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Yellow vest, fuel price and health pass protests planned in France on Saturday

Dozens of protests against rising energy prices and the health passport are planned in towns and cities across France this weekend.

Published: 22 October 2021 14:56 CEST

A protester wearing a hi-visibility vest holds up a sign reading 'Non au pass sanitaire' during a protest in France

Yellow vests have called for more protests this Saturday. Photo by Thomas Samson / AFP

The ‘yellow vests’ are leading the protests against increasing fuel prices, the cause that started the protests three years ago. A call has gone out for a ‘return to the roundabouts’, the movement’s favoured protest site when their demonstrations began in late 2018.

The first new ‘yellow vests’ protests last week were limited in scope, police said, and authorities do not expect a large increase in the scale of demonstrations this week – despite mounting anger on popular activists’ social media.

The French government on Thursday sought to defuse growing anger about record fuel prices, announcing a price cap on household gas until the end of 2022 and a €100 grant for people struggling with petrol price rises.

READ ALSO When and where to get the cheapest fuel in France

Meanwhile, protests against the health pass are continuing for a 15th successive week, despite falling numbers. From a high of around 250,000 marchers in the summer, 40,000 protested the pass last weekend, according to official figures, compared to 45,000 the weekend before.

The number of protests is also dwindling, police have said that about 60 events are planned across France on Saturday, compared to about 200 at the height of the marches against the pass sanitaire this summer.

Rallies are planned in Paris from 2pm, as well as cities such as Marseille, Lille, Lannion and Amiens. In Strasbourg a ‘Marche blanche et silencieuse’ is planned in support of emergency service workers who lost their jobs for refusing compulsory vaccination.

READ ALSO French MPs agree extension of health pass until July 2022

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Explained: France's exit tax

Like some other European countries, France does have an exit tax for those (French or foreign) who are leaving the country. It’s known by the English name l’Exit tax.

However, it won’t affect most people.

Only those who have been tax resident for a minimum six years of the 10 years immediately before they permanently move out of the country are liable to pay an exit tax – if, that is, they own property, titles or rights worth a minimum of €800,000, or that represent 50 percent of a company’s social profits.

If that affects you, the best advice is to seek expert individual financial advice before moving out of France for good. The relevant page on the French government’s impot.gouv.fr website says it is possible to defer payments, and some relief is available.

Because of the relatively high figures involved, this tax is irrelevant for most people. That said, however, you will still have to inform tax authorities that you are moving out of the country because you may still have income, property and capital gains taxes to pay.

Income tax

You must inform the tax office that you are moving and give them your new address so that your tax declarations can be transferred to your new address.

You are liable for tax on everything you earned in France prior to your departure as well as on any French earnings that are taxable in France under international tax treaties that you earned after your departure.

The year of your departure, you declare your previous year’s earnings as normal – declarations in spring 2024 are for earnings in 2023.

A year later, you will have to declare any earnings taxable in France from January 1st up to the date of your departure, and any French-sourced income taxable source until December 31st of the year of your departure.

If you continue to have any French-sourced income – such as from renting out a French property – you will have to declare that income annually, using the non-residents declaration form.

Property taxes

You will have property taxes to pay if you own a French property on January 1st of any given year – whether it is occupied or not.

Property tax bills come out in the autumn, but they refer to the situation on January 1st of that year, so even if you sell your property you will usually have the pay a final property tax bill the following year.

Moreover, if you receive income from property in France or have rights related to that property (such as shared ownership or stock in property companies), as well as any additional revenue connected to the property, during the year you leave France, you will be required to pay taxes on these earnings.

If any property assets in France exceed €1.3 million on January 1st of a given year, you may also have to pay the wealth tax (IFI).

READ ALSO What is France’s wealth tax and who pays it?

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Capital gains tax

If you sell your French property or share of a French property, you may be liable for capital gains tax at a rate of 19 percent. It will also be subject to social security contributions at the overall rate of 17.2 percent.

Capital gains tax varies depending on how long you have owned the property and whether it was a second home or your main residence.

READ ALSO How much capital gains tax will I have to pay if I sell my French property?

The good news is, if you move to another EU country, or any country that has a specific tax agreement with France, you may be exempt from capital gains tax for non-resident sellers on the sale of a property that was your principal residence in France.

If you move elsewhere, you may be able to claim exemption on capital gains tax up to €150,000. As always, you should seek expert financial advice.

Tell Social Security

Inform social security that you are leaving France permanently – and return your carte vitale if you have one. If you do not, you may be liable for any benefits you receive to which you are no longer entitled.

More mundane tasks involve informing utility and water companies, your internet provider, if you have one, the phone company, your insurance companies, banks – and La Poste, who will be able to forward your mail for up to 12 months, for a fee…

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