In the United States, when there is ambiguity about a tax law, if enough accountants and people ask about, the IRS will give guidance which then means people will have to, at least from that time forward, act accordingly. For example, when crypto came into its own some years ago, the IRS gave guidance for how to deal with it. That guidance is publicly listed on an official government website so everyone knows.
Just a few days ago, Emma Pearson of The Local wrote a very helpful article sharing new guidance on remote working in France. While I am unclear as to why the French Tax office would choose to “exclusively clarify to The Local” a rather important tax rule, instead of publishing and publicizing it themselves on a government website, we are grateful for Emma’s work regardless, as the guidance is clear.
This is the key quote:
“The French tax authorities (DGFiP) consider that work is carried out in France when it is physically performed from French territory, regardless of the employer or location of the clients. So if you’re an employee or freelancer working for a company based abroad, but physically carrying out your tasks from France, this constitutes work carried out in France for tax purposes.”
Our position at TAIP for many years has been that since we have guided many people through successful visa applications in which a letter from employers stating that the applicant was remote working, that as far as immigration authorities are concerned, remote work in France is legal. That is still our position. The ruling of the tax authorities cannot overrule another equivalent (or possibly higher) department of the government: immigration. A ruling or clarification would still need to come from there.
However, this clarification from the tax authorities makes such visa applications now impractical, as once you get here, the tax authorities play an oversized role in your ability to stay in France. Various attestations, including the P-237 which I had to submit for my French citizenship application, all need to come from them and you want to be in their good graces. You couldn’t be in their good graces in the face of this new clarification.
Practical Effects
What does this mean for you? Here are some scenarios we have considered as of today, when we are officially amending our advice on visitor visa applications:
Current Visitor Working Remotely
Our advice is for you to transition to a Profession Libérale visa, freelancing in the field you already work in. This may be straightforward in some fields. For example, if you are a bookkeeper, you could simply set up a French bookkeeping practice with this visa, and your now-employer could then transition to using a foreign contractor. On the American side, this will be relatively painless, as they don’t have to enter the French labor market. They are simply hiring a foreign freelancer. The tax implications are on the freelancer. You can start working on the paperwork now (we have courses and consultations to assist), and then when renewal comes, you can simply apply for a “change of status” and present your application then.
Hopeful Visitor Who Wanted to Work Remotely
As we noted above, this door is now officially barred so you’ll have to consider Passeport Talent or Profession Libérale as alternatives, and our website is full of advice on both.
Person Who Decides to “Risk It For the Biscuit”
Okay, so you’ve done your own French taxes for years, and you’ve correctly reported your foreign-sourced income. There’s no real way for the tax authorities to know you work remotely, as we’ve always noted (there are no tax authority digital police roaming around, no matter what the Karens say…or believe!). But your long-term future in France doesn’t offer solid possibilities. To get a ten-year card you will need to prove financial anchorage in France, which you can’t do with mostly (or entirely) foreign-sourced income (N.B.: we have seen exceptions to this principle made for retirees). The bar is even higher for citizenship. So, you can potentially get away with this indefinitely, but you’ll be stuck with only ever getting one-year cards forever. Not a pleasant prospect.
Reflections
Other nations like Croatia and Spain have created much more progressive visas in which immigration and the tax authorities work together, so there could never have been any ambiguity about visas because one department considered remote working legal and the other illegal. That’s neither good nor bad, as every country has a right to run itself as it sees fit, but it’s unfortunate for those who would like to live in France but don’t wish to start a business, get into a relationship with a French person, or have the particular set of skills that would lead a French company to pay a one-time bounty + a percentage of every paycheck indefinitely just to hire you when they could hire a European. This ruling from the tax authorities excludes many people from France who would otherwise have come to the country, paid into the economy, possibly learned French, and made friends (and maybe found a spouse).
In a time of global uncertainty, such a stance cannot be considered welcoming from a country that prides itself on hospitality and showcasing its treasures. And why the tax authorities have chosen to effectively speak for French immigration, I’ll never know. However, it’s not our duty to like official rulings, but to comply with them and advise our clients to do so, as we always have here on TAIP.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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Hi Stephen, thanks for this update. The French are always keeping on my toes…
Just today I’m 4 months out from the expiration date of my first visitor visa. I was going to start my renewal application for another year of Visitor status, but now I’m questioning the best way to move forward. I believe I read in your article on applying for Profession Libérale that one cannot switch from Visitor to PL unless they’ve renewed at least once with Visitor status. What would you advise for folks in my situation who may not yet be eligible to apply for PL? Should I just renew as Visitor and prepare to apply for PL in 2026 or take another route?
