France

Individual - Residence

Last reviewed - 27 September 2021

Under domestic law, an individual is considered to be domiciled in France if at least one of the following criteria below is met:

The habitual abode of the person or family is in France or France is the principal place of sojourn.
Professional activities are carried out in France.
Managing executives (president of the board of directors -“président du conseil d’administration”- when assuming the position of managing director of the company, managing director - “directeur général” - , deputy managing directors - "directeurs généraux délégués" - president members of the Executive board -“président et membres du Directoire” - and managing directors and other managing executives exercising similar functions -“gérants et autres dirigeants ayant des fonctions analogues”) of a company having its registered office in France and whose turnover exceeds 250 million euros are considered as exercising their professional activity mainly in France unless they prove otherwise.

France is the centre of economic interests.
Under most bilateral tax treaties concluded with France, tax domicile is first determined under the law of the country that asserts the power to tax. If the individual is considered to be resident under the laws of two countries, the treaty provides 'tie-breaker' provisions to determine the country of residence. These tie-breaker tests generally include as criteria, in descending order, permanent home, personal and economic relations (centre of vital interests), habitual abode, nationality, and, if none of the foregoing tests is determinative, the decision of the competent authorities.