Capital gains tax on French property 2026: what the notary deducts on sale
Original notary fees recalculated for your département, flat rates, allowances and surtax: the calculation the seller’s notary will make.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy
When you sell French property that is not your main home, a second home, a rental, a plot or a garage, the gain is taxed in France, even if you live abroad. The gain is the sale price minus a purchase price increased by acquisition costs (actual, or a flat 7.5 % of the price) and works (actual, or a flat 15 % after 5 years). Two allowances for length of ownership then apply: the income tax one, at a 19 % rate, wipes the gain out after 22 years; the social charges one, at 17.2 % for French residents, after 30 years. A surtax of 2% to 6% applies above €50,000 of taxable gain. A flat bought for €200,000 in the Gironde and sold for €320,000 twelve years later shows a gross gain of €73,861; the notary deducts €19,377 from the price. The calculator recalculates your original notary fees to see whether they beat the flat rate.
Tax and charges on the gain
€19,377
Gross gain €73,861 · allowances 42.00 % (tax) and 11.55 % (charges)
| Acquisition costs (actual amount) | €16,139 |
| Works (15 % flat rate) | €30,000 |
| Increased purchase price | €246,139 |
| Income tax (19 % of €42,840) | €8,140 |
| Social charges (17.2 % of €65,330) | €11,237 |
| Surtax on gains above €50,000 | €0 |
| Total withheld by the notary | €19,377 |
| Net gain after tax (sale − purchase − tax) | €100,623 |
What years of ownership remove
Tax and charges
€17,570
| Income tax allowance | 60.00 % |
| Social charges allowance | 16.50 % |
| Surtax | €0 |
| With no allowance | €30,560 |
How French law measures the gain
France does not tax the difference between two prices: it taxes the difference between the sale price and an increased purchase price. The sale price is the one in the deed, less selling costs you can document, such as the compulsory surveys. The purchase price is raised by the acquisition costs you paid at the time, transfer tax, notary fees and an agency commission if you bore it, either at their actual amount or as a flat 7.5 %. It is raised again by construction, extension or improvement works, on invoices, or by a flat 15 % of the price once you have owned the property for more than 5 years.
Many foreign owners no longer have the notary’s statement from their purchase. The calculator does not need it: it recalculates the notary fees of the original purchase with this site’s engine for the département you choose and keeps the actual figure if it beats the flat rate. On a resale purchase in a 5% département it usually does; on a new build it never does, because transfer tax is then reduced. For a flat bought new on the Riviera for €300,000 and sold seven years later for €380,000, the flat rate wins and the total tax comes to €4,169.
Allowances for years of ownership
The gross gain is then reduced according to full years of ownership, counted from the date of the purchase deed to the date of the sale deed. There are two scales. For income tax, the allowance is 6 % a year from year 6 to year 21 and 4 % in year 22, so the gain is fully exempt after 22 years. For social charges, it is 1.65 % a year from year 6 to year 21, 1.60 % in year 22 and 9 % a year up to year 30. After fifteen years you keep paying income tax on 40 % of the gain and social charges on 83.50 %.
| Ownership | Income tax allowance | Social charges allowance |
|---|---|---|
| 5 years | 0.00 % | 0.00 % |
| 6 years | 6.00 % | 1.65 % |
| 10 years | 30.00 % | 8.25 % |
| 15 years | 60.00 % | 16.50 % |
| 20 years | 90.00 % | 24.75 % |
| 21 years | 96.00 % | 26.40 % |
| 22 years | 100.00 % | 28.00 % |
| 25 years | 100.00 % | 55.00 % |
| 28 years | 100.00 % | 82.00 % |
| 30 years | 100.00 % | 100.00 % |
Rates, surtax and the amount withheld
The income tax base is taxed at 19 % and the social charges base at 17.2 % for a French resident. Above €50,000 of gain taxable to income tax, after the allowance, a surtax of 2% to 6% applies, smoothed at the start of each band so that one extra euro of gain never costs hundreds. A Paris flat bought for €400,000 and sold for €900,000 ten years later pays €17,182 of surtax within a total of €136,154. The seller’s notary calculates all of it, files the return and pays the tax out of the sale proceeds on completion day.
| Purchase | Sale | Ownership | Gross gain | Income tax | Social charges | Surtax | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| €180,000 | €250,000 | 4 years | €55,337 | €10,514 | €9,518 | €874 | €20,906 |
| €200,000 | €320,000 | 12 years | €73,861 | €8,140 | €11,237 | €0 | €19,377 |
| €250,000 | €450,000 | 18 years | €142,673 | €5,964 | €19,276 | €0 | €25,240 |
| €300,000 | €600,000 | 8 years | €231,484 | €36,065 | €37,844 | €7,593 | €81,502 |
| €400,000 | €900,000 | 10 years | €409,107 | €54,411 | €64,561 | €17,182 | €136,154 |
Selling from abroad
For a seller living outside France, the gain is calculated in exactly the same way. Two differences matter. The social charges: a seller affiliated to the compulsory social security system of another EEA country or of Switzerland pays only the 7.5 % solidarity levy instead of the 17.2 % charged to residents, according to service-public.fr, which lowers the bill noticeably; the calculator shows the resident rate, so ask the notary to apply your status. And the tax representative, whom the seller must appoint unless an exemption applies, notably for EU and EEA residents of treaty countries or a price of €150,000 or less.
The country where you live may tax the same gain under its own rules. Most treaties signed by France give it the first right to tax gains on French property and require the country of residence to give credit for the French tax. Keep the notary’s calculation and the receipt for the tax paid: you will need both for your home tax return.
Exemptions that remove the tax
Your main home is fully exempt, whatever the gain. A sale price of €15,000 or less is exempt too. The first sale of a home other than your main residence is exempt in proportion to the share of the price you reinvest in buying your main home within two years, if you did not own your main home in the four previous years. A former main home sold soon after leaving France, or up to €150,000 of gain on another home for an EU or EEA national who lived in France for two years, can also be exempt. Exemptions for modest retirees and for people moving into a care home depend on income ceilings and are checked by the notary on documents.
Limits of the calculation
The calculator assumes a private individual selling a property bought for a price. For an inherited or gifted property, enter the value declared in the deed as the purchase price and add the costs actually paid in the advanced options: the 7.5 % flat rate does not apply. Depreciation claimed on a furnished let since 15 February 2025, shares in a property company and building plots follow their own rules. The figure is an estimate: the notary’s calculation is the one that counts.