You live in Manchester, Bristol or London, you own a flat in Paris, a village house in the Dordogne or a studio on the Riviera, and you have decided to sell. Since Brexit you are, for French tax purposes, a person not domiciled in France who sells French immovable property while remaining resident in the United Kingdom. That single fact reorganises the whole file. France taxes the gain first, the United Kingdom then gives relief under the double tax treaty, the French notaire collects the French tax on the day of the deed, and a British seller who was exempt from appointing a tax representative while the United Kingdom was in the European Union now faces that requirement in most sales above 150,000 euros. The calculation itself rewards long ownership and punishes short ownership, with a surtax above 50,000 euros of taxable gain that many sellers discover too late.

This guide explains, for a British reader and in plain English with every French term translated at first use, where the gain is taxed, how the French bill is built line by line, which forms and representatives the sale requires, and what to do when the assessment looks wrong. French words appear once with their meaning: plus-value immobiliere means capital gain on immovable property, prelevement means levy collected at source, representant accredite means accredited tax representative, service de publicite fonciere means land registration service, and reclamation means the formal administrative claim that must precede any court action. Where Paris and the Ile-de-France region raise specific practical points, they are integrated in the main text. There is no separate local version of this article.

The scope is deliberately narrow. This article covers the sale by a British individual who is resident in the United Kingdom for tax purposes and who sells a French second home held directly in his or her own name. It does not cover sales through a company, sales of shares in a property company, dealers in property, or the separate exit tax on shares when leaving France. Readers who lived in France and then left will find the two companion guides useful alongside this one: the guide on selling a United Kingdom home while resident in France and the guide on the former French home after departure, which address the mirror situation and the ten year window described below. The companion guide on the surcharge on second homes held in tense urban zones is relevant where the property is kept rather than sold.

I. Where Is the Gain Taxed and How Is the French Bill Calculated?

A. As a British resident selling a French property, where do you pay tax and under which levy?

The starting point is residence. A person is treated as having a French tax domicile where France is the home, the principal place of stay, the place of professional activity, or the centre of economic interests. The provision that defines this test is article 4 B of the French General Tax Code. If you live in the United Kingdom all year, work in the United Kingdom, and keep only a holiday home in France, you do not meet that test. You are a non-resident for French tax purposes, which is the category this article addresses. Your French holiday rental income, if any, and your French property wealth remain taxable in France under the category of income from French sources described in article 164 B of the French General Tax Code, which lists among French source income the income from immovable property situated in France and rights relating to such property.

For gains on sale, the treaty comes first and French domestic law second. Under the France United Kingdom double tax treaty, gains derived from the alienation of immovable property situated in France may be taxed in France. In practice this means France taxes the gain on your French flat or house even though you are resident in the United Kingdom, and the United Kingdom then relieves double taxation through Foreign Tax Credit Relief on the capital gain reported to HM Revenue and Customs, within the limits and time limits of British law. You therefore need two files, not one: the French computation and payment organised by the French notaire on completion, and the British self assessment return where the French tax paid is evidenced by the French assessment and proof of payment. Keep the French deed, the capital gains return, and the payment receipt, because HM Revenue and Customs will ask for them before granting relief, and because any French reclaim will also require them.

Inside French domestic law, the levy on non-residents is not the ordinary income tax return. It is a specific levy described in article 244 bis A of the French General Tax Code. The text opens with the words: “Sous réserve des conventions internationales, les plus-values, telles que définies aux e bis et e ter du I de l’article 164 B , réalisées par les personnes et organismes mentionnés au 2 du I lors de la cession des biens ou droits mentionnés au 3 sont soumises à un prélèvement selon les taux fixés au III bis.” In English: subject to tax treaties, the gains defined by reference to article 164 B, realised by the listed persons and bodies on the listed property and rights, are subject to a levy at the rates set in the same article. The persons covered expressly include individuals who are not domiciled in France within the meaning of article 4 B, companies with their registered office outside France, and partnerships and similar bodies in proportion to the rights held by non-resident partners. The property covered expressly includes immovable property and rights over such property.

Three consequences follow for a British seller. First, the levy is collected at the time of the sale through the notaire, not the following year through an income tax return, which means errors must be detected before or immediately after completion. Second, the rate structure mirrors that applicable to French residents for the income tax component, currently 19 percent for gains on immovable property realised by individuals, plus social charges and where relevant the surtax on high gains described below. The English language pages of the French tax administration confirm that the tax is calculated under the same conditions as for residents of France with an allowance based on the duration of ownership, and they set out the current rates applicable to non-residents in the page on selling property, tax arrangements and rate. Third, two older exemptions that once helped leavers remain relevant only within strict time limits. The levy does not apply to the building that was the principal residence in France of the seller at the date of transfer of tax domicile outside France where the buyer transfers domicile to a European Union Member State or to a State with administrative assistance and recovery agreements of equivalent scope, provided the sale occurs no later than 31 December of the year following the departure and the building was not made available to third parties in the meantime. That window, read in the current version of article 244 bis A, does not help a British owner who left France years ago or who always lived in the United Kingdom, but it matters for readers who moved recently and should be checked before it expires.

