COPY LINK

For members

SECOND HOMES

CALCULATOR: How to work out your 90-day allowance in France

If you're visiting France and you're not a citizen of an EU country, your visits may be limited by the '90 day rule' - here's how it works, who is affected and how to calculate your trips so that you don't overstay your allowance.

Published: 19 April 2022 12:15 CEST
Updated: 15 May 2022 06:44 CEST

CALCULATOR: How to work out your 90-day allowance in France

Photo by Eduardo Soteras / AFP

Who?

If you have the passport of an EU country – including dual nationality – you are not covered by the 90-day rule and are free to come and go from France as you please.

Non-EU citizens fall into two categories – those covered by the 90-day allowance and those who are not.

Citizens of certain countries, including India, need a visa for any visit to France, even just a long weekend, but other countries allow up to 90 days of travel without the need for a visa.

Brits, Americans, Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders are all covered by the 90-day allowance – find the full list here.

Blue marks the EU/Schengen zone, green is countries covered by the 90-day rule and citizens of red countries require a visa even for a short trip. Map: European Commission

What?

The 90-day rule states that you can spend 90 days out of every 180 in the EU or Schengen zone without needing to get a visa or residency card.

The allowance is for the whole Schengen zone, so if you’re travelling to multiple European countries your tally is for all the days you have spent within the Bloc.

For example, if you spent 85 days in France and then travelled to Spain for a fortnight, that would take you over your 90-day allowance because both France and Spain are Schengen zone countries.

The allowance means that in total over the course of a year you can spend 180 days in the EU/Schengen zone without needing a visa – but the crucial point is that your 180 days cannot be all in a single block.

This means that, for example, you can’t spend the summer in France and the winter in the UK, or vice versa.

How?

So – the crucial bit – how do you go about calculating your allowance?

The people most likely to be affected by this are second-home owners and freelance workers or contractors who make multiple short work trips to the EU.

If you travel for work, it’s important to note that your 90-day allowance covers all trips for all reasons – so you need to add in any European holidays as well as work trips to your total.

It’s when you’re making a series of short trips that things can get complicated, because the 90-day rule is calculated on a rolling calendar, so that at any point of the year you need to be able to count backwards by 180 days, and have only spent 90 of those days in the Schengen zone.

You also need to be aware that any time spent in the Schengen zone counts as one day – so even one-hour stopovers take one day off your allowance.

The easiest way to keep on top of this is to keep a diary (paper or electronic) with your travel days marked in it, and then use the online Schengen calculator to check that you’re within your allowances.

Short stays and stopovers can add up more quickly than you might think.

The online Schengen calculator can be found HERE – simply input your travel dates and it will tell you how many days you have left.

What if you have a visa?

People who want to spend more than 90 days at a time in France have two options – get a visa or move here full-time and get a residency card.

Visa – for second-home owners the 6-month visitor visa is a popular option. This allows you to keep your main residence in your home country, but spend plenty of time at your place in France.

For the dates when your visa is valid, your trips to France do not count towards your 90 day allowance – but trips to any other EU/Schengen zone country still count towards that 90-day allowance. Once your visa runs out, the 90-day clock starts again, unless your get a new visa – more details here.

Residency – if you take up permanent residency in France any time spent in France obviously does not count towards your 90 days. However, it’s worth pointing out that you are still bound by the 90-day rule when travelling to other EU/Schengen zone countries – full details here.

Overstaying

Many readers, especially Brits who were previously in the happy position of not having to worry about calculating 90 days, have asked us whether they really need to go through all this hassle.

The unfortunate answer is yes – passports are checked regularly as you enter and leave the Schengen zone, and upcoming technical changes mean this will only get stricter.

People who spend more than 90 days at a time in the Schegen zone without having a visa are classed as overstayers, and passports are likely to be stamped or flagged.

Overstaying is usually punished by a fine, but having that ‘overstay’ on your passport also means that future travel is likely to be a lot more difficult, and you may also have trouble with any future visa applications.

People who travel for work should note that keeping track of your 90 days is your personal responsibility, not your employers’. It seems that many UK employers are still pretty clueless about post-Brexit changes, so don’t rely on your company’s HR department to calculate your allowance.

At present passport checking and stamping at the border is varied and variable, but changes to EU travel coming in later this year will mean that the process becomes more automated, and overstayers will have nowhere to hide.

Member comments

Become a Member to leave a comment.

Are Australian pensions taxed in France?

The situation for Australians can be particularly confusing, largely due to the fact that Australia and France do not have a bilateral social security agreement (though there is an income tax treaty).

Before going any further, it is worth noting that this article is meant to give an overview of the pensions situation for those with Australian pensions in France. It does not replace professional financial advice, and Australians looking to retire in France should seek out expert financial assistance before making any decisions about their pension.

The first step is to determine whether or not you are a tax resident in France (you can look through our guide). All tax residents must fill out a yearly tax declaration, and they must report all global income, even if it is not subject to tax in France.

Where is my pension taxed?

As for pensions, let’s start off with the basics – if you receive a civil service pension from the government of Australia – meaning you were a federal or state public worker, then that pension is only taxed in Australia and it will not be taxable in France, though you will have to declare it along with all global income, although this could count towards your household income which can push you into a higher tax bracket.

As for all other pensions – these are considered taxable in France.

