For a British family dealing with an inheritance connected with France, Form 2740-SD can look like a simple way to remove double taxation. It is not. The form is a French tax document used in a defined situation: foreign death duties may be credited against French inheritance tax, but only within the territorial limits laid down by the Code général des impôts, the French General Tax Code. The fact that the heir is British, that the deceased owned a French property or that tax was paid in the United Kingdom does not, by itself, create a right to use the form.

The analysis has to separate four questions. Where was the deceased fiscally domiciled? Where is each asset situated? Where has the heir been fiscally resident? What tax was actually paid abroad, on which asset and because of which death? The France–UK convention on death duties can then change the result. This guide explains when a British resident may have a French credit claim, what Form 2740-SD can and cannot do, how the apostille and sworn-translation file should be assembled, and how to correct or challenge a return when the French tax office or a French notaire—a civil-law notary with public functions—rejects the evidence.

I. When can a British resident use Form 2740-SD after a French inheritance?

A. What the French inheritance-tax rules examine: domicile, assets and the France–UK convention

French inheritance tax is referred to in the official texts as droits de mutation à titre gratuit, meaning tax on transfers made without consideration, including inheritances and gifts. The first step is not to complete a form. It is to map the deceased, the heir and the assets at the date of death.

Article 720 of the French Civil Code provides: « Les successions s’ouvrent par la mort, au dernier domicile du défunt. » The succession opens on death at the deceased’s last domicile. The full official text is available in Article 720 of the Civil Code on Légifrance. In a cross-border file, “domicile” is not answered conclusively by the address on a British passport or by the address used for one tax return. The chronology of homes, family life, work, health, banking and tax declarations may all matter.

For tax, Article 750 ter of the General Tax Code creates several different connecting rules. Its first paragraph begins: « Sont soumis aux droits de mutation à titre gratuit : » The provision can tax assets in France or abroad when the donor or deceased had their fiscal domicile in France. It can tax French-situated assets when the deceased was not fiscally domiciled in France. It can also reach assets in France and abroad received by an heir who is fiscally domiciled in France, but only where the heir has been domiciled in France for at least six years during the ten years before receiving the assets. The current official wording and status are set out in Article 750 ter of the General Tax Code.

The six-year condition is easy to overlook. A British national who has recently moved to France is not automatically within the third paragraph merely because their new home is in France. Conversely, a British heir who has built up six years of French tax residence during the relevant ten-year period may face a French claim on foreign assets as well as French assets. The dates must be calculated precisely: the date of the death, the date the property is received, the periods of French fiscal domicile and any applicable treaty allocation must be recorded.

Article 750 ter must also be read with the France–UK convention on death duties. The convention was made before Brexit. It is not a general income-tax treaty and it is not a document that replaces a French inheritance-tax return. The United Kingdom implemented the convention through Statutory Instrument 1963 No. 1319, the France–UK convention on the avoidance of double taxation concerning estates of deceased persons. HM Revenue & Customs describes the convention and its operation in its official France guidance. It addresses French duty imposed on successions by death and UK estate duty, and contains rules on fiscal domicile, the location of assets and relief from double taxation.

HM Revenue & Customs confirms the practical relevance of the convention in its Inheritance Tax Manual guidance on France. The guidance explains that, where the deceased had a fiscal domicile in France, the United Kingdom may have to waive its claim over assets treated as situated in France under the convention. Where the deceased had a fiscal domicile in the United Kingdom and a UK credit is claimed for French tax, HMRC may require evidence certified by the French authorities. The convention only covers UK Inheritance Tax due on death; it does not automatically govern every lifetime transfer or every French tax charge.

Three practical patterns are common.

1. The deceased was fiscally resident in France and the heir lives in the UK. French tax may apply to the worldwide estate under Article 750 ter, paragraph 1. The heir’s British residence does not remove the French filing obligation. Whether UK Inheritance Tax is also due depends on the UK rules, the deceased’s domicile and the convention. The question may be a UK credit or treaty allocation issue rather than a Form 2740-SD claim.
2. The deceased was fiscally resident in the UK and owned French assets. France may tax French-situated assets under Article 750 ter, paragraph 2. UK Inheritance Tax may also apply to the estate. The convention and the UK credit mechanism must be checked asset by asset. A French return, a UK IHT account and proof of the tax paid are not interchangeable documents.
3. The deceased was outside France, but the heir has the required history of French fiscal domicile. Article 750 ter, paragraph 3 may bring foreign assets into the French tax base. If UK death duties were paid on foreign-situated assets, Article 784 A is the provision that must be tested before Form 2740-SD is considered.

