French income tax for Australians: withholding, your first paper return and the treaty

Tax comes out of your French pay automatically, but France still expects a return every spring, and your first one goes in on paper.

The short version

• France has withheld income tax at source (prélèvement à la source) since 2019. Withholding is not the end of it: every tax resident files an annual return [2][3].
• Your first return is filed on paper (form 2042), even if you already have a tax number. After that, you file online [3].
• In 2026, paper returns for 2025 income were due by 19 May and online returns for Paris by 4 June [4]. Expect similar dates in spring 2027.
• Australian bank accounts must be declared each year on form 3916. The fine is €1,500 per undeclared account [5].
• The Australia–France tax treaty decides where income is taxed and how double tax is relieved [1]. There is no Australia–France social security agreement [6][7].

How French income tax works

The French system feels upside down to most Australians. You are taxed as a household (foyer fiscal), not as an individual, and the year runs January to December, not July to June.

Withholding at source

Your employer deducts tax from every payslip at a rate set by the tax office. The rate and the amount withheld appear on the payslip, under the line net à payer avant impôt [8]. Until the tax office knows you, your employer applies a default rate from an official grid based only on your salary. That default can be too high or too low, especially if you have a partner with no French income or other income on the side.

Once you've filed your first return, the tax office calculates a personal rate. You can see and adjust it in your online space on impots.gouv.fr.

The household and its parts

French tax is worked out on the household's income divided by a number of "parts". A single person has one part. A married or PACS couple file together and share two parts, and children add more. The tax on one part is then multiplied back up. For couples with very different incomes this can cut the bill noticeably, which is one of the few times French tax is kinder than the ATO.

The 2026 rates

The scale below applies to 2025 income declared in 2026, per part, after the Finance Law of 19 February 2026 raised the bands by 0.9% [2].

Social levies (CSG and CRDS) come on top and are mostly deducted on your payslip. They're listed as taxes covered by the treaty [1].

Your first declaration, step by step

You owe a return for the year you arrived, covering your worldwide income from the date you became a French tax resident. Arrive in Paris in September 2026 and your first return, lodged in spring 2027, covers September to December 2026.

According to Université PSL's 2026 guide for international staff, the first return must be on paper, whether or not you already have a numéro fiscal [3]. Here's the routine:

1. Get form 2042. It's on impots.gouv.fr and at any tax office. Add annex forms for other income and form 3916 for foreign accounts.
2. Gather your documents. PSL lists a copy of your passport and residence permit, proof of address (your lease), your French RIB, your last payslip, and marriage or PACS papers if relevant [3].
3. Fill in your address on 1 January. That decides which local tax office (service des impôts des particuliers) handles you [3].
4. Give your arrival date. Add it in a short covering note or email so the office knows the year is partial [3].
5. Lodge it. If you have an online account, use its secure messaging; if not, some offices accept email, otherwise drop it in the office letterbox or send it by registered post (lettre recommandée) [3].
6. Wait for your tax number and online access. Once you have them, every later return is filed online.
7. Check your notice (avis d'imposition) in late summer. It reconciles what was withheld against what you owe, and it doubles as proof of income for renting and visa renewals.

2026 deadlines

Late filing brings surcharges, so don't sit on it. If your paper return is stuck, call or visit your tax office rather than letting the deadline slide.

Declaring your Australian accounts and super

This is where Australians get caught. France wants to know about every account you hold outside France, every year.

Form 3916

Form 3916 covers bank accounts and digital asset accounts opened outside France, and life insurance or similar placements taken out abroad [5]. Your CommBank everyday account, a dusty ING savings account and an Australian crypto exchange account all count. Closed during the year? Still declare it for that year.

The penalties are steep [5]:

Interest and dividends from home

If you keep savings in Australia, the interest and dividends go on your French return as foreign income. Tell your Australian bank you're a non-resident so it applies non-resident withholding instead of asking for a TFN. Under the treaty, France then gives you a credit for the Australian tax on interest and dividends, capped at the French tax on that income [1].

Super

The treaty says pensions and annuities paid to a resident are taxed only where that person lives [1]. Beyond that, how France treats an Australian super balance, its growth and any lump sum is not set out in one simple official rule. Form 3916 doesn't mention retirement funds by name [5], so ask your tax office or a cross-border adviser whether your fund needs reporting. Don't guess with a five- or six-figure balance.

The Australia–France tax treaty

Australia and France signed their current tax convention in Paris on 20 June 2006. It replaced the 1976 agreement [1]. The points that matter most to Australians in Paris:

• Residence tie-breaker (Article 4). If both countries treat you as resident, the treaty looks at your permanent home, then your centre of vital interests, then nationality [1].
• Salaries (Article 14). Pay for work done in France is taxable in France. Pay for work done in Australia can be taxed there [1].
• Business profits (Article 7). Taxed where you're resident unless you have a permanent establishment in the other country [1].
• Pensions (Article 17). Taxed in the country where you live [1].
• Relief (Article 23). Australia credits French tax against Australian tax. France gives either a credit equal to the French tax on the income, or a credit for the Australian tax capped at the French tax, depending on the type of income [1].

The treaty only helps if you know your Australian residency status. Many people who move to Paris for the long haul become Australian non-residents, but it's a facts-and-circumstances test. Sort it out with the ATO before your first Australian return after the move.

What doesn't carry over: social security

There is no social security agreement between Australia and France. Smartraveller also confirms there is no reciprocal healthcare agreement [6]. France isn't on the ATO's list of countries with a bilateral social security agreement, so an Australian employer sending you to Paris can't get a certificate of coverage to keep you in the Australian system [7]. A question to the French parliament in April 2024 noted no agreement had ever been concluded and asked for talks to restart [9].

In practice:

• French social contributions come out of your pay whatever your nationality.
• Years paying into the French system don't count towards the Australian Age Pension residence test, and Australian residence doesn't count towards French pensions.
• Your French pension rights stay with the French schemes. Keep every payslip and your annual statements.

Planning your first French return? Ask in Cooee France, our Facebook group for Australians in France. Members swap notes on which Paris tax offices accept email and how long the first tax number took.

Sources

1. Tax Laws Amendment (2006 Measures No. 3) Act, Schedule 1: Australia–France Convention – ATO legal database
2. Barème de l'impôt sur le revenu 2026 – Service-Public.gouv.fr
3. Tax declaration guide for international staff (2026) – Université PSL
4. Déclaration de revenus 2026 : date limite dans votre département – Service-Public.gouv.fr
5. Notice 3916 / 3916-bis: comptes et contrats à l'étranger – impots.gouv.fr
6. France travel advice – Smartraveller (Australian Government)
7. Bilateral social security agreements – Australian Taxation Office
8. Bulletin de paie – Service-Public.gouv.fr
9. Question écrite n° 17394: accord de sécurité sociale France–Australie – Assemblée nationale

Keep reading

• Working in Paris: CDI, CDD, the 35 hours and your payslip
• Opening a French bank account: the RIB and the right to an account
• Freelancing in France: the micro-entrepreneur regime for Australians
• Australian tax residency after you move