When it comes to managing your finances in France, knowing what the rules are is essential. From tax to pensions, savings and investments and more, we look at the most common questions asked by expats.
The process of gifting in France
Question: I want to make a gift of cash of £20,000 to my son who lives in the UK. Will I be taxed on this in France as I am tax resident here.
Answer: You can certainly provide a gift to your son. There is a ‘don exceptionel’ allowance of €31,865 for each child from each parent. It’s a one off gift and must be declared in France using form 2731 (available from your local tax office). If you want to gift more than that you could use the parent to child allowance of €100,000 – however should you die withing 15 years of the gift being made, it will form part of your estate and be taxable. (please note amounts may be updated and must be checked).
Question: We want to give our grandchildren some funds to help with university. Do we have to declare it?
Answer: You can use the €31,865 allowance, but recipients must be over 18 and you must be under 80 at the time of the gift and as stated above, it must be declared.
Question: We want a way of putting funds aside for our children for when they are adults but don’t want them to be able to touch the money. What do you suggest?
Answer: There are junior livret accounts available from most banks (aged 0-11 and 11-25) where the parent would open the account on behalf of the child. This is a cash deposit account and is suitable for small regular contributions.
If you have a lump sum to invest then you could consider an assurance vie. This is set up like a guardian policy where the parent has signing authority on the account until the child become of age. This is much more tax efficient and of course offer an opportunity for greater growth potential too.
The information on this page is intended only as an introduction only and is not designed to offer solutions or advice.
