Investing in property
in France from the United States

A US bank rarely finances a property located in France: it is generally a French bank that lends, with the HCSF standard (35% debt-to-income ratio, insurance included, 25 years at most). What changes is how the application is received. Many French banks refuse US residents, partly because of FATCA obligations, which require them to report the accounts of “US persons”. They also look at your dollar income with caution, because of currency risk. A loan in dollars is only possible if you mainly receive your income, or hold assets, in that currency; most applications are financed in euros. The choice of banks and the way the application is presented make the difference.

Also read: which banks lend to expats and how much down payment to plan for.

The US credit covers French tax and, since 2019, CSG and CRDS; for the 7.5% solidarity levy, it is not confirmed. It does not reduce the 3.8% NIIT (Christensen ruling of 31 August 2026). The €150,000 exemption on capital gains remains open to French nationals who live in the United States, under conditions, but not to a US citizen without European nationality. The exemption for a former main residence, sold by 31 December of the year following departure at the latest, remains open: the treaty provides for assistance in collecting tax (article 28).

Also read: how the rents of a non-resident are taxed.

Warning, in the United States: a French SCI triggers IRS filings (form 8865 or 8858), and a limited liability company, such as a family SARL, may be treated there as a corporation, with a risk of punitive taxation (PFIC). To be studied with a CPA before buying through a company.

The right choice depends on your project and your country: compare with the rental income tax calculator.

Your French rents are declared in dollars in your federal return (form 1040, Schedule E), net of actual expenses and depreciation of the building over 30 years, mandatory for a home let outside the United States. French tax entitles you to the foreign tax credit (form 1116). If the total of your accounts outside the United States exceeds $10,000 at any time in the year, you also file the FBAR; SCI shares are added to form 8938 above certain thresholds. Your State of residence has its own return and its own rules. Penalties for an omission are heavy: get support from a CPA used to overseas property.

In France, under the actual regime, depreciation of the property often wipes out tax on your furnished rents for years. The United States does not adopt this calculation: it applies its own depreciation, over 30 years. Your US income can therefore remain positive while you pay nothing in France, and without French tax, there is nothing to deduct from US tax. The choice between micro-BIC and the actual regime is made by looking at both countries.

With FATCA, French banks must pass the accounts of their US clients to the US tax authority, via the French administration, and ask them for a US tax number. Some refuse these clients or close their accounts to avoid this work: open your account early. If you are French, with no account in France, and a bank refuses, the Banque de France can designate one, required to open it for you (right to a bank account). An American without French nationality does not have this right.

The steps of the ImmoPourExpat method, from the first call to letting →