France's headline corporate income tax (CIT) rate is 25.
The headline personal income tax (PIT) rate is 45 plus surtax and social surcharges.
The standard VAT/GST (or equivalent consumption tax) rate is 20. Registration thresholds, zero-rated and exempt categories, and reduced rates vary by jurisdiction - see the source link below for the full detail on this jurisdiction.
Under Article 4B of the French General Tax Code (CGI), an individual is a French tax resident if any one of three alternative tests is met: their home (foyer) is in France, France is their principal place of stay (in practice, more than 183 days), or France is the center of their economic interests. Meeting any single test is sufficient - residents are taxed on worldwide income, non-residents only on French-source income.
France's CFC regime under Article 209 B of the CGI applies where a French company liable for corporate income tax holds, directly or indirectly, more than 50% of the shares, voting rights, or financial rights in a foreign entity established in a jurisdiction with a "privileged tax regime" - defined as an effective tax rate at least 40% lower than the French effective rate, or full tax exemption. Where triggered, the foreign entity's profits are deemed distributed to the French parent and taxed in France even without an actual distribution. An exception applies for EU/EEA entities and, outside the EU, where the taxpayer proves the foreign entity's principal purpose is not tax-driven profit relocation.
Since a 2019 reform (implementing EU ATAD), all French CIT taxpayers may deduct net financial expenses up to the higher of €3 million or 30% of tax-EBITDA; the prior separate thin-capitalization, "Carrez," and "Rabot" mechanisms were repealed. A taxpayer is additionally treated as thinly capitalized if its average related-party debt-to-equity ratio exceeds 1.5 and it cannot show its overall group debt-to-equity ratio is comparably leveraged (safeguard clause) - triggering stricter limits on related-party interest and carryforward capacity. Separately, interest paid to a direct shareholder is capped at a published reference rate (an "arm's length" market-rate alternative is available if higher).
France maintains double tax treaties with more than 120 countries. Coverage is not static: recent treaty terminations include Mali and Niger, while treaties with Denmark and Greece were renegotiated after earlier lapses, and certain provisions of the France-Russia treaty (covering permanent establishments, business profits, dividends, and royalties) have been suspended since August 2023. Newer treaties with Belgium, Finland, Rwanda, and Cyprus were signed but, per PwC, remained unratified and not yet in force as of the most recent update. Always confirm a specific treaty's current status before relying on it.