Estimate French capital gains tax on a property sale — 19% income tax + 18.6% social charges (2026).
Gains on French real estate (other than your main home, which is exempt) are taxed at a flat 19% income tax rate plus 18.6% social charges — a combined 37.6% base rate. In reality, taper relief reduces the taxable gain the longer you've owned the property (fully exempt after 22 years for income tax, 30 years for social charges) — this simplified tool applies the full rate without taper relief.
Illustrative estimate only, using simplified/rounded 2026 French tax figures — not tax advice. Always confirm with impots.gouv.fr or a licensed tax/financial advisor.
Real estate capital gains in France (plus-value immobilière) are taxed separately from the PFU used for shares and securities: 19% income tax plus 17.2% social levies, a combined standard rate of 36.2% on the gain before any taper relief. Unlike shares, property gains benefit from an allowance for length of ownership — the income tax portion tapers to zero after 22 years of ownership, while the social-levy portion tapers more slowly, reaching zero only after 30 years, which is why very long-held property can escape most or all of this tax entirely.
A sale of your main residence (résidence principale) is generally fully exempt from this tax regardless of the gain or how long it was owned, mirroring similar principal-home exemptions in the UK, US, and Ireland. Second homes, rental investment property, and land do not get this exemption and are subject to the full plus-value regime, tapered only by length of ownership.
Yes — the résidence principale exemption is broad and applies regardless of the size of the gain or how long the property was owned, provided it was genuinely your main home at the time of sale, not a second residence.
It reduces the taxable gain progressively each year of ownership beyond the fifth year, with the income tax portion of the gain reaching zero taxable value after 22 years, and the social-levy portion reaching zero only after 30 years — the two components taper on different schedules.
Generally yes, non-residents selling French real estate are subject to the same plus-value immobilière regime, sometimes with additional withholding or representative requirements at the point of sale, depending on where the seller is tax-resident.
Not automatically, but a specific exemption can apply to the sale of a second home if it is the seller's first property sale in France in the past several years and the proceeds are reinvested into a main residence within a set time frame, subject to conditions.