A British family should not describe the result simply as “France taxes the house and the UK taxes everything else”. The treaty may allocate taxing rights differently, and the classification of a bank account, shareholding, pension interest, trust interest or property-holding company may affect the situs analysis. A French property held through a structure can require a separate look at the underlying rights and at the tax convention. The public HMRC guidance should be read alongside the French text and the actual asset schedule.

International succession law is a separate layer. A French tax rule can determine whether France taxes an asset without deciding who inherits it. The United Kingdom’s probate process can identify a personal representative without proving every heirship question required by a French notary. A will can contain a choice-of-law clause, but that does not remove the need to analyse tax residence, treaty domicile and asset location.

The Court of Cassation addressed the foreign-law layer in First Civil Chamber, 27 September 2017, no. 16-17.198. It stated: « une loi étrangère désignée par la règle de conflit qui ignore la réserve héréditaire n’est pas en soi contraire à l’ordre public international français et ne peut être écartée que si son application concrète, au cas d’espèce, conduit à une situation incompatible avec les principes du droit français considérés comme essentiels ». In English, the fact that foreign law does not contain French forced-heirship rules does not automatically make it contrary to French international public policy; the concrete result matters. That decision concerned Californian law, not the United Kingdom, but its method is important for a British will or estate with French assets.

For the broader interaction between a British will, applicable law and reserved heirs, see Does a UK Will Work in France After Brexit?. Form 2740-SD should be approached only after this civil and tax map has been made. Otherwise, a family may use the right document for the wrong tax situation.

B. What Form 2740-SD proves, and when it is the wrong form

Form 2740-SD is not a declaration of heirs, a probate application, a French inheritance-tax return by itself or a request for a tax residence certificate. The official impots.gouv.fr page for Form 2740-SD describes it as the form for determining the amount of transfer tax paid outside France that may be imputed against the tax due in France. The form is linked to Article 784 A of the General Tax Code and should be checked for its current version before filing.

Article 784 A provides: « Dans les cas définis aux 1° et 3° de l’article 750 ter , le montant des droits de mutation à titre gratuit acquitté, le cas échéant, hors de France est imputable sur l’impôt exigible en France. Cette imputation est limitée à l’impôt acquitté sur les biens meubles et immeubles situés hors de France. » The official current text is available at Article 784 A of the General Tax Code.

That wording creates two limits. First, the case must fall within paragraph 1 or paragraph 3 of Article 750 ter. Second, the credit is limited to the foreign tax paid on movable or immovable assets situated outside France. A British heir cannot assume that UK Inheritance Tax paid on a French house is automatically the amount to enter on Form 2740-SD. The French–UK convention may provide a different relief route for a French-situs asset, and the French form cannot enlarge the statutory credit.

There is also a limit on the amount. The credit is not a cash refund of every pound paid to HMRC. It is an imputation against French tax due, calculated under the French rules and capped by the tax attributable to the qualifying foreign assets. If the UK tax was calculated on a worldwide estate without a reliable allocation to particular foreign assets, the French tax office may ask for the UK computation, the valuation schedule and a method showing which amount relates to the assets outside France.

A Form 2740-SD file normally needs to answer five questions in a way that a French tax officer can audit:

• What death and what estate does the form concern?
• Which Article 750 ter connection brings the assets into the French tax base?
• Which assets were situated outside France and what were their values at death?
• What foreign death duty was assessed and actually paid on those assets?
• How is the requested French credit calculated without exceeding the French tax attributable to the same assets?

If any answer is missing, the form may be rejected even though the family has genuinely paid tax abroad. The problem may be evidential rather than substantive. For example, a UK IHT receipt showing a global payment does not necessarily prove the amount paid on a portfolio situated outside France. A letter from a UK adviser may explain the calculation, but the French administration may request an official assessment, payment confirmation or certification from HMRC.

The form is usually the wrong starting point in at least six situations:

1. Only French-situated assets are involved and the foreign tax relates to those same French assets. The treaty allocation and the French return must be analysed first.
2. The heir has not met the six-year French fiscal-domicile condition in Article 750 ter, paragraph 3, and the deceased was not fiscally domiciled in France. The French worldwide-tax rule may not apply on that basis.
3. No foreign death duty was actually paid. A provisional HMRC calculation, an unpaid assessment or a tax that is merely potentially due is not the same as tax paid.
4. The payment was a lifetime-transfer tax, income tax, capital-gains tax, stamp duty or another charge outside the death-duty mechanism. The France–UK estate convention and Article 784 A should not be stretched to cover it.
5. The family is trying to prove who inherits. Form 2740-SD does not replace a will, a Grant of Probate, a family-status chain or an acte de notoriété.
6. The return is late and the immediate issue is a penalty or a request for time to file. A credit claim should be made with the correct succession return, but it does not automatically suspend the filing deadline.

