# Buying Property in France as a Non-Resident: Notaire, SCI and IFI > France imposes no restrictions on foreign buyers: transactions through notaire with costs ~7–8%, IFI on property over €1.3m, SCI for inheritance, réserve héréditaire and exit taxes. Author: Мария Плотникова — юрист, Family Office (https://wiki.private.law/authors/plotnikova) Last modified: 2026-07-16T14:28:00.000Z Canonical: https://wiki.private.law/en/france-property-purchase Topics: investments Jurisdictions: france Semantic tags: tax-regime --- ## Concept France is a rare case of complete absence of restrictions: no permits, no reciprocity checks, no special zones. The buyer's citizenship and residency status are irrelevant at every stage. But the French system takes its toll later. Ownership here is more expensive than entry: annual local taxes, wealth tax on real estate, and the strictest forced heirship rules in Europe. That's why French purchases are designed from the outset with an answer to the question "who will inherit this and how"—hence the popularity of family companies (SCI) and the division of ownership into usufruct and bare ownership (nue-propriété). > 🍓 In France, buying is simple, owning is expensive, and bequeathing is complex: transaction costs are seven to eight percent, wealth tax applies to property over €1.3 million, and children are legally entitled to up to three-quarters of the estate. The ownership structure here matters more than the choice of apartment. ## How the Transaction Works A tax number is not needed in advance—it will appear automatically when the first property tax arrives. The entire transaction from start to finish is handled by a state notary (notaire): they verify title, collect taxes, and register the transfer of ownership. There are two stages. First comes the compromis de vente with a deposit of five to ten percent—and from this moment the buyer has a statutory ten-day cooling-off period to change their mind without explanation and without losing the deposit; the seller has no such right. Two to three months later, once suspensive conditions are met, the acte authentique is signed. The seller is required to provide a package of technical diagnostics, the most important being the energy performance certificate (DPE). This is no longer a formality: the rating directly affects price and determines whether the apartment can be rented out. ## Entry Taxes On the secondary market, the total "frais de notaire" amount to approximately seven to eight percent of the price. The main component is registration fees, which increased in 2025: departments, including Paris, exercised their right to raise their rate. New construction works in reverse: the price already includes twenty percent VAT, but registration costs are only two to three percent. Agency commission of four to six percent is usually already included in the listing price. ## What the Purchase Provides France has never had a golden visa—the purchase does not confer status. For long-term stays without work, there is the visiteur visa: passive income at the level of minimum wage (around one thousand five hundred euros per month per person), health insurance, and a commitment not to work in France. Owning property satisfies the accommodation requirement and serves as a strong argument of ties to the country. Without a visa, the Schengen regime of ninety out of one hundred eighty days applies. ## Ownership and Rental Each year brings the taxe foncière, which is indexed annually, and the taxe d'habitation on second homes—in "tense zones" like Paris and the French Riviera, municipalities add surcharges ranging from five to sixty percent. The main tax for large budgets is IFI: wealth tax on a non-resident's French real estate when its net value exceeds €1.3 million. SCI shares are included in the base—the wrapper does not protect against IFI. Rental income for non-residents is taxed at a minimum rate of twenty percent (thirty percent on the portion of income above approximately twenty-nine thousand euros) plus social charges of 17.2%; for those insured in the EEA, charges are reduced to 7.5%. A separate trap for structures: any company in the ownership chain of French real estate pays an annual tax of three percent of market value if it does not disclose its participants through an annual declaration. And regarding rental of energy-inefficient housing: class G has been banned from rental since 2025, class F will be banned from 2028—when buying for rental purposes, DPE is examined before floor plans. ## Structures: SCI and Division of Ownership SCI—société civile immobilière—is the standard family tool, but its purpose is not tax savings but management and inheritance. An apartment registered to an SCI is converted into shares: the deadlock of indivisible ownership among heirs disappears, shares can be gifted to children gradually—one hundred thousand euros per child every fifteen years tax-free—while parents retain control through manager status. Important caveat: an SCI under the standard tax regime cannot systematically rent furnished housing—this is commercial activity that subjects the company to corporate tax. The second classic technique is démembrement: parents retain usufruct for themselves, gifting bare ownership to children. Upon death, the usufruct extinguishes without tax, and children automatically become full owners. For furnished rentals, the LMNP regime exists, but its golden years are behind it: from 2025, accumulated depreciation is recaptured into the tax base upon sale. ## Exit and Inheritance Upon sale, a non-resident pays nineteen percent tax plus 17.2% social charges on capital gains, and on gains exceeding fifty thousand euros—an additional surtax of two to six percent. Time works in the seller's favor: after twenty-two years of ownership, the tax is extinguished; after thirty years, social charges as well. A seller from outside the EU with a price above one hundred fifty thousand euros must hire an accredited fiscal representative—this adds approximately half a percent to one percent in costs. Inheritance is the most French part of the story. A non-resident's French apartment is subject to French inheritance tax: on direct line, progression up to forty-five percent after a deduction of one hundred thousand euros per child; spouses are exempt. The forced heirship portion—réserve héréditaire—protects children even against a will, and since 2021 there has been compensatory clawback from French assets if the applicable foreign law does not recognize forced heirship. SCI shares are legally considered movable property, which simplifies administration and gifting, but does not avoid French inheritance tax. The double taxation treaty between France and Russia has been suspended by both parties in its operational part since August 2023—double taxation of rental income and capital gains is now resolved only by the internal rules of each country. > 🔗 **Related** > [Hub: Buying Property Abroad](https://wiki.private.law/en/foreign-real-estate-purchase) · [Inheritance in France: réserve héréditaire](https://wiki.private.law/en/france-intestate-succession) · [Forced Heirship](https://wiki.private.law/en/forced-heirship) > 🍓 The French rule: first the inheritance plan—SCI, démembrement, will with choice of law—and only then signature on the compromis. Restructuring after purchase is expensive: each re-registration means new registration fees. This material is for informational purposes and does not constitute individual legal advice. --- ## Factual claims - Upon sale, a non-resident pays nineteen percent tax plus 17.2% social charges on capital gains, and on gains exceeding fifty thousand euros—an additional surtax of two to six percent.