PEA + assurance-vie
The wrappers themselves are not PFICs; the non-US funds inside them commonly are. We classify each holding and let you elect QEF/MtM/§1291 where applicable.
Convention 1994 · IRS × DGFiP
The US–France tax treaty, for Americans in France.
You already pay French tax at Bercy.
We stitch your 1040 to match it — article by article.
The France-US Convention of 1994, amended by the Protocols of 2004 and 2009, covers dividends, interest, pensions, and capital gains via Form 1116 by default, with Form 8833 disclosure flagged when treaty positions override the default.
Free PFIC scan · Pay to generate the draft package · Mapped Forms 8621 / 8938 / FBAR / 1116 / 8833
This desk covers the treaty only. For French accounts, investments and pensions, see the France country desk.
What we handle for French residents
The three things that bite US citizens in France.
Article 24 credit
Foreign-tax credit on French income tax + CSG/CRDS is computed on Form 1116 — against regular US income tax, not the 3.8% net investment income tax.
CSG / CRDS classification
Generally claimed as creditable foreign income tax since the IRS's 2019 change of position after the Eshel litigation. The credit covers CSG and CRDS; it does not reach the NIIT (Christensen, Fed. Cir. 2026).
Direct answer
Does the US–France treaty mean I do not file a US return?
No. Every US income-tax convention carries a saving clause that lets the United States tax its own citizens and green-card holders as if the treaty had not entered into force, with a short list of exceptions. The 1994 convention with France decides which country taxes an item first and how double taxation is relieved — usually as a credit on the return you still have to file. Three things it does not do:
It does not remove the filing requirement
The saving clause keeps a US citizen in France inside the US system. Relief for French tax arrives on Form 1116 (or, for earned income, Form 2555) — on a return, not instead of one.
It does not decide PFIC status
Whether a French fund or ETF is a passive foreign investment company is a question of US domestic law (IRC §1297), and a treaty does not displace it. A fund inside a local wrapper still reaches Form 8621.
It does not replace the FBAR or Form 8938
The FBAR is a Bank Secrecy Act report to FinCEN and Form 8938 is a return attachment under IRC §6038D; neither is a treaty matter, and France's own foreign-asset filings do not satisfy either.
Filing from France
What the treaty leaves on a return filed from France.
The convention changes how items are taxed; it does not shorten the list of what is reported. A US citizen resident in France typically files:
- Form 1040 on worldwide income, with Schedule B's foreign-account questions answered.
- Form 1116 for the credit on French income tax — or Form 2555 for earned income, where the exclusion is the better fit.
- The FBAR when non-US accounts together exceeded the threshold at any point in the year, and Form 8938 at its own, higher thresholds.
- Form 8621 for each non-US fund, and Form 8833 only where a treaty position overrides the default.
Missed years change the order: the catch-up route comes first, then the current return.
Other treaty desks
Same workflow, different bilateral convention.
SwitzerlandConvention 1996DenmarkConvention 1999ItalyConvention 1999GermanyConvention 1989United KingdomConvention 2001CanadaConvention 1980AustraliaConvention 1982
Not sure which desk applies? Every country desk in one place.
France treaty · FAQ
What US citizens in France ask us most.
- Do I still owe US tax if I already pay impôt in France?#
- Often little or none on salary. The France-US Convention (1994) and the Code let you claim a Foreign Tax Credit on Form 1116 for French income tax — and, since the IRS's 2019 change of position after the Eshel litigation, generally for CSG/CRDS too. Three things the credit does not clear: the 3.8% net investment income tax, which the Federal Circuit held in Christensen v. United States (2026) cannot be offset by the treaty credit; PFIC amounts under §1291; and income the US sources to itself. You still file the return and the credit forms either way.
- Is my PEA or assurance-vie a PFIC?#
- The wrapper itself isn't, but the funds inside a PEA or an assurance-vie unit-linked contract are usually non-US funds — French, Irish or Luxembourg UCITS — which commonly meet the PFIC tests under §1297(a). We classify each holding and let you elect QEF, mark-to-market, or §1291 per fund.