The French tax return is the déclaration de succession, meaning the inheritance-tax return filed with the French administration. Article 641 of the General Tax Code states: « Les délais pour l’enregistrement des déclarations que les héritiers, donataires ou légataires ont à souscrire des biens à eux échus ou transmis par décès sont : De six mois, à compter du jour du décès, lorsque celui dont on recueille la succession est décédé en France métropolitaine; D’une année, dans tous les autres cas. » The official text is available at Article 641 of the General Tax Code.

The six-month or one-year period is not a reason to file a form without understanding the calculation. It is a reason to identify the tax office, request the correct return package and document any missing UK evidence immediately. If the family files a timely return explaining that the foreign-tax evidence is being obtained, that written explanation may be important later. It cannot guarantee acceptance, but silence makes the chronology harder to defend.

The French page for the 2025 instructions for the French succession return explains the treatment of inheritance tax paid abroad and directs taxpayers to Form 2740 where the conditions are met. The version shown by the administration should always be checked at the date of filing, especially where the death, the tax payment or the correction falls in a later year.

II. How to file, correct or challenge a French inheritance-tax position

A. Which documents and deadlines secure the credit claim

The safest file is built in layers. The French tax office needs the tax calculation; the notary needs proof of the persons entitled to the estate; the UK authorities need the probate and IHT documents; a bank may need a separate authority to release funds. One document rarely answers all four needs.

1. Establish the death and the persons entitled. Start with the official death certificate, the complete will and every codicil, and the civil-status documents needed to connect the deceased to the beneficiaries. If the deceased lived in England and Wales, obtain the correct sealed or official copy of the Grant of Probate or the relevant letters of administration. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different probate procedures. GOV.UK explains that probate is the legal right to deal with a deceased person’s estate and that different rules apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland in its official probate overview.

French Article 730-1 provides: « La preuve de la qualité d’héritier peut résulter d’un acte de notoriété dressé par un notaire, à la demande d’un ou plusieurs ayants droit. » The same provision requires the deed to identify the death certificate and the supporting documents produced, including civil-status documents and testamentary gifts. The official text is at Article 730-1 of the Civil Code. A French notary may use the Grant of Probate as evidence of the personal representative’s authority, but the grant does not necessarily establish the French deed of heirship or the tax allocation.

2. Establish the UK tax. Obtain the UK IHT account or equivalent calculation, the notice or assessment, the payment receipt and the schedule identifying the assets on which the tax was computed. The schedule should distinguish assets in France from assets outside France and explain any exemptions, nil-rate band, residence nil-rate band, relief, trust treatment or spouse exemption used in the UK calculation. If the UK tax was paid in instalments, keep the payment history and identify what has actually been paid at the date of the French claim.

GOV.UK states that an executor applying for probate may have to report the estate value to HM Revenue & Customs and pay Inheritance Tax before probate. The official guidance on applying for probate where there is a will also distinguishes a grant of probate from letters of administration with a will annexed. These distinctions matter when a French tax officer or notary asks who has authority to certify the estate documents.

3. Establish the French tax. Prepare the French declaration of succession, the valuation of French and foreign assets, the tax computation and the amount already paid or payable in France. Identify the French tax office receiving the declaration. The filing should make clear whether the French tax base arises under Article 750 ter, paragraph 1, 2 or 3, and whether the France–UK convention changes the allocation. Attach Form 2740-SD only for the qualifying foreign-tax credit and show the calculation rather than inserting a single unexplained figure.

4. Prove payment and allocation. A French administration will usually need more than evidence that an assessment exists. The bundle should show the tax paid, the date, the payer, the estate concerned, the currency conversion used and the asset-level allocation. If the UK assessment is based on a worldwide estate, create a reconciliation table: asset description, country of situs, value at death, UK taxable amount, UK tax allocated, French taxable amount and requested credit. Keep a note explaining why the allocation is consistent with the France–UK convention and Article 784 A.

5. Legalise and translate the documents that need to be used in France. An apostille is an official certificate authenticating the origin of a public document. It does not certify the truth of every statement in the document, decide who inherits or prove the calculation of UK IHT. GOV.UK explains that the Legalisation Office checks signatures, stamps or seals and attaches an apostille when the document can be verified in its official legalisation guidance.

