 (couple, both) for over 65s.
These are the levels for the 2025 year (filed in 2026), but change annually. Under certain conditions it is also possible for widow/ers to maintain the couples rate for the two years after their spouse dies.
Filing can be done either online through government software or via a printed form that is then sent to the IRS, depending on your income.
In addition, holders of a non-US bank account that exceeds $10,000 in a calendar year must also declare this account to the IRS via an ‘FBAR’ form, with others needing to complete ‘FATCA’ regulations via Form 8938 if their assets reach above certain values based on their household makeup.
More information about who must complete these forms and how to do so can be found on the IRS website here.
Extension to filing…
The standard deadline to file taxes in the US is April 15.
However, citizens abroad benefit from an automatic two-month extension, giving them until June 15 to file. This applies to everyone abroad and does not need to be specifically requested.
Americans who need more time to file can use Form 4868 before June 15 to obtain an extension to October 15.
Extensions to a date after this must be requested individually and are not guaranteed to be accepted.
Extensions to October 15 are a popular request as they often allow for tax returns from a person’s main country of residence to arrive, which can help file the US declaration and make it easier to obtain a foreign tax credit to reduce or eliminate US-based taxation.
For example, the final income tax notice (avis) in France usually arrives by August.
The deadline to file an FBAR is also April 15, although this is automatically extended to October 15 for those who do not file by this time.
Again, this is automatic and does not need to be requested, and those who miss initial deadlines do not face penalties.
… but not for payments
Despite having to complete a US tax return, the majority of Americans abroad will not need to pay any taxes in the US.
Those with a foreign-earned income of $130,000 (for filing in 2026) or below are exempt from US taxes on this amount, provided they declare this through the correct forms.
On income above this, only that above $130,000 is taxed.
For example, if you earn $200,000 in foreign income, only $70,000 will actually be taxed.
However, this taxable part is taxed under the tax band that would have applied to it if the whole amount of earned income was assessed, leading to a higher tax rate than that applied to a US resident who earns a total of $70,000.
This exemption does not apply to other US-based income (capital gains, pensions, interest, stock dividends, etc), which are taxed as usual.
If an American abroad also pays tax in their country of residence, a foreign tax credit may be available to subtract the US payment from the total taxable in the country of residence.
This is why many apply for an extension to October 15, to receive their 2025 tax return and apply this credit. Note, however, that most forms of US income received by Americans in France are not taxed in France under the US-France double tax treaty rules.
Note that even if you receive extensions to filing your returns, this is not extended to the payment of any tax owed.
So, if you have to pay tax for the corresponding year you are filing for, interest is automatically added from April 15 up to the date of payment, even if tax returns were not filed until after this date.
Further information can be found in our partner article here.
Planned changes to Americans filing taxes from abroad, making residence-based taxation an option as opposed to solely citizenship-based taxation, were introduced in a 2024 bill.