- Is there a 2019 France–US tax treaty?#
- No. The treaty in force is the Convention signed in Paris on 31 August 1994, amended by Protocols signed on 8 December 2004 and 13 January 2009. The 2019 date people remember is the IRS's change of position on CSG and CRDS, not a new treaty.
- When do I need Form 8833 as a US citizen in France?#
- Only when you take a treaty position that overrides the default tax treatment — for example, treating a pension under a specific article rather than the default Form 1116 credit. The default dividend/interest/gain treatment runs through Form 1116 and needs no 8833; we flag the override cases automatically.
Authorities cited
- US–France Income Tax Treaty — Convention between the United States and France (signed 1994), as amended by the 2004 and 2009 Protocols
- U.S.–France Totalization Agreement — U.S.–France Social Security (Totalization) Agreement
- IRS Form 1116 — About Form 1116 — Foreign Tax Credit (Individual, Estate, or Trust)
- IRS Form 8833 — About Form 8833 — Treaty-Based Return Position Disclosure Under Section 6114 or 7701(b)
- IRS Form 8621 — About Form 8621 — Information Return by a Shareholder of a PFIC or QEF
- Christensen v. United States (Fed. Cir. 2026) — Christensen v. United States, No. 24-1284 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 31, 2026) (precedential) — the U.S.–France treaty's Article 24(2)(a) and 24(2)(b) credits are subject to the Code's §§27/901(a) limitation and do not offset the §1411 net investment income tax; reversing 168 Fed. Cl. 263 (2023)
Primary sources (Cornell Legal Information Institute for the US Code and CFR; IRS.gov for forms, procedures, and treaty documents). This page is general information, not individualized tax or legal advice.
France guides that go deeper
- Assurance-vie and US tax: France's default savings product, and its least settled US questionAlmost every French adult is sold one. For a US citizen it raises two hard questions at once — what the contract is for US purposes, and what the unités de compte inside it are.Read guide →
- The PEA and US tax: a wrapper whose eligibility rules guarantee the problemA PEA has to hold European securities. For a US citizen that is precisely the population most likely to be PFICs — the account's own rules push you into them.Read guide →
- Investment tax for Americans in France: the PEA, the assurance-vie, the ETFs and the 3.8%One page for a US citizen in France who holds French products: which US forms each one raises, which funds are PFICs, what the French tax you paid does and does not offset, and how Atamatax prepares it.Read guide →
- Do Americans in France pay the net investment income tax?Yes, once MAGI passes the threshold — and the French flat tax you already paid does not reduce it. The PEA, the assurance-vie, the CTO and the Livret A, one by one, against 3.8%.Read guide →
- PFICs in France: SICAV, FCP, UCITS ETF and the Form 8621 each one bringsWhy nearly every fund a French bank or broker sells is a passive foreign investment company for a US person, which French products hold them, and how the regime you choose sets the income the NIIT reaches.Read guide →
- FBAR for Americans in France: which French accounts count, and the mirror rule France runsThe compte courant, the livrets, the PEA, the CTO, the assurance-vie, the PER — all of them toward the $10,000 combined peak, filed with FinCEN, separately from the return. And France asks the same question in reverse.Read guide →
Atamatax · run your France return
Free on-screen draft. Pay to generate the PDF package.
Scan your brokerage, see your PFIC count, review the forms with the right France treaty positions attached. You pay when you generate the draft PDF package. It maps supported figures to IRS forms and identifies items you or your CPA still need to complete.
What you walk out with
- · Form 1040 + schedules B, D, 1, 2, 3
- · One Form 8621 per PFIC (up to 25 per return)
- · Form 8938 (FATCA) when thresholds hit
- · FinCEN 114 (FBAR) threshold check and separate-filing guidance
- · Form 1116 with France tax credit allocated
- · Form 8833 when you take a treaty position