The Court of Cassation stated in First Civil Chamber, 13 May 2020, no. 19-11.374: « l’apostille dûment remplie atteste la véracité de la signature, la qualité en laquelle le signataire de l’acte a agi et, le cas échéant, l’identité du sceau ou timbre dont cet acte est revêtu. » The quote comes from the verified reasons of the judgment. It shows why an apostille cannot cure a missing UK tax schedule or an incorrect legal analysis.

In First Civil Chamber, 13 June 2019, no. 18-50.055, the Court stated that, unless a legal or treaty exception applies, « les actes publics qui ont été établis sur le territoire d’un Etat contractant et qui doivent être produits sur le territoire d’un autre Etat contractant, doivent être revêtus de l’apostille ». The official case concerned a foreign civil-status act, but the authentication lesson is practical for a British death certificate, Grant of Probate or HMRC document requested by a French authority. Ask the receiving authority which document must be apostilled and whether it wants a paper apostille or an e-Apostille before spending money on the wrong version.

Have the complete authenticated document translated by a traducteur assermenté, meaning a sworn translator whose work can be accepted by French judicial or administrative bodies. The translation should include the title, seals, apostille, annexes, dates, amounts and relevant footnotes. Do not translate only the page showing the total UK tax if the asset schedule is needed to prove the foreign-situs amount.

6. Preserve the inheritance option and estate assets. A tax filing does not necessarily mean that every beneficiary has accepted the succession. Article 771 of the Civil Code provides: « L’héritier ne peut être contraint à opter avant l’expiration d’un délai de quatre mois à compter de l’ouverture de la succession. » The official text is at Article 771 of the Civil Code. If an heir is considering renunciation because of unknown liabilities, do not allow the tax form or a bank instruction to be treated as a final choice without advice on the facts.

Article 784 lists conservatory and provisional-administration acts that can be completed without accepting the succession. It begins: « Les actes purement conservatoires ou de surveillance et les actes d’administration provisoire peuvent être accomplis sans emporter acceptation de la succession, si le successible n’y a pas pris le titre ou la qualité d’héritier. » The official text is available at Article 784 of the Civil Code. Paying an urgent tax debt, protecting an asset or preserving evidence may be necessary, but the executor and beneficiaries should record the purpose of the act.

A working timetable should show the death date, the six-month or one-year French filing deadline, the UK probate date, the HMRC assessment date, every payment, the date the form was sent and every request for further information. A notary’s request for an apostille does not, by itself, extend Article 641. If the evidence is delayed, send a written explanation to the French tax office and ask what can be filed provisionally. Keep proof of delivery.

B. What to do when the French tax office or notary rejects the evidence

A rejection should be divided into its real category. The answer differs depending on whether the problem is the French tax base, the foreign-tax credit, the authenticity of a document, the identity of the heirs or a late filing.

First category: the tax office says Article 784 A does not apply. Ask for the written reason. Is the objection that the deceased was not fiscally domiciled in France? That the heir did not satisfy six years of French residence in ten? That the foreign assets were not shown? That the foreign duty was paid on French-situs assets? Or that the payment was not a death duty? Rebuild the calculation around that issue. A response should cite the relevant paragraph of Article 750 ter, Article 784 A, the France–UK convention article relied on and the evidence attached.

Do not answer a territoriality objection with a general statement that “the UK has already taxed the estate”. The statutory French credit is limited by asset location and by the Article 750 ter gateway. If the UK tax is on a French property, the relevant remedy may be a treaty credit in the United Kingdom or a French tax adjustment under the convention rather than Form 2740-SD. If the UK tax is on foreign assets and France taxes them because of the heir’s French residence history, the Article 784 A route may be relevant. The asset schedule is the centre of the argument.

Second category: the tax office says the proof of payment is insufficient. Request the exact document needed: an HMRC certificate, a stamped payment record, the UK IHT account, a probate valuation, a bank statement or a certified translation. Supply an indexed bundle rather than a series of unconnected attachments. Explain any exchange rate, instalment payment, relief or allocation. If the UK amount is provisional, say so and ask whether the French authority will accept a provisional computation subject to later certification; do not present an estimate as paid tax.

Third category: the notary says that the British documents cannot be used. A French notary may be concerned with the deed of heirship or the authority to sign, while the tax office is concerned with the tax base and payment. Ask the notary to identify whether the missing element is an apostille, a sworn translation, a complete civil-status chain, an explanation of English or Scots law, a court-sealed copy or a document proving the representative’s authority. A Grant of Probate is not automatically an acte de notoriété.

If a foreign public document is rejected because it lacks an apostille, correct the authentication route. In First Civil Chamber, 13 June 2019, no. 18-50.055, the Court held that the foreign document could not produce effect in France when the required apostille was absent. If the objection concerns what the apostille proves, the Court’s decision in First Civil Chamber, 13 May 2020, no. 19-11.374 confirms that authentication of signature and official capacity is not the same as proof of the document’s substantive accuracy.

