My wife and I are a retired couple currently living in Australia. We are planning to spend approximately 12 months travelling around Europe in 2027, with France as one of our main destinations.
We are considering applying for French Type D long-stay visitor visas (VLS-TS), which would allow us to spend time in France and visit other Schengen countries during our trip.
We will not be working during this period and have sufficient financial resources to support ourselves. Our income and savings are based in Australia, including superannuation, bank savings and rental income from an Australian property.
We are trying to understand the potential French tax implications of holding a 12-month visitor visa.
In particular, we would appreciate advice or experiences regarding the following:
Does holding a French 12-month visitor visa automatically make someone a French tax resident?
If we spend less than 183 days in France during the 12-month period, could we still be considered French tax residents?
Could our Australian superannuation pension payments, savings or rental income become subject to French taxation?
Has anyone from Australia, or another country outside the EU, been in a similar situation?
We understand that professional tax advice may be necessary, but it would be very helpful to hear from anyone who has dealt with these issues.
Many thanks in advance for any advice or experiences you can share.
On this matter you can look up previous threads about the legality of living in France and Jane Jones is a well respected font of knowledge on such things too. This has just sparked another question which may also affect those wishing to live here either for long periods or full time in that the national SMIC level which is the base wage rate is being adjusted to around €1500/month per employee who is paid that level and this previously was used as a mark for a minimum income in which you need to live here and become a full time resident and those with state pensions now wishing to do so with a monthly income under the. new level may find it even more difficult if they have no other income. Just a point no one has mentioned after the news this week about the SMIC being raised. The rule for tax residency is just that, residency full time with the relevant Carte de Sèjour issued and you live here more than the six months per year and are not a holiday visitor and its usually world wide assets and income that are involved. Basically any income here is taxable if declared where demanded.
AI gives an extensive answer. It would appear that you must avoid more than 183 days in France or declare residency. I would have thought that a visa termed ‘visitor’ would nean you don’t pay tax but that’s merely an opinion. Good luck.
Yes.
I imagine a visitor won’t fulfill any of the following
Permanent home
Centre of vital interests
Habitual abode
Nationality (?)
Of course, other countries may have different criteria regarding length of stay. Maybe ask the French embassy in Oz?
As others have said the 183 days is a bit of a myth, and as long as you don’t fulfil the rest of the residential criteria you should be fine to be considered as a visitor. But what you mustn’t forget is that your visa for France gives you no extra rights in other Schengen countries. So you will have to adhere to the rolling 90 days in 180 rules, essentially meaning you will have to plan your journeys and will end up spending approx 6 months of the 12 in France.
And certainly don’t pay a handholder! Read the instructions, follow them to the letter and all should be fine. As Graeme said above make sure you get appropriate insurance, and detail your resources carefully.
Is it not the VLS-T visa for a visit of up to 1 year?
Then you would have no tax issues since you would be classed as a resident of another country on an extended visit to France (which is what you would be, no?) and there would be no question of you becoming resident in France on a VLS-T since this visa does not allow it.
I’d take a look at the French Immigration rules for visitors from Australia.
In the EU there are some visitor passports that get a more lenient tourist / visitor deal than for a British passport. Such as each visit up to 6 months but each time you go out of France the 6 month clock on next visit starts again when you come back I believe in full, to an extent.
Last time I looked an adjacent passport had just this deal so first and foremost I would look up the immigration rules of France for visitors on an Australian passport. From the top.
Thank you all for taking the time to respond and for your helpful comments and suggestions. I really appreciate everyone sharing their knowledge and experiences.
I’ll follow up on the points raised, particularly regarding tax residency, health insurance requirements and the different visa options.
I’ve also contacted the French Embassy in Australia to enquire about the historical bilateral visa-waiver agreements between Australia and France, and whether these might allow Australian passport holders to stay in France beyond the standard Schengen 90-day limit.
I’ll share any useful information I receive from the Embassy, as it may be of interest to others planning an extended stay in France.