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France tax residency: 6 months, home and work tests

Tax days · EuropeChecked Updated

France 6 months

Tax days
6months in the year, plus home, work and money tests

As a general rule, more than six months in France in a year makes it your main place of stay.1

Tests
France treats you as tax-domiciled there if you have your home or main place of stay there, work there other than as a side activity, or have your economic interests there.234
Home
Your home is where you normally live, and it stays your home if work takes you away for most of the year while your family keeps living there.56
Not absolute
Six months is a general rule, not an absolute test: the stay can still count when your days in France clearly exceed your days in any other country.7
Work
Work in France counts unless you show it is a side activity. With several activities, the main one is where you spend the most actual time.48
Money
Your centre of economic interests is where you made your main investments, keep the seat of your business and manage your assets from.9
Move year
In the year you acquire a domicile in France or move it abroad, the six-month rule is not used.10
At the line
Taxpayers domiciled in France are taxed on all their income, French or foreign, subject to tax treaties.1112

Questions people ask

Is there a 183-day rule for tax residency in France?

As a general rule, more than six months in France in a year makes it your main place of stay.1 Six months is a general rule, not an absolute test: the stay can still count when your days in France clearly exceed your days in any other country.7 France treats you as tax-domiciled there if you have your home or main place of stay there, work there other than as a side activity, or have your economic interests there.234

Can I be French tax resident with fewer than six months in France?

France treats you as tax-domiciled there if you have your home or main place of stay there, work there other than as a side activity, or have your economic interests there.234 Six months is a general rule, not an absolute test: the stay can still count when your days in France clearly exceed your days in any other country.7

What is a foyer for French tax?

Your home is where you normally live, and it stays your home if work takes you away for most of the year while your family keeps living there.56

Does France tax my income from abroad?

Taxpayers domiciled in France are taxed on all their income, French or foreign, subject to tax treaties.1112

Sources

12 official pages, each with its exact words
  1. BOFiP BOI-IR-CHAMP-10, § 130 · Direction générale des Finances publiques, BOFiP-Impôts · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words En règle générale, doivent être considérés comme ayant en France le lieu de leur séjour principal les contribuables qui y séjournent pendant plus de six mois au cours d'une année donnée. As a general rule, taxpayers who stay in France for more than six months in a given year are treated as having their main place of stay there.
  2. BOFiP BOI-IR-CHAMP-10, § 10 · Direction générale des Finances publiques, BOFiP-Impôts · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words Sont ainsi considérées comme fiscalement domiciliées en France : The following are treated as tax-domiciled in France: (the list that follows) people who have their home or main place of stay in France, people who work there other than as a side activity, and people who have their centre of economic interests there.
  3. BOFiP BOI-IR-CHAMP-10, § 10 (first test) · Direction générale des Finances publiques, BOFiP-Impôts · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words les personnes qui ont sur le territoire français leur foyer ou le lieu de leur séjour principal, People who have their home (foyer) or their main place of stay in French territory.
  4. BOFiP BOI-IR-CHAMP-10, § 170 · Direction générale des Finances publiques, BOFiP-Impôts · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words doivent être également considérées comme ayant leur domicile en France les personnes qui exercent en France une activité professionnelle, salariée ou non, à moins qu'elles ne justifient que cette activité y est exercée à titre accessoire Persons who carry on a professional activity in France, employed or not, are also treated as domiciled there, unless they show the activity is only secondary.
  5. BOFiP BOI-IR-CHAMP-10, § 100 · Direction générale des Finances publiques, BOFiP-Impôts · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words le foyer s'entend du lieu où les intéressés habitent normalement, c'est-à-dire du lieu de la résidence habituelle, à condition que cette résidence en France ait un caractère permanent. The home (foyer) is the place where the persons normally live, that is, their habitual residence, provided that this residence in France is permanent.
  6. BOFiP BOI-IR-CHAMP-10, § 110 · Direction générale des Finances publiques, BOFiP-Impôts · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words Cette résidence demeure le foyer du contribuable même s'il est amené, en raison des nécessités de sa profession, à séjourner ailleurs temporairement ou pendant la plus grande partie de l'année, dès lors que, normalement, la famille continue d'y habiter That residence remains the taxpayer's home even if work takes them elsewhere temporarily or for most of the year, as long as the family normally keeps living there.
  7. BOFiP BOI-IR-CHAMP-10, § 150 · Direction générale des Finances publiques, BOFiP-Impôts · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words La durée de séjour de plus de six mois au cours d'une même année ne constitue pas un critère absolu. A stay of more than six months in one year is not an absolute criterion.
  8. BOFiP BOI-IR-CHAMP-10, § 220 · Direction générale des Finances publiques, BOFiP-Impôts · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words L'activité principale s'entend de celle à laquelle le contribuable consacre le plus de temps effectif, même si elle ne dégage pas l'essentiel de ses revenus. The main activity is the one to which the taxpayer devotes the most actual time, even if it does not produce most of their income.
  9. BOFiP BOI-IR-CHAMP-10, § 230 · Direction générale des Finances publiques, BOFiP-Impôts · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words Il s'agit du lieu où les contribuables ont effectué leurs principaux investissements, où ils possèdent le siège de leurs affaires, d'où ils administrent leurs biens. It is the place where taxpayers made their main investments, have the seat of their business, and manage their assets from.
  10. BOFiP BOI-IR-CHAMP-10, § 150 (remark) · Direction générale des Finances publiques, BOFiP-Impôts · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words Il n'y a pas lieu de s'attacher à la règle des six mois pour l'imposition des revenus de l'année au cours de laquelle le contribuable acquiert un domicile en France ou, au contraire, transfère son domicile à l'étranger The six-month rule is not used for the year in which a taxpayer acquires a domicile in France or moves it abroad.
  11. BOFiP BOI-IR-CHAMP-10, § 20 · Direction générale des Finances publiques, BOFiP-Impôts · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words les contribuables domiciliés en France sont soumis à une obligation fiscale illimitée et sont imposés dans les conditions de droit commun sur l'ensemble de leurs revenus de source française ou étrangère Taxpayers domiciled in France have an unlimited tax obligation and are taxed under ordinary rules on all their income, from French or foreign sources.
  12. BOFiP BOI-IR-CHAMP-10, § 10 (treaties) · Direction générale des Finances publiques, BOFiP-Impôts · read 26 Oct 2026
    Exact words Les incidences de cette définition se trouvent atténuées par le jeu des conventions fiscales internationales destinées à éviter les doubles impositions The effects of this definition are softened by international tax treaties meant to avoid double taxation.
Checked against Direction générale des Finances publiques, BOFiP-Impôts on 26 Oct 2026 Updated 26 Oct 2026

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