There may also be an argument about the form of a foreign act. Article 509 of the French Code of Civil Procedure states: « Les jugements rendus par les tribunaux étrangers et les actes reçus par les officiers étrangers sont exécutoires sur le territoire de la République de la manière et dans les cas prévus par la loi. » The official text is at Article 509 of the Code of Civil Procedure. That wording does not mean that every Grant of Probate automatically has the effect of a French judgment or that every foreign document requires an exequatur, the French procedure for giving enforceable effect to a foreign decision. Ask whether the document is being requested as evidence, as a source of foreign law or as an instrument to be enforced.

Fourth category: a beneficiary disputes the foreign-law result. If the disagreement concerns a reserved portion, a lifetime gift, a trust, the validity of the will or the identity of a beneficiary, it is no longer a simple Form 2740-SD correction. The tax return may need to be protected while the civil issue is resolved. The decision in no. 16-17.198 is useful because it insists on the concrete effect of the foreign law, not an automatic assumption that French forced-heirship rules always prevail. Supply the full will, the family history and any relevant legal opinion instead of asking the tax office to decide a disputed succession law question.

Fifth category: the administration raises an apostille defect without allowing a response. The procedural answer is not to ignore the defect. Ask for the exact document and the specific irregularity, then provide the corrected document or a reasoned response. In First Civil Chamber, 27 November 2024, no. 23-18.341, the Court stated: « M. [Z] n’avait pas été mis en mesure de répondre au moyen tiré de l’irrégularité de cette apostille ». The ruling concerned a civil-status and nationality dispute, but it illustrates a broader procedural point: a decisive objection should be addressed with a genuine opportunity to respond. It does not turn an irregular apostille into a valid one.

Sixth category: the declaration was filed late or the credit was omitted. Article 1728 of the General Tax Code provides for a 10% increase when a required declaration is not produced on time, subject to the conditions stated in the provision. It also states: « Pour les déclarations prévues à l’article 800 , la majoration de 10 % est applicable à partir du premier jour du septième mois suivant celui de l’expiration des délais de six mois et de vingt-quatre mois prévus respectivement aux articles 641 et 641 bis . » The official current text is available at Article 1728 of the General Tax Code. The exact penalty depends on the declaration, the deadline, any notice and the chronology. Do not wait for the administration to issue a penalty before sending a rectifying declaration and a written request for the credit to be examined.

A correction letter should identify the original declaration, the date filed, the error, the legal basis for the requested correction, the corrected asset schedule, the foreign-tax evidence and the resulting French tax calculation. If the correction seeks repayment of an overpayment, state the amount and the bank or estate details requested by the administration, but do not assume that a credit claim automatically produces a cash repayment. The French procedure and time limit for a repayment claim can depend on the type of tax and the date of payment.

If the French tax office refuses the claim, preserve the refusal, the date of receipt and the full file. The next step may be a formal administrative claim, a request for review by the competent registration service or litigation before the appropriate French court. The correct route depends on whether the dispute concerns assessment, recovery, evidence, treaty interpretation or a civil question reserved to a court. A lawyer should review the notice before a limitation period expires. A notary’s refusal and a tax office’s refusal are separate decisions and should not be treated as one appeal.

Finally, keep the UK side moving. HMRC’s France guidance indicates that a French succession return and French clearance certificate may be relevant when the UK needs evidence that French succession duty has been paid. Conversely, when French tax is being claimed as a credit in the UK, the UK account may need the French assessment and payment evidence. Ask both administrations what certificate they require, and make the two files consistent. Different descriptions of the same asset, different exchange rates or different dates can create an avoidable credibility problem.

Conclusion

Form 2740-SD is a targeted French inheritance-tax credit document, not a general Brexit relief and not a substitute for probate or a French notarial deed. A British resident should use it only after checking the Article 750 ter gateway, the location of the assets, the France–UK death-duty convention and the limit in Article 784 A. The credit concerns foreign death duties on qualifying assets outside France; it is not automatically available for UK tax connected with a French property.

The practical file should contain the death and heirship evidence, the UK probate and IHT documents, a clear asset-level allocation, proof of tax actually paid, the French succession return, Form 2740-SD and the treaty analysis. Meet the Article 641 deadline even if the British documents are still being legalised. If a notary or tax officer refuses the file, demand a written and specific reason, correct the document or calculation concerned, and preserve the appeal timetable. A precise chronology and a consistent France–UK tax schedule are often as important as the form itself.