Tax residence in France for Indian taxpayers

France treats you as tax domiciled if any one test is met: your foyer or principal stay, your main professional activity, or your centre of economic interests is in France. Since 2025 French law yields to a treaty that makes you resident elsewhere. India counts days over 1 April – 31 March; Art. 4(2) of the India–France Convention settles dual residence.

Check your status: India and France

Free, no sign-up, about 3 minutes. Conclusion under Indian income-tax law, compared with the law of France and the tax treaty.

When France treats you as a tax resident

France treats you as domiciled if any one of three tests is met: foyer (household) or principal place of stay in France; principal professional activity in France; centre of economic interests in France.

Your family lives in France — that is your foyer, so under art. 4 B CGI you are domiciled in France and taxable there on your worldwide income.
Your principal professional activity is in France (including remote work performed from France for an Indian or other foreign employer) — under art. 4 B 1 b CGI you are domiciled in France.
The centre of your economic interests is in France — under art. 4 B 1 c CGI you are domiciled in France.
With no family, main work or economic centre in France, your principal place of stay decides: more than six months a year in France — you are probably domiciled in France.

When you are a nonresident

None of the art. 4 B CGI tests is met — you are not domiciled in France. French-source income (including pay for work physically done in France) is still taxable there.

Where the rules of France clash with Indian tax rules

Collision: your main work in France is enough for France. For France, carrying on your principal professional activity in France — including remote work from France for an Indian employer — is on its own a ground for domicile, even if your home and family are in India. The conflict is resolved by Art. 4(2) of the India–France Convention: if your only permanent home is in India, you are a resident of India for the treaty, and since 16 Feb 2025 French law then no longer treats you as domiciled in France. Your salary for days physically worked in France can still be taxed in France unless all conditions of Art. 16(2) are met.
Collision: the centre of economic interests is enough for France. If most of your income or investments are in France, France treats you as domiciled there even if you live in India; Indian law has no such test. Art. 4(2) of the Convention decides — permanent home first. Property in France counts only if it produces income (Conseil d'État no. 426124), and French courts must apply the treaty tie-breaker once a residence conflict exists (Cour de cassation no. 19-14.013).
Collision: family in France is a foyer. If your spouse or partner and children live in France, France treats you as domiciled there even if you spend most of the year in India. Under the Convention: if your only permanent home is in India, you are a resident of India for the treaty; if you have a permanent home in both countries, family usually pulls the centre of vital interests to France.

What else to know

Two different tests: days in India, three alternative criteria in France. India counts days in its tax year (1 April – 31 March): 182 days, or 60 days plus 365 days in the four preceding years. France needs only one of three criteria — foyer or principal stay, principal professional activity, or centre of economic interests in France — and taxes by calendar year. You can therefore be resident in both countries without spending most of the year in France.
Since 2025 the treaty expressly prevails in French law. Since 16 Feb 2025 art. 4 B CGI states that a person who is not a resident of France under a tax treaty is not domiciled in France. If the tie-breaker of the India–France Convention (Art. 4(2)) makes you a resident of India, France taxes you only as a non-resident.
Working in France while resident in India: 183 days in the calendar year (Art. 16(2)). If India is your treaty residence, France may tax your pay for work physically done in France unless all conditions of Art. 16(2) are met. The day test is not more than 183 days in aggregate in the relevant «fiscal year» — for French tax, the calendar year (Art. 3(1)(j)); the other conditions concern the employer and who bears the pay. French withholding applies under art. 182 A CGI; India relieves the double tax under Art. 25(1).
How India and France relieve double taxation. If India is your state of residence, India deducts the French income tax from Indian tax, up to the Indian tax attributable to that income (Art. 25(1)); claim it with Form No. 44 (rule 76 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026). If France is your state of residence, Indian income is included in the French base and France gives a credit equal to the French tax on most of it (in effect exemption with progression); for certain listed income such as dividends, interest and royalties the credit equals the Indian tax, capped at the French tax (Art. 25(2)).
Which treaty text applies: the 1992 Convention; 2026 Protocol signed. The India–France Convention of 29 September 1992 (in force since 1 August 1994) applies, with its Protocol. An amending protocol was signed in February 2026; it takes effect only after both countries complete their internal procedures, and the reported changes concern capital gains on shares, the most-favoured-nation clause, fees for technical services, exchange of information and assistance in collection — not the residence or employment articles. Check whether it has entered into force before relying on those provisions.
French impatriate regime (art. 155 B CGI). If you were not tax-domiciled in France in the five calendar years before taking up a job there, the impatriate regime can exempt your impatriation premium (actual amount, or a flat 30% of net pay) and pay for work abroad (capped at 50% of total pay, or 20% for the work-abroad part), plus 50% of certain foreign investment income and gains, until 31 December of the eighth year after you start. There is no nationality condition. The regime lowers French tax only; Indian-source income remains taxable in India under its own rules.
Year of arrival or departure. In the year you arrive in or leave France, the six-month guideline is not applied: France taxes you as a resident only for the period of actual residence. India has no split year: it decides your status for the whole Indian tax year (1 April – 31 March), so the two periods rarely match.