Heather
Yes, I would advise you just renew as a visitor (since you can’t apply for change after only one year) and then you’ve got a year to plan your PL approach.
Thanks Stephen!
This really is a frustrating turn of events–thank you for writing up this clear and cogent summary! I had two questions:
1. For someone with VLS-TS Visiteur status who has *not yet renewed* their visa, would they still need to wait until the second renewal to apply for the change to Profession Libérale status?
2. Are there known “consequences” for spending that extra (required) year in non-compliant tax circumstances as a remote worker on a Visiteur visa?
Malinda
1. Yes, you always have to renew visitor at least once before switching.
2. No, there are no “consequences” (though digital Karens dream there are). There is no way for France to know you are working remotely. As we say, this is more about preparing for a long-term future in France, which you can’t do if you’re effectively disobeying tax law for years and years.
Thank you so much! This is a really helpful reply that helps me plan.
Hi Stephen,
I also just got the visiteur visa with the plan to set up an entrepreneur/PL visa after spending at least a year their to adjust. Even my lawyer said I could continue working remotely with no issues, so I’m far enough in that I can’t really change the situation but now I’m really worried. I haven’t gotten a place/ lease of my own yet. Is that something that could trigger more scrutiny or eyes on me in terms of taxes/remote income? Would it better to wait to do that after I switch to another visa?
It’s harder to get an apartment as a freelancer so I feel stuck.
Sky
Don’t get really worried. The Karens are trying to scare you. If you’d like some help moving forward in some way, we might be able to help via a consultation.
https://theamericaninparis.com/contact/
Hi guys- I have my appointment on the 17th next month and am in a total panic. I followed the exact procedure you guys have vouched for here- disclosed my job and income, letter from my employer and a French guarantor…I am at such a loss right now..Where do I go from here? Is there a loophole? Should I even go to the appointment in July?
Thank you guys a million!
Peyton
Peyton
You’re one of those people caught in the middle. You could request to change your appointment type and do a different visa classification instead, but I wouldn’t rush it and would go for August instead.
Don’t panic! There’s a path for you; we just have to figure out what it is. Feel free to use the contact us form to reach out.
Hi, I just happened upon this website. Maybe you can help me with some confusion. My husband (German age 43) and I (American age 38) plan to move to Paris for 6 months. Neither of us will be working, basically just a long vacation and to learn French. Do I need long-term visa BEFORE i enter France? I have read so many contradictory answers. Even the official French sites are confusing. Any help from you would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Christine
As an American citizen, even as the spouse of an EU citizen, you need some kind of visa to stay longer than 90 days every 180 days. So I would get a non-renewable visitor visa to cut down on the paperwork as opposed to the vie privee you are entitled to but don’t need for such a short stay.
Forget the contradictory answers and come here for the real beef. 🙂
Love this blog and thank you for helpful guidance.
Question for you – if someone applies and gets Profession Libérale visa, and if they lose their remote work during residency renewal process, are there any options to avoid rejection? Can someone claim passive income to substitute remote work or would a person be required to apply for a brand new VLS-TS visa?
Serge
You are misunderstanding how the PL visa works. It is a license for you to freelance, not for you to get a remote job. If you don’t have any freelancing clients when it comes time for renewal, you will get rejected. A rejection of a renewal for a PL visa will have a negative effect on future visa approvals. It may not prevent you from getting a visa, but it will not be looked at favorably.
Again, PL is not a license for you to get a remote job, but a license for you to freelance. You could ostensibly freelance for another company, but you should not look at the PL visa as a way to get a remote job. That’s not what the visa is intended for and you will fail in your application and almost certainly fail in your renewal if you choose to go this way.
We have consultations to help you reframe this. Feel free to use the contact us form.
Hi Stephen, Thanks, as always, for taking the time to help us all understand the inner workings of French Bureaucracy! I entered France on a VLS-TS visitor visa end of March, and am currently in the process of submitting my application for l’Assurance Maladie — would I still select “no professional activity,” or would I select “Professional activity” and specify that it is with a US Company, remotely, with US clients? It seems that now that they consider any work done while my butt is in France “professional activity,” that I would select that, but as I understand it, if I were employed by a French company, they would be doing this process for me, etc. Am I understanding this correctly?