If you have a pension from another country besides Australia, different rules may apply based on that country’s bilateral tax treaty with France. Here is the situation for British, American, and Canadian pensions, and here is an overview of the system.

Age pension

There is a big catch for Australians – the lack of a social security agreement means that Australians living in France may not be able to claim their Age Pension (assuming they qualify based on income constraints).

While you can be an Australian living in Austria, Belgium, Chile, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Spain or Estonia, among others, and still claim your Age Pension, this is not the case in France.

What’s crucial here is when you move – if you start receiving your old-age pension and then you move to France, then you may be able to continue claiming the pension. If, however, you move to France before you reach pension age, then you will not be able to claim it unless you move back.

A spokesperson for the Australian government told The Local in a previous interview: “To be eligible for Age Pension, a person must generally be an Australian resident and be in Australia at the time the claim is lodged, or in a country with which there is an International Social Security Agreement in place.”

There is no such agreement with France. And, despite the efforts of some of the thousands of Australians living in France to get politicians in both countries to act, there appears to be little urgency to change the situation, which means it could be some time yet before we are able to give you any good news on the pension front.

There are groups pushing for a social security agreement, such as the Facebook group ‘Australian Pensions in France’, which can also be a helpful place to connect with other Australians navigating tax complexities between the two countries.

What about superannuation plans?

The next complex area is the ‘superannuation’. While withdrawals from a ‘super’ can be accessed after becoming a resident in France, there are tax implications to be aware of.

The Local spoke with Martine Joly, chartered accountant and tax agent from Bilateral Solutions, who has experience working in both the Australian and French tax systems.

Joly explained that the challenge is that “the two systems are totally opposite. In Australia, pensions are done by capitalisation, with your employer paying into the superannuation.”

In Australia, the contributions were taxed when being deposited, so they are meant to be tax-free upon distribution.

Manual widget for ML (class=”ml-manual-widget-container”)

However, France does not recognise this, so ‘super’ withdrawals are subject to tax here, even though in theory they have already been taxed in Australia.

To make matters more complicated, there are several different ways superannuation plans can be organised, but for the most part French fiscal authorities treat them as trusts.

This means that you may have additional reporting requirements each year, in addition to your annual French tax declaration, such as the “FORMULAIRE N°2181-TRUST2” which asks for the market value, as well as any accrued income, of the trust as of January 1st of that year.

If you are required to do this, then you will also have to name other people listed in the trust – whether they are ‘moral’ or ‘physical’ people. You will be required to give extensive information, including their dates of birth and addresses.

On top of that, you would also have to fill out an additional “event” declaration if a trust is created, modified or terminated. This must be done within one month of the event. This tax form is also available on the government tax site: FORMULAIRE N°2181-TRUST1.

How much can I expect to pay?

You will begin to be taxed when you start withdrawing from your super, and the way you are taxed will depend on whether you take payments in the form of an ‘income stream’ (periodic payments) or as a lump sum.

If you take your super as an income stream, even though it is meant to be tax-free in Australia, you will still owe tax in France once it begins to be distributed. You would be charged at the progressive marginal (barème) rate for income tax, going all the way up to 45 percent (for the highest earners only).

If you try to avoid paying, be aware that “Australia will inform France”, as Joly explained.

“They communicate well and it will not be lost. So the French will realise if you have not paid any tax, because it is fully taxable in France. You have to declare this pension income,” she said.

As for lump sum payments, whether or not you will owe tax in France depends on when you placed the super into your bank account.

“If you convert the super into a bank account prior to leaving Australia and becoming a tax resident in France, then this is not an income, it is a saving,” Joly said.

As such, you would not owe income tax on it, but you would still need to declare the foreign bank account to French tax authorities.

If you take your lump sum super after moving to France and becoming a tax resident, then you would owe tax here upon distribution.

Beware that lump sums are complex and you should get financial advice before making this decision. Technically, French tax authorities may allow a return of once off pension capital to be taxed at a flat rate of 7.5 percent.

But in reality, anyone seeking to do this would need the express, written confirmation from French tax authorities that this rate will be applied. Similarly, you should be aware that this likely will not be possible if you have already begun drawing from your ‘super’, as the flat rate is often only available if the full amount is taken at once. Again, individual professional advice is highly recommended.

You can also find more information at the French tax website Impots.Gouv.Fr.

Joly pointed out a few other things Australians in France should be aware of – including the possibility you may owe the IFI (Impôt sur la fortune, or wealth tax) which considers whether you have property valued at €1.3 million or above.

“Due to high real estate prices in Australia, people just owning a small apartment in Sydney may not realise they would owe tax on this in France later on,” she said.

You should also keep in mind that Australia’s tax year runs on a different calendar year. France considers the period from January 1st to December 31st, while Australia looks at July 1st to June 30th.

This may make a difference when considering your tax residency.

What about social charges?

Deductions in France come in two types – impôts (taxes) and prélèvements sociaux (social charges).

Australians have reported receiving social charges, in addition to taxes, for their superannuation income. That being said, there are several exemptions to social charges.

For example, if you are not working and your spouse is a recipient of an EU/EEA/UK pension (with an S1 form), then both of you would be exempt from paying the CSM health charge.

As the situation for Australians can be more complicated than nationals of other countries, it is highly recommended to seek expert assistance, particularly from someone who has qualifications in both countries and understands the tax treaty.

SHOW COMMENTS

Url copied to clipboard!