Updated on: 2025/08/04 14:03 (UTC)
Overview
France, which officially is known as the French Republic, is primarily located in mainland Europe and also consists of French Guiana in South America and numerous islands that predominantly are in the Mediterranean Sea, Caribbean Sea, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The term Metropolitan France is used to collectively describe France’s European mainland, islands close to its European mainland, and islands otherwise in the Mediterranean Sea. Metropolitan France consists of 96 geographical units known as departments. France’s departments are subdivided into districts (arrondissements). The main part of Metropolitan France is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany to its northeast, Switzerland to its east, Italy and Monaco to its southeast, and Spain and Andorra to its southwest. The Mediterranean Sea borders the main part of Metropolitan France to its south, and the main part of Metropolitan France is bordered by the Bay of Biscay to its west and the English Channel to its northwest. The capital city of France is Paris.
The term Overseas France refers to all parts of France that are neither part of mainland Europe nor islands considered to be geographically part of Europe, and includes five overseas departments, five overseas collectivities, the special collectivity of New Caledonia (Nouvelle-Calédonie), and additional islands. The five overseas departments of France are French Guiana (also referred to simply as Guiana), Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, and Réunion, and when including the five overseas departments, France has a total of 101 departments. The five overseas collectivities are French Polynesia, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and Wallis and Futuna. The French overseas departments generally have the same tax and employment requirements as Metropolitan France, with few exceptions, but tax and employment requirements in other components of Overseas France differ from those in effect from Metropolitan France. This primer covers payroll provisions as in effect for Metropolitan France and France’s five overseas departments.
The primary spoken and written language used in France as a whole is French. Regional languages or dialects, such as Alsatian, Breton, Basque, Catalan, Corsican, Provençal, and Occitan, also may be spoken. English is commonly understood in the business community.
France’s standard currency is the euro.
Employers in France are responsible for reporting their employees’ wages for income tax purposes, withholding their social insurance contributions, paying additional social insurance contributions from their revenue as a percentage of employee income, following requirements of a payroll tax based on the country’s Value-Added Tax and other possible taxes.
Note: France’s implementation of income tax withholding at source upon resident employees’ wages generally took effect Jan. 1, 2019, a year after the original effective date of Jan. 1, 2018. However, income tax withholding at source upon the wages of resident employees for their work for a household employer is required effective Jan. 1, 2020. Household employers are those who employ workers to perform services in a household or on the grounds of a household. The types of workers employed by household employers include, but are not limited to, home cleaners, launderers, gardeners, babysitters and home child caregivers, maternal assistants, and caregivers to elder individuals or individuals with medical needs.
Employers must uphold various compensation and worker protection requirements under the French Labour Code as well, including profit sharing.
Foreign workers are covered by French tax law, but not under the general tax system as applied to French citizens and employers are to institute a separate calculation for determining the taxes to withhold and pay.
French residents working in the United States are covered by U.S. tax law with possible treaty and work status exclusions applying. Work within the U.S. states and territories is covered by various labor laws.
CURRENCY DETAILS
The standard currency of France is the euro (€), which France uses because it is part of the euro area, also known as the eurozone, which is a group of countries that adopted the euro as their currency. The internationally recognized three-letter currency code for the euro is EUR, which also is one of the currency’s two commonly used currency symbols. The English plural form of euro officially recognized by the European Commission is the same as its singular form, although in common English parlance the plural form is euros. In French, the plural form of euro is euros.
When an amount of euro is written using the currency symbol € in accordance with the European Commission’s standard placement treatment of the symbol, which is the placement treatment used for the English language, the symbol precedes the numerical value with no space between the numerical value and symbol. When an amount of euro is written in French using the currency symbol €, the symbol follows the numerical value with a space between the numerical value and symbol.
When an amount of euro is written using the currency symbol EUR, the symbol precedes or follows the numerical value with a space or no space between the numerical value and symbol.
One hundredth ( 1 ⁄ 100 ) of a euro is referred to in English as a cent and the English plural form of cent officially recognized by the European Commission is the same as its singular form, although in common English parlance the plural form is cents. In French, as officially recognized by the European Commission, one hundredth of a euro also is referred to as a cent and its plural form is cents, although in common French parlance, one hundredth of a euro is referred to as a centime, with the plural form of centimes.