A second and distinct relief helps some former residents even after the first window has closed. Under article 150 U of the French General Tax Code, gains on the sale of a dwelling in France by an individual who is not resident in France, who is a national of a European Union Member State or of another State party to the European Economic Area agreement with an administrative assistance convention with France, and who was domiciled in France continuously for at least two years at some point before the sale, may be exempted within the limit of one dwelling per taxpayer and 150,000 euros of net taxable gain, for sales made no later than 31 December of the tenth year following the transfer of domicile outside France, or without any time limit where the seller has had free disposal of the property at least since 1 January of the year preceding the sale. The same article excludes from gains the building that is the principal residence of the seller on the day of sale, the first sale of a dwelling other than the principal residence with reinvestment conditions, property exchanged in land consolidation, property with a sale price of 15,000 euros or less, and several social housing transfers. British nationals should read this provision with care after Brexit. The nationality condition now turns on the exact wording applicable at the date of sale and on the treaty network between France and the United Kingdom, so a British seller should not assume that the European Union limb covers him or her and should verify the current administrative position with the notaire and the tax representative before relying on it. Where the relief does not apply, the ordinary computation below applies in full.

The minimum taxation rule for non-residents in article 197 A of the French General Tax Code is sometimes raised in correspondence. That article sets minimum rates for French source income received by persons without a French tax domicile and allows the taxpayer to show that the French tax on worldwide income would be lower. For gains on immovable property collected through the article 244 bis A levy, the practical discussion is usually about the 19 percent levy, the social charges, and the surtax, rather than about article 197 A, but the letter from the administration should be read to see which provision it relies on before answering.

B. How much French tax will you pay on the sale price, and which allowances reduce it?

The French computation starts from a simple subtraction and then applies time based allowances, social charges, and a surtax. The starting definition is in article 150 V of the French General Tax Code: “La plus ou moins-value brute réalisée lors de la cession de biens ou droits mentionnés aux articles 150 U à 150 UC est égale à la différence entre le prix de cession et le prix d’acquisition par le cédant.” In English: the gross gain or loss on the sale of the property and rights covered by articles 150 U to 150 UC equals the difference between the sale price and the acquisition price paid by the seller. From that gross figure the code allows the addition of acquisition costs and works under documented conditions, then subtracts allowances for duration of ownership, called abattements pour duree de detention, which are the main reason two identical sale prices can produce very different tax bills.

In practice the file is built in four layers. The first layer is the net purchase price. The deed of acquisition, the agency fees where they were included and evidenced, the registration duties or value added tax paid on acquisition, and the notaire fees are added to the price paid, within flat rate options or on proof depending on age and documents. Building, extension, renovation and improvement works carried out by a contractor and paid for by the seller, excluding routine maintenance and do it yourself labour, increase the acquisition price where invoices and payment proofs are kept. Where the property was received by gift or inheritance, the value retained in the gift or succession return replaces the original purchase price, which often surprises British families who received a French house from a parent and kept few papers. Missing invoices directly increase the taxable gain, so the months before listing the property are the moment to gather the acquisition deed, the works invoices with bank transfers, and the succession papers.

The second layer is the allowance for duration of ownership on the income tax component. The allowance grows with each year of ownership beyond the fifth year and reaches full exemption from the income tax levy after twenty two years of ownership. The official individual guidance on capital gains on immovable property published on service-public.fr, sale of immovable property and capital gains sets out the yearly percentages and should be used as the working table for the current year. Ownership is counted in full years from the date of acquisition to the date of sale. A seller who is a few months short of the next anniversary should discuss the timing of the deed with the notaire, because signing in January rather than December can change the allowance band. A seller who owns through joint ownership, called indivision, or who holds only a share after a succession, applies the same duration to his or her share from the date that share was acquired.

