When exactly should I sell my home in England to avoid French capital gains tax as they might view it as a secondary residence after I move to France in 2024?
When exactly is the house officially considered sold?
Here are some principle milestones:
Thank you
How long have you owned your house in the UK?
since 2011, so about 12 years now.
Hello @Herbert and welcome to the forum.
Iāve a feeling this has been discussed a while agoā¦ but blowed if I can locate it nowā¦
I seem to recall that provided your UK property is officially on the market and sells within one year (possibly stretching into two) ā¦ you should be OKā¦
Others might well have more uptodate infoā¦ so letās see what comes forthā¦
Have you thought of discussing this aspect with your local Tax people in France ??
thank you @Stella, and hello forum!
yes, I thoght there should be a thread on this. Searched, but couldnāt find anything matching precisely.
Also I donāt have any āmyā local Tax people in France, so wanted to hear what forum might offer as an adiceā¦
Welcome, @Herbert.
While you await a more authoritative source, I found this: Americans Moving to France: When To Sell Your U.S. Home - FrenchEntrƩe.
Although addressed to Americans, the principles which the French tax authorities apply are the same.
Your house is sold when the final sale contract has been signed. If you have lived in the UK for the previous 4 years as I recall there is a ātemporary non-residentā status that provides some leeway before you loose the CGT exemption.
But devil is in the detail so always best to get HMRC conifrmation.
Try this enquiry form (as a prospective non-resident!)
Sure, I wanted to start a discussion about an article I read because it seemed a bit unclear to me. Thanks to @Porridge for bringing it up!
nope!
My question is about French tax on selling British home.
Fair enoughā¦ if you donāt yet know where you will be living in France in 2024, I can appreciate you donāt yet have a ālocalā French Tax Officeā¦ 
ah well, letās hope someone turns-up on the forum, who has perhaps done this sort of thing recentlyā¦ 
oh sorry! I though you were speaking about local commercial tax planning advisor firms.
wasnāt realising you meant local French Tax Officeā¦
I am bit challenged with my level of French so kind of discarded this route in my mindā¦
There is a double tax treaty between France and UK which governs this. Here is a piece on this
If you are moving to France in 2024, you will need to be braveā¦ re using your French language skillsā¦
It does help if any questions you haveā¦ are translated beforehand and you arm yourself with a ācrib sheetā for such visits. and (generally speaking) officials are helpful and patientā¦ but it can vary
EDIT to return to your question of āwhen to sellāā¦ can you sell NOW and rent somewhere when you have to finally move out once the Sale is completedā¦???
No, canāt sell now : british home is not yet ready, in the middle of renovation with intent to sell higher.
Yes, I can live in France even today. Have an appartment there that is declared as a secondary residence.
Hello Herbert, and welcome!
I think that you are confusing things. Your basic question relates to āfiscal residencyā. You do not need to become fiscally resident in France until a] you have āserved your visa timeā; b] obtained a Carte de SĆ©jour; and c] registered with the ImpĆ“t - and submitted a paper Tax Return.
Until then you are fiscally resident in the UK, and liable to continued UK tax assessment (and 90 day visa rules, subject to possible extension).
Post-Brexit the timescale is all related to visa requirements, and the time taken to set yourself up here. If you are in a position to buy a property here it will be a āmaison secondaireā. When you in due course sell your UK home, you will have sold your āmaison principalā, and no tax is liable.
But you need extended visas to get to that point in time. To obtain such visas you need to be financially self-supporting, and with health insurance to add to your EHIC cover. You will continue to need such additional cover when you live here, of course, as most of us do. Itās how the health system works here.
To follow your concept would be foolish. If you buy a house here and immediatley start the process of becoming a French resident and Tax payer, you come under French Tax Law - and will be liable for CGT on the sale of your UK property (or any other inverstment).
That is not correct! The tax authorities determine your fiscal residence by where your household is (usually the same as where you live, but not always), where you work, and where your centre of interests are. The amount of time here is not the critical issue. And being a fiscal resident is a matter of fact, not a choice.
Blimey - this has been rehearsed to death and back surely? Itās easy - you are allowed a year from moving to sell your former principal residence (?)
edit - and I seem to recall 2 or 3 years for the proceeds which you use to buy your new residence principal to be disallowed - would welcome a sense check on that one 
mind
Youāre right. The same old questions by people who canāt be arsed to do minimal research 
We sold our main residence in the UK immediately (literally just a few days) before actually moving to France. We waited until a) after completion and b) after the physical receipt of funds. This was the only certain way we could find of ensuring that France would have no tax claims whatsoever on the gain from the sale of our UK property.
We were aware of the French tax authorities ānon statutoryā practice (of permitting a former overseas main residence sale within a year or so of last actual occupation), to be treated favourably by the French authorities. However we couldnāt find a definitive ruling - see screenshot from French Property News, so we played safeā¦
Steady John, this is part of @Herbertās research. 
When we became resident here after many years of 2nd home ownership it never occured to me to ask such questions and happily our flat in England was sold within the week, but if I had thought of such a thing, a place like this is somewhere I would have come to first.
Welcome @Herbert btw.