When amounts of euro are written in French, the comma that in English separates the thousands place from the hundreds place instead is rendered as a dot (.) or as a space, and the dot that in English separates the ones place from the tenths place instead is rendered as a comma.
An exception to France’s use of the euro as its currency is that the official currency of French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and Wallis and Futuna is the CFP franc, also known in currency exchange markets as the French Polynesian franc (symbol: CFP, or F CFP; currency code: XPF), with CFP an abbreviation for Change Franc Pacifique, which translates to Pacific Franc Exchange.
Digital Currencies: France does not consider digital currencies as official currencies.
All revenues generated from digital currency transactions are to be subject to taxation. Net income, including profits and losses, is subject to the progressive income tax schedule as well as to social security contributions.
The European Banking Authority does not consider digital currencies to be legal currency. However, under a 2015 ruling by the European Court of Justice, bitcoin generally is considered a currency rather than a property for tax purposes in the European Union. Under the ruling, digital currency transactions are exempt from value-added tax (VAT) under a provision regarding transactions pertaining to currency, bank notes, and coins that are used as legal tender.
TAXES
Employers operating in France must consider a variety of taxes, including an income tax levied on residents, withholding on social insurance contributions from both employers and employees, and social levies designed to stabilize the country’s finances. Income taxes are levied progressively, with tax rates adjusting according to both income and family size.
Social taxes finance the country’s comprehensive social security and insurance system. The social security contributions are levied on both employers and employees based on total gross earnings.
Other taxes levied on employers include a payroll tax, based on application of the value-added tax (VAT) levied on total sales of goods by employers, and an apprenticeship tax.
Two separate governmental organizations are responsible for taxation policy in France: the Minister of Economy, Finances and Industry and the Minister for the Budget, Public Accounts, the Civil Service and State Reform. The former is responsible for overseeing legislation related to the Tax Policy Board, which is a subunit of the Department of Revenue. The latter is responsible for finance law and the administration of the taxation system. The taxation system is organized into two offices: the Directorate General of Public Finance (Direction générale des Finances publiques, abbreviated as DGFiP) and the Directorate General of Customs and Indirect Taxes (Direction générale des douanes et droits indirects, abbreviated as DGDDI).
Employers with apprentices may also be responsible for taxes on their total compensation, although some exceptions apply based on the total number of employees and their ages. This tax contributes to employee education and training.
The tax year is a calendar year, or Jan. 1 to Dec. 31.
Coronavirus (Covid-19) Guidance: Law No. 2020-935, of July 30, 2020, exempts some employers from employer contributions to old-age pensions, health insurance, unemployment insurance, the solidarity contribution for autonomy (Contribution de solidarité pour l’autonomie, abbreviated as CSA), and the National Housing Assistance Fund (Fonds national d’aide au logement, abbreviated as FNAL), but not supplementary pension or any other employer or employee contributions. The exemptions also apply to the overseas departments and St. Pierre and Miquelon. If the employer benefits from any other social tax reductions or exemptions, those should be applied first.
Employers with less than 250 employees are exempted from the listed taxes due for the period of employment from Feb. 1 to May 31, 2020, and from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30, 2020, if they are in the tourism, hospitality, catering, sports, cultural, or aviation sectors; have suffered a decrease in business because their business depends on restricted public activity; or are in another sector but have suffered a decrease in income because their business relies on the affected sectors. In the overseas departments and St. Pierre and Miquelon, employers meeting these requirements are exempted for the period of employment from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2020.
Employers with less than 10 employees were exempted from the listed taxes due for the period of employment from Feb. 1 to April 30, 2020, if their business depended on restricted public activity and they did not close voluntarily. Employers with less than 50 employees are exempted from the listed taxes due for the period of employment from Oct. 1 to Nov. 30, 2020, if their business depends on restricted public activity and they did not close voluntarily. In the overseas departments and St. Pierre and Miquelon, employers meeting these requirements are exempted for the period of employment in October 2020.
The exemptions continue to apply to any employers affected by restrictions on public activity until the end of the month