The third layer is the social charges component, called prelevements sociaux, which follows a slower timetable and reaches full exemption only after thirty years. The base is the same net gain after costs, reduced by the social allowance for duration. The headline rate published by the administration for the aggregate social charges is 17.2 percent, comprising the general social contribution, the contribution for the repayment of the social debt, and the solidarity levy, subject to the affiliation position of the seller. British sellers affiliated to a social security scheme in the United Kingdom or in another State whose legislation applies under European coordination rules or the Withdrawal Agreement may be relieved from the parts that finance French social security and remain liable only for the solidarity part that does not. The legal anchor for the charge is article L. 136-6 of the Social Security Code, which makes individuals domiciled in France liable to a contribution on patrimonial income on the net amount used for income tax, and the coordination case law then limits that logic for persons subject to the legislation of a single other Member State.

The Cour de cassation recalled the principle in its decision of 25 September 2025 in the following terms: “la personne à laquelle les règlements s’appliquent n’est soumise qu’à la législation d’un seul État membre, en sorte que celle-ci, affiliée à un régime de sécurité sociale d’un État membre, ne doit pas contribuer au régime de sécurité sociale d’un autre État membre (CJUE, arrêt du 26 février 2015, De Ruyter, C-623-13, point 35).” In English: a person covered by the coordination regulations is subject to the legislation of a single Member State, so that a person affiliated to the social security scheme of one Member State must not contribute to that of another. The full decision is published as Cour de cassation, Second Civil Chamber, 25 September 2025, appeal No 22-24.634. In a sale file this means the British seller should produce evidence of current affiliation, typically an S1 healthcare certificate or an A1 posting certificate where relevant, or a National Insurance record with a certificate of coverage, and should ask the notaire in writing which social rate has been applied and why. Where the administration has applied 17.2 percent to a seller who can show single State affiliation elsewhere, the difference is a standard ground for a claim.

The fourth layer is the surtax on high gains. article 1609 nonies G of the French General Tax Code creates a tax on gains realised under articles 150 U and 150 UB to 150 UD by individuals and partnerships and under article 244 bis A by non-resident taxpayers subject to income tax. The text states: “Il est institué une taxe sur les plus-values réalisées dans les conditions prévues aux articles 150 U et 150 UB à 150 UD par les personnes physiques ou les sociétés ou groupements qui relèvent des articles 8 à 8 ter et dans celles prévues à l’article 244 bis A par les contribuables non domiciliés fiscalement en France assujettis à l’impôt sur le revenu.” The tax does not apply to building land. It is charged to the seller on completion where the taxable gain exceeds 50,000 euros, on a sliding scale from 2 percent to 6 percent of the whole taxable gain with smoothing bands at the thresholds. Because the scale applies to the whole gain once the threshold is crossed, a gain of 51,000 euros and a gain of 60,000 euros fall in different effective positions, and a small change in deductible costs or in the allowance can move the file across a band. The notaire schedule should show this line separately from the 19 percent levy and the social charges.

A simplified worked example helps to see the interaction. Take a British couple who bought a village house for 200,000 euros fifteen years ago, added 30,000 euros of contractor works with invoices, and now sell for 350,000 euros. The gross gain before allowances is 120,000 euros. After the income tax allowance for fifteen years and the slower social allowance for the same period, the taxable bases for the two levies differ, with the social base higher than the income tax base. The 19 percent levy applies to the income tax base, the social rate applies to the social base, and the surtax applies because the taxable gain exceeds 50,000 euros. The precise euro result depends on the yearly percentages in force and on whether the sellers can evidence affiliation outside France for the social component, which is why the same sale price produces different net proceeds for a seller owned for seven years, fifteen years, or twenty five years. The example is illustrative only. The binding computation is the one signed by the notaire on the capital gains return, called declaration 2048-IMM, with its annexes.

Paris and Ile-de-France properties add a practical layer without changing the national computation. Where the flat is in Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis or Val-de-Marne, the land registration service, the survey documents, and the co-ownership papers, called documents de copropriete, often take longer to assemble, and lease, tenant, and pre-emption questions must be cleared before the deed. A tenanted Paris flat sold with the tenant in place, a furnished letting that was registered, or a building with a municipal pre-emption right can delay completion and therefore change the allowance year. The Paris file should therefore reconcile the conveyancing timetable with the tax anniversary described above.