Sarah
I think select no professional activity in France for now and you’ll get your card. As a rule, do not give the French more information than they are asking for nor information they are not expecting to receive (“I work professionally, but remotely for an American company”). For purposes of your specific case, just act in the rubric of status quo ante and then figure out long-term what you want to do regarding your visa.
Hello! Funny how life works, huh? I just applied for my au pair visa on June 30th but did not find out about this new law until today (July 9th). What I cannot figure out for the life of me: can Americans with a French AU PAIR visa work remotely for an American company? Part of my confusion is not being able to figure out if an au pair visa and “visitor” visa are the same thing. If it matters, I would still have a US address.
Carrie
Because the au pair visa implies a right to “work” I think you can safely work remotely and not worry. The au pair visa and visitor visa are NOT the same thing.
My visa service sent me the following today when I asked about this new news by The Local:
Yes, we have heard this concern recently, and I would like to reassure you:
we have received official confirmation from the French prefecture and the French consulate in London that remote work is still permitted with a VLS-TS, provided that all other visa conditions are met (in particular, not working for a French employer or generating income from a French company and having no impact on the French market).
Adam
We acknowledged this in this article that you may still be able to get a visa, but the French immigration authorities do not control tax policy and there is clearly some internal battle going on here. This represents a new stage in which the previous ambiguity no longer exists. You may get a visa and maintain one for years without detection, but if you plan for a future in France with either the ten-year card or citizenship, you won’t have the tax records to make your case.
Hi there,
I am a retiree with a pension (from my former work as a federal employee, not from social security).
I won’t be working in France or earning income from a French source at all.
If I want to aim for eventual naturalization, will this be a negative strike against me?
I plan to live in France longer than 183 days/year, thus would of course become a tax resident there.
Would it be best to pay French taxes and claim credit on my US taxes, in order to demonstrate that I am on board with being a permanent and stable resident in France?
As always, thank you for all the work you do keeping up with all these complicated matters.
Heidi
Heidi
It would seem that retirees play by a different set of rules when it comes to the financial anchorage in France situation. Some also age out of the language requirement. We will probably have a future article that deals with this subgroup.
Hi Stephen,
Thank you for that answer. That would be super helpful to see a future article about this, as it totally makes sense there would be different rules for those of us who aren’t working, but need/want to demonstrate that we intend to make France our permanent home.
As always, thank you for the work you do. I’ve learned so much!
Take care,
Heidi
Let’s pretend that some (or perhaps just one) of your readers are particularly dense. What is the exact feared contradiction?
This recent statement seems clear that the Tax Authority views remote work as professional activity in France, and therefore expects anyone working remotely in France to pay taxes on even remotely earned income while the reside in France.
But the immigration office states that remote work for a company without France economic activity is still compliant with the rules of living there on a Long Stay Visitor visa.
As long as you were to file (and potentially pay) appropriate income taxes in France, where is the issue. It would seem you would be complying with the requirements and expectations of both government offices.
John
You cannot file and pay income taxes on work in France on a visitor visa without violating the primary rule of the visitor visa “don’t work in France.”
Let me repeat the main point of the article: If you want to continue on remote working on a visitor visa for the rest of your life, that’s fine. The only consequence is that you’ll never be eligible for a ten-year card or citizenship, because the way you file your taxes will not demonstrate financial anchorage in France (retirees are excepted from this). If you don’t want either of those things, no change!
How exactly would you file your taxes in this case? Report the income as taxes already paid (like you would for rental income etc)? I’m considering coming with a visitor’s visa to start, and eventually switching to talent passport or something like that (spending that first year getting set up). But would like to comply the first year under the visitor visa tax wise.
Griff
You cannot switch out of visitor visa in the first year. You must renew at least once.
Here’s a post on taxes: https://theamericaninparis.com/2024/11/07/us-taxes-for-americans-living-in-france/
If you have non-French income it just shows up as a single line item on your French return, so not much to do there. If you have French rental income, that gets entered on your French return and is completely legal on a visitor visa (rental income is not defined as “working in France”).
Nice thank you for the info. That’s a good article. You don’t happen to have one for the French side of things? So any income freelance, rental, w2 that’s us based just gets balled up into the one line item? That was my original understanding, but I haven’t dug into the forms yet.
Griff
You already filed a US tax return and paid taxes, it would be redundant and pointless for the French to have you duplicate that return for them, with various line items, especially since they have different tax laws.
