Will my daughter have to pay CGT in France?
Owners themselves are exempt after 30 years’ ownership
A daughter inheriting property will not benefit from any exemption based on length of ownership
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Reader question: If my daughter, a non-resident, inherits my French apartment, and wants to sell it immediately, does she have to pay French capital gains and social taxes as if she were a new owner? Or does she inherit my tax status (I have owned the apartment for over 30 years)?
If your daughter inherits the apartment and sells it immediately, it is fairly unlikely she would owe any capital gains tax or social charges.
After 30 years’ ownership you are exempt from CGT and social charges. However, even if you had owned the property for a shorter period, the capital gains position would reset on your death, meaning your daughter would only pay tax and charges on any gain made since inheriting it.
If it takes six months or more to sell, the property may have increased in value between inheritance and the sale, though probably only modestly.
As a non-resident, particularly if she lives outside the EU/EEA, she will have to appoint a fiscal representative to oversee the tax aspects of the sale if it is for €150,000 or more.
She will not benefit from any exemption based on length of ownership, so any gain she makes would be subject to 19% CGT and 17.2% social charges (or 7.5% if she lives in the EU/EEA, Switzerland or the UK).