II. How Do You Complete the Sale Without Blocking It, and How Do You Challenge an Excess Bill?

A. Which representative, return and payment does a British seller living in the United Kingdom need?

Brexit changed the representative question more than any other procedural point. The sale by a non-resident of property in France requires the appointment of a tax representative, except in defined dispensation cases. The English language guidance on whether a tax representative must be appointed lists three situations of automatic dispensation: where the seller lives, is based, or is incorporated in a European Union Member State or in another State party to the European Economic Area agreement which has signed a mutual assistance agreement with France, namely Iceland and Norway; for sales of 150,000 euros or less, assessed per seller; and for sales where the gain is exempt from both income tax and social levies because of the duration of ownership, twenty two years for income tax and thirty years for social levies. A British seller resident in the United Kingdom after Brexit does not fall in the first dispensation by virtue of United Kingdom residence alone. In practice this means most British sales above 150,000 euros with a taxable gain require an accredited representative, called representant accredite, who signs the return, guarantees the tax, and remains the contact for the administration after completion. The representative may be a company or organisation accredited for this purpose, and acts vis a vis the non-resident tax department. The fee is negotiated privately and is separate from the notaire fees. Appointing the representative late is the most common cause of delayed completion in British files, so the mandate should be signed as soon as the asking price is agreed and before the preliminary contract becomes final.

The return itself is prepared by the notaire with the representative. The form is the 2048-IMM capital gains return with its annexes for allowances, costs, and surtax. It must state the acquisition title and date, the sale price and date, the costs added to the acquisition price with invoices, the allowance computation year by year, the income tax levy, the social charges with the rate applied, the surtax where the threshold is crossed, and where relevant the exemption relied on with its evidence. The tax is paid on completion through the notaire to the land registration service, which publishes the deed. The seller receives the authenticated deed, called acte authentique, the return copy, and the payment receipt. Those three documents are the file for both the British tax return and any later French claim. Before signing, the British seller should ask for a draft computation in writing, reconcile every line to the acquisition deed and the works file, confirm the allowance anniversary, confirm which social rate has been used and on what affiliation evidence, confirm whether the surtax band has been correctly applied to the whole taxable gain with smoothing, and confirm whether the 150,000 euro former resident relief or the former main home window has been considered with reasons. Where the property was acquired by succession or gift, the succession return value and the date of death or gift fix the starting point, and the notaire should show that value expressly.

The notaire owes a proactive duty on these points. The First Civil Chamber of the Cour de cassation restated it on 28 May 2025 in the following terms: “Le notaire est tenu d’informer et d’éclairer les parties, de manière complète et circonstanciée, sur la portée et les effets, notamment quant aux incidences fiscales, de l’acte auquel il prête son concours.” In English: the notaire must inform the parties fully and in detail about the scope and effects, including the tax consequences, of the deed he or she draws up. The decision, which quashed an appeal judgment that had excused a notaire who had mentioned additional taxes only in general terms where their principle and amount were already determinable before the final commitment, is published as Cour de cassation, First Civil Chamber, 28 May 2025, appeal No 23-18.737. For a British seller this means the notaire must explain before the preliminary contract becomes binding how the gain will be computed, which allowances and surtax apply, whether a representative is needed, and what the net proceeds will be after French tax. General wording in the preliminary contract about possible taxes does not discharge that duty where the amount could already be estimated. Sellers who receive only a net price without a tax schedule should request it in writing and keep the reply.

Two related taxes must not be confused with the capital gains levy. The annual property tax, called taxe fonciere, and the occupier tax where still due, called taxe d’habitation with its surcharge on second homes in tense zones, continue to run until the year of sale with apportionment between seller and buyer. The wealth tax on immovable property, called impot sur la fortune immobiliere, may apply where the net taxable estate exceeds the threshold on 1 January of the year, independently of the sale. The capital gains computation does not replace those taxes, and arrears discovered at completion are apportioned in the deed. Readers keeping a second home rather than selling will find the companion analysis of the 60 percent surcharge useful context, but sellers should keep the files separate because the legal bases and limitation periods differ.

Where the sale price is modest or the ownership is very long, the dispensation cases should be tested rather than assumed. A sale at 150,000 euros or less per seller is automatically dispensed from the representative, with the limit assessed per seller so that joint owners each benefit on their share. A sale fully exempt by duration, twenty two years for income tax and thirty years for social levies, is also dispensed, but the exemption must be established on the return with the full chain of title. A sale that is exempt from income tax but not yet from social charges still requires the representative unless another dispensation applies, which is a frequent misunderstanding in files owned for twenty three to twenty nine years. The impots.gouv.fr pages on non-residents who own property in France and on the representative requirement should be printed to the file on the day they are consulted, because online guidance is updated and the version relied on may matter in a later claim.

B. The bill looks too high or the exemption was refused: how do you challenge it and recover the difference?

Most British disputes fall into six recurring patterns. The allowance anniversary was misapplied because the acquisition date or the completion date was entered incorrectly. Documented works were rejected for lack of invoices or proof of payment. The social rate of 17.2 percent was applied to a seller who could evidence affiliation to the United Kingdom scheme and should have paid only the solidarity component. The surtax band was applied without smoothing or to a base that should have been lower. The 150,000 euro former resident relief or the former main home window was dismissed without reasons. Or the representative and the notaire each assumed the other had verified the treaty position, so the British relief was never coordinated and the same gain was taxed twice without credit. Each pattern has its own evidence and its own clock, so the first step is always to identify which line of the 2048-IMM is disputed and to put the supporting document behind it.