One line item that corresponds to your US AGI (and any other foreign sourced income from other countries you have assets/properties/income in).
Do you have an article or anything else that talks about how the authorities assess financial anchorage in France? I am in the exact situation you mention about remote work, and I am struggling to understand this part. For example, if we bought a house does this help our case? If we are generating passive income from renting out property and paying taxes on this, but still have mostly foreign income, does this help?
Hello There,
My partner and I are interested in better understanding the visa options available to us before starting the application process.
My children and I are EU citizens (Dutch) and are interested in relocating to France with my husband, a US citizen. My husband plans on working remotely as a contractor (through his company based in the US). We’re not yet sure how long we’ll be in France but are committed to giving longer term residency a shot, including buying a house (and for me and the kids getting a carte de sejour), and, of course, filing taxes (and paying, where necessary). My husband does not necessarily foresee getting French citizenship, but we want to be able to be part of society while we are there, including the health care and schooling system.
1) What visa would you recommend going with–and how might that affect my husband’s longer term employment opportunities, including potentially contracting for French clients?
Thank you.
Amanda
Your husband has a sort of golden ticket; being married to an EU citizen means he acquires rights to work and reside. He just needs to put in the paperwork. He will do vie privee. Learn more here: https://theamericaninparis.com/2021/01/04/how-to-get-a-vie-privee-et-familiale-vpf-visa/
Thank you for this super helpful article! Could you offer a clarification, I have been in France for 3 years on a VLS-TS with my minor children also in France. I took a position working remotely for a US company. Do I pay taxes in France too, or only declare my income? Can I continue to apply for a VLS-TS each year ?
Tonya you need to file taxes in France, whether you pay will depend on what your financial situation is; for example, perhaps you have a real estate investment in France and will have to pay taxes on that. You do have to pay taxes on worldwide income, but that can be offset by a tax treaty. Learn more here: https://theamericaninparis.com/2018/06/13/taxes-encore/
Thanks for this helpful article, Stephen. I’d love to pose a question: I’m on a vie privée visa (husband is French), and hoping to start a new job soon as a contractor for a US-based company. I’m used to filing taxes in both France and the US (former employee at a large French company on an ex-pat contract), but I wonder if there are any big tax ‘watch-outs’ in regards to this change in employment? Many thanks for sharing your expertise.
Hi Emily, we don’t typically answer specific tax questions as they are out of our depth! Any of our trusted accountants would be happy to help: https://theamericaninparis.com/our-accountant-recommendations/. Though, if you’re on VPF you don’t have to worry about any of the concerns outlined in this article.
Hi Stephen & Molli & Team,
No online work is an unfortunate thing, but I want to make sure and abide by the rules, so I am no longer planning any work from France. If the rules change in the future, I’ll revist, but for now, I’m coming sans work keyboard.
I apply for my VLS-TS this weekend, and will provide my retirement documentation, including the “no work” attestation.
My last day at work will be early to mid-April (2026) and I’ll arrive in France on May 15. If possible, I would like to use my vacation time spread over the next two months (April to mid-July)after I’m in France instead of receiving in a lump sum.
Would accrued vacation from previous employment be acceptable since I wouldn’t be working in any capacity and it was for wages previously earned? Ideally, I would spread the wages out until mid-July, but I’d rather lump sum it than cause trouble.
Thanks for any guidance, elle
Elle
There is no legal or moral right to report your accrued vacation wages to the French. You can comfortably attest to “no work.”
Hello,
I am currently in France under a temporary visitor status and will be returning to the United States to apply for a VLS-TS Visiteur visa.
I would appreciate clarification regarding the financial section of the application. I am financially independent and fully able to support myself during my stay in France without seeking employment there. A portion of my income is derived from a U.S.-based company for whom I perform remote services exclusively for U.S. clients. This income represents only part of my overall financial resources, and I will not engage in any professional activity in France.
For purposes of the application, would you recommend listing this U.S.-based activity, or should I simply indicate that I will not be working in France and provide proof of sufficient independent financial means?
My intention is to fully comply with the conditions of the VLS-TS Visiteur status. I ask for clarification to ensure that my application is completed correctly, as my stay in France is primarily to support a sibling experiencing health challenges.
Thanks so much
Jerome since the French are primarily concerned with whether you have enough money to stay in France, just show that financial independence. No need to mention your work.
If you plan to stay in France for more than 12 months, be aware that you are going to become a fiscal resident of France and will have to file taxes. See our articles on the site for more clarity on this.