Investor rules in France

Covers current accounts, term accounts, ordinary savings books, PEL/CEL and the cash account attached to a securities account or PEA held at a bank. Livret A, LDDS and LEP are separately guaranteed by the State up to €100,000 per client per institution, on top of the deposit guarantee. FGDR says payout is due within 7 working days. Applies to all of 2026.

Covers all financial securities (shares, bonds, fund units incl. ETFs). It only pays out if the securities have gone missing (e.g. fraud, IT failure) AND the institution is insolvent. It does not cover falls in market value. In French law the client stays the owner of the securities, so normally they are returned in full even above €70,000.

Applies to gains on selling shares, bonds and fund units, and to dividends and interest. 2026 change: social charges rose from 17.2% to 18.6% (CSG raised from 9.2% to 10.6% by the 2026 social security financing law, Loi n° 2025-1403, art. 12), so the PFU went from 30% to 31.4%. Exceptions keep 17.2% social charges in 2026: life insurance (assurance-vie), PEL, CEL, plan d'épargne populaire. Alternative: the taxpayer can opt for the progressive income tax scale (barème progressif) by ticking box 2OP on the annual return; the option is global (covers all such income and gains of the year). Under the scale, social charges still apply. Service-public says that for income from 2026 onward the option can be withdrawn later if unfavourable. Losses (moins-values) offset gains of the same year and carry forward for 10 years. No 2027 change found in official sources as of 25 Oct 2026.

Distributing ETF: each payout is investment income (revenus de capitaux mobiliers); a French paying institution withholds the social charges and a 12.8% advance on income tax at payment. Accumulating (capitalising) ETF: the fund reinvests income, so as far as official pages describe it, the investor is taxed only on the capital gain (plus-value) when selling the units. Neither official page says this outright; it follows from the general rules. Inside a PEA, eligible ETFs (at least 75% invested in EU/EEA company shares) follow PEA rules instead. Inside assurance-vie, life-insurance rules apply.

No official page describes an annual allowance; the PFU applies to the gross amount. Relief exists only in specific cases: the 40% dividend reduction (abattement) and the holding-period reduction for securities bought before 2018 apply only if you opt for the progressive scale; tax-free savings books (Livret A, LDDS, LEP, Livret jeune) are exempt from PFU and social charges; PEA gains are exempt from income tax after 5 years. 'None' is based on the absence of any allowance in the official pages, not on an explicit statement.

Domestic: the 12.8% is an advance (prélèvement non libératoire), settled on the annual return; low-income households can ask for a waiver (dispense) under income limits. Gains on sales are not withheld: they are reported on the IFU and taxed via the annual return. Foreign accounts: CGI art. 1649 A requires declaring accounts opened, held, used or closed abroad, including securities accounts with banks or investment firms, even if unused. Penalty €1,500 per undeclared account (€10,000 if the country has no tax-fraud cooperation agreement with France). Form 2778-DIV must be filed within the first 15 days of the month after the dividend is received; per its 2026 notice, a mandated EU/EEA paying agent may file it instead. The notice links the obligation to reference-income thresholds (€50,000 single / €75,000 couple) – see 'uncertain'.

PEA: one per adult French tax resident (one each for spouses/PACS partners); cash deposits only; opening fees capped at €10. Gains and dividends reinvested inside are not taxed. Any withdrawal before the end of year 5 normally closes the plan, with a few exceptions (layoff, disability, early retirement, business creation). A partial withdrawal after 5 years does not close it. Ceiling counts deposits, not gains. Social charges are due on gains at withdrawal: 18.6% general rate in 2026, but service-public notes special CSG rules for PEA gains from before 2018. Assurance-vie: a life-insurance contract that can hold funds/ETFs (unités de compte) and has its own rules: tax is due on withdrawals, a lower income-tax rate can apply after 8 years (thresholds linked to €150,000 of premiums), and social charges stay at 17.2% in 2026 (not raised to 18.6%). Policyholders are protected by a separate scheme (FGAP), not the FGDR.

AMF oversees financial markets, investment products and funds, and investor protection. It publishes blacklists (listes noires) of unauthorised firms and websites, which are not exhaustive. To check a broker or bank, use REGAFI; for financial advisers (CIF), use ORIAS; for funds and management companies, use AMF GECO; for crypto providers, use the AMF white list of PSCA. AMF warns that scammers copy names of authorised firms, so compare the name and website carefully.