The French challenge always starts with a written administrative claim, called reclamation, addressed to the tax authority that established the levy, in non-resident files typically the tax office for non-residents with a copy to the department that collected the sum, before any court can be seised. The claim must identify the taxpayer, the deed and its publication reference, the tax notice or collection document, the amount disputed with a revised computation, the legal grounds with the articles relied on, and copies of the acquisition deed, works invoices with bank transfers, proof of ownership duration, proof of affiliation for social charges, and where relevant proof of prior French domicile and nationality position for the 150,000 euro relief. The general guidance on tax claims and appeals explains the sequence of claim, response, and referral to the court, and the claim should be sent by a traceable method with proof of filing. Time limits run from the collection or assessment, commonly by 31 December of the second year following the event depending on the nature of the levy, so the deadline must be calculated from the actual document rather than assumed. A claim that merely states that the bill feels high, without a revised computation and without documents, will be rejected and will weaken the later court case.

If the administration rejects the claim expressly or by silence, the dispute moves to the court with jurisdiction over the levy. For the income tax levy on gains of individuals, that is the administrative court, with appeal to the administrative court of appeal and possible review by the Conseil d’Etat on points of law. The application must repeat the revised computation, answer each reason given in the rejection, and attach the claim, its proof of filing, the rejection, the deed, the return, and the evidence. Where the dispute concerns the land registration formalities or the notaire fees rather than the tax itself, the judicial court may be competent instead, which is why the rejection letter must be read to identify the correct forum before filing. Parallel to the French claim, the British position should be protected. The gain must still be reported to HM Revenue and Customs within the British deadlines, with Foreign Tax Credit Relief claimed for the French tax finally due, not merely the French tax initially collected. If the French claim later succeeds, an adjustment or overpayment relief claim in the United Kingdom follows with the French repayment decision. Missing the British deadline while waiting for the French outcome creates a second loss that no French victory can repair.

Evidence decides these cases more often than abstract argument. Works are the clearest example. The administration accepts contractor invoices with matching bank transfers, building permits where required, and completion certificates. It rejects estimates, cash payments without trace, routine maintenance, and the value of the owner own labour. Duration is proved by the published acquisition deed and, for inherited shares, by the succession return and death certificate with the publication reference. Affiliation for social charges is proved by a current S1, A1, or certificate of coverage with National Insurance history, not by a European Health Insurance Card alone. Former residence for the 150,000 euro relief is proved by continuous French domicile for at least two years at some point, by tax notices, and by free disposal since the relevant January date where that limb is relied on. Each document should be translated where the office requires it, with the French original kept alongside.

Five practical checks prevent most litigation. First, obtain the draft 2048-IMM at least two weeks before completion and have the representative explain each line in English in writing. Second, reconcile the allowance anniversary to the calendar and consider moving completion by a few weeks where a band changes. Third, decide the social rate expressly on affiliation evidence rather than by default, and keep the certificate in the file. Fourth, test the two former resident reliefs with reasons even where they seem unlikely, because the file should show why they were set aside. Fifth, coordinate the French payment receipt with the British return from the outset so that treaty relief is not lost by delay. Where the notaire schedule remains general despite a request for detail, the Cour de cassation duty recalled above should be invoked in writing before signing, because after publication the burden of proving an error and meeting the claim deadline falls entirely on the seller.

Conclusion

A British resident who sells a French second home after Brexit faces a French levy collected on completion, a computation that turns on documented costs and on twenty two and thirty year clocks, a surtax above 50,000 euros of taxable gain, social charges that depend on provable affiliation, and in most sales above 150,000 euros an accredited representative because the United Kingdom no longer benefits from the European Union dispensation. The treaty gives France the first right to tax the French property and gives the United Kingdom the mechanism to relieve double taxation, but neither the treaty nor the notaire deed corrects a misapplied allowance, a rejected invoice, or a wrong social rate on its own. The file that succeeds is the file prepared early: acquisition deed and succession papers gathered, works evidenced by invoices and transfers, anniversary checked, representative mandated, draft return explained line by line, and British reporting aligned for credit. Where the bill remains excessive after that preparation, the remedy is a documented administrative claim within the limitation period and then, if needed, a reasoned application to the competent court with a revised computation. Prepared in that order, the sale completes on time and the tax paid is the tax actually due, no more.