How dual residence is resolved

If both countries treat you as a resident, Art. 4(2) of the treaty applies: Convention between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the French Republic for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital (signed at Paris on 29 September 1992, with Protocol). The tests are applied in order — permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, and finally mutual agreement between the tax authorities.

Terms you will come across in France

domicile fiscal: tax domicile under art. 4 B of the French General Tax Code (CGI)
foyer: the home where your family normally lives
lieu de séjour principal: place of principal stay — as a guideline, more than six months a year
centre des intérêts économiques: centre of economic interests: main investments, business or most of your income
régime des impatriés: impatriate regime of art. 155 B CGI for people recruited from abroad
retenue à la source: French tax withheld at source on salaries of non-residents (art. 182 A CGI)

Questions

Can working remotely from France for an Indian employer make me French resident?

Yes. Your principal professional activity in France is on its own a ground for French domicile. If India also treats you as resident, Art. 4(2) of the India–France Convention decides, starting with where you have a permanent home.

How are the 183 days for salary counted?

Art. 16(2) of the Convention counts days in the relevant fiscal year; for French tax the fiscal year is the calendar year, for Indian tax the previous year (1 April – 31 March).

How does France relieve tax on Indian income if France is my residence?

Indian income is included in the French return and France gives a credit equal to the French tax on most of it — in effect exemption with progression; for certain listed income such as dividends, interest and royalties the credit equals the Indian tax, capped at the French tax (Art. 25(2)).

Sources

Legislation and official guidance

art. 4 A CGI — Individuals domiciled in France for tax purposes pay income tax on their worldwide income; others only on French-source income.
art. 4 B CGI (as amended by art. 83 of Law no. 2025-127 of 14 Feb 2025, in force from 16 Feb 2025) — You are domiciled in France if (a) your foyer (household) or principal place of stay is in France, OR (b) you carry on your principal professional activity in France, OR (c) the centre of your economic interests is in France. One criterion is enough. Since 16 Feb 2025: if you are not a resident of France under a tax treaty, you are not domiciled in France under French law either.
impots.gouv.fr — «Suis-je non-résident fiscal ?» — The foyer is where your spouse or PACS partner and children live, even if you yourself spend most of the year abroad; tax-treaty criteria take precedence.
BOFiP BOI-IR-CHAMP-10-20160728 — Foyer = where the family normally lives; principal place of stay = guideline of more than six months a year, not absolute; principal activity = the one you devote most time to; centre of economic interests = main investments, seat of business, most of your income; one criterion is enough.
art. 164 B CGI — Income from professional activity performed in France is French-source income.
art. 182 A CGI (version from 1 Jul 2026) — French withholding tax applies to French salaries of non-residents: 12% and 20% above set thresholds.
Income-tax Act, 2025, s. 6(1)–(2) — Residential status is determined for each tax year. An individual is resident in India in a tax year if in India for 182 days or more in that year, or for 60 days or more in that year and 365 days or more in the four years preceding it.
Art. 4(2) India–France Convention (1992) — Dual-resident individual: (a) resident of the State in which he has a permanent home available to him; if he has a permanent home in both States, of the State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests); (b) if the centre of vital interests cannot be determined, or if he has not a permanent home available to him in either State, of the State in which he has an habitual abode; (c) habitual abode in both States or in neither — the State of which he is a national; (d) national of both or neither — the competent authorities settle the question by mutual agreement.
Art. 16(2) India–France Convention; Art. 3(1)(j) («fiscal year») — Pay of a resident of one State for employment exercised in the other State is not taxed there if, among other conditions, the employee is present in the other State for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in the relevant «fiscal year». «Fiscal year»: for Indian tax, the «previous year»; for French income tax, the calendar year.
Art. 25 India–France Convention — India (para. 1): deduction from Indian tax of the French income tax paid, not exceeding the Indian tax attributable to that income; income taxable only in France may be included in the Indian tax base with a deduction of the Indian tax attributable to it. France (para. 2(a)): the income India may tax is included in the French base and the beneficiary gets a tax credit against French tax — for certain listed income (such as dividends, interest and royalties) equal to the Indian tax paid, capped at the French tax; for other income equal to the French tax attributable to it, which is thus exempted.
Income-tax Rules, 2026, rule 76; Forms No. 44 and 45 — A resident gets credit for foreign tax in the tax year in which the income is taxed in India; credit is the lower of the Indian tax on that income and the foreign tax, per source and per country; not against interest, fees or penalties; disputed foreign tax only after settlement (Form No. 45, within 6 months of the month of settlement). Form No. 44 with a certificate of income and tax and proof of payment, within 12 months from the end of the tax year if the return was filed on time; accountant verification if foreign tax is ₹1,00,000 or more. Conversion at the TT buying rate.
All India Radio (Prasar Bharati), 23.02.2026: India and France sign amending protocol to the DTAC — An amending protocol was signed during the French President's visit to India: capital gains on shares taxable only in the State of residence of the company, deletion of the MFN clause in the Protocol, «fees for technical services» aligned with the India–US treaty, updated exchange of information, new article on assistance in collection. It takes effect only after both countries complete their internal procedures.
art. 155 B CGI — impots.gouv.fr «Le régime des impatriés» — For people who were not tax-domiciled in France in the five calendar years before taking up the job: the impatriation premium (actual, or a flat 30% of net pay on option) and pay for work abroad in the employer's interest are exempt (caps: 50% of total pay overall, or 20% for the work-abroad part), plus a 50% exemption of certain foreign passive income and gains, until 31 December of the eighth calendar year after taking up the job. No nationality condition.
Art. 4(2)(a) India–France Convention (1992) — Resident of the State in which he has a permanent home available to him; if he has a permanent home available to him in both States, resident of the State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests).
Income-tax Act, 2025, s. 159 — The Central Government may enter into agreements for relief from double taxation and avoidance of double taxation; where an agreement applies, the Act applies only to the extent more beneficial to the assessee (s. 159(4)). A non-resident may claim treaty relief only with a certificate of residence from the other country's government and the prescribed documents and information (s. 159(8)).
Art. 4(2)(b) India–France Convention (1992) — If the centre of vital interests cannot be determined, or if he has not a permanent home available to him in either State, the individual is deemed a resident of the State in which he has an habitual abode.
Art. 4(2)(c)–(d) India–France Convention (1992) — Habitual abode in both States or in neither — resident of the State of which he is a national; national of both States or of neither — the competent authorities settle the question by mutual agreement.

