Capital Gains tax calculations in France on overseas CGT events

Banking & Financial Tax & Social charges
1

Working with our French accountant i have run into a snag. A quick search of previous posts hasn’t revealed anything that would help so here goes:

We are tax resident in France. Our investments are managed in the UK by a UK company ( they are obviously not familiar with the French tax code ). I understand how to calculate CGT which includes the possibility of a reduction in tax based on the length of time an investment is owned ( abattement pour duree de detention ). Unfortunately some investments are not eligible for this reduction. French investment managers are able to decide if an investment is eligible or not. My accountant has told us that he is not qualified / trained to make that decision and that we are legally responsible for calculating the capital gains on our foreign investments and liable for justifying any rebates. I cannot find any information to help me decide which investments ( shares ) are eligible or not.

Anyone any ideas or know anyone who might be able to give us an answer. I appreciate that we are fortunate to be in this position but i still would prefer not to pay any more in taxes than required.

1 Like
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You may need to get it straight from the horses mouth, so to speak. The tax office in France you normally deal with will be able to advise you…

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Hi Paul

As Graham says… talk with the Tax Office in France…

They, like this forum… will need to know your full name… :upside_down_face: :thinking:

Please could you amend your Registration to show First and Last Name :smiley: :smiley:

Cheers…

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This summary may be helpful:

It implies that shares held for two years before selling attract a reduction in CGT.

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Thanks everyone - name amended hopefully and i will brave the local tax office. The main issue is that only some types of share are eligible for this reduction and there is no information that i can see to help determine this

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If you are able to arrange a face-to-face at the Tax Office it should prove well worth while.

Take your investment info and just talk things through with the tax officer.
I have always found them very helpful.

They will explain which are eligible for reductions and which are not… and what level of tax you can expect to be charged.
You have to declare everything anyway… so no harm in being upfront with them.

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Thanks Stella