Case law

Conseil d'État (France), no. 450692, 11/05/2022 — The foyer of a single person is the place where he or she normally lives and has the centre of personal life, disregarding temporary stays elsewhere for work or exceptional reasons; the principal place of stay matters only where there is no foyer.
Cour de cassation (France), commercial chamber, no. 15-27.364, ECLI:FR:CCASS:2017:CO00562, 26/04/2017 — Foyer and centre of interests in France were established by facts: two houses, registration on electoral rolls, substantial electricity consumption, accounts only in French banks, French health insurance; a third party's statement about renting a home abroad, without rent receipts, did not rebut this. Wealth tax (ISF) case.
Conseil d'État (France), no. 469771, 05/02/2024 — The CEO of a French company whose family lived in Switzerland was domiciled in France under the principal-professional-activity test; occasional remote work from abroad did not change this. (The Court's view on the effect of the treaty for withholding purposes was overridden by statute from 16 Feb 2025.)
Conseil d'État (France), no. 426124, 07/10/2020 — The centre of economic interests cannot be established merely from owning companies and real estate in France: the court must check whether they generate income and compare it with income abroad.
Cour de cassation (France), commercial chamber, no. 19-14.013, ECLI:FR:CCASS:2021:CO00809, 24/11/2021 — Where France treats a person as domiciled under art. 4 B CGI (here: centre of economic interests) and another State also treats the person as its resident, there is a residence conflict and the court must apply the treaty tie-breaker. Wealth tax (ISF) case; same residence criteria.
Cour de cassation (France), commercial chamber, no. 19-13.710, ECLI:FR:CCASS:2021:CO00698, 13/10/2021 — A dwelling the person kept in France for his own long-term use is a permanent home under the treaty even if he also has a house abroad; where personal ties were split between the two States, economic ties (almost all income and assets in France) decided the centre of vital interests. Wealth tax (ISF) case; same criteria.

Updated 04/11/2026. The result is for information only and is not tax or legal advice. Tax authorities and courts may interpret the rules differently, including because of circumstances not covered here, and the law changes. Consult a qualified adviser before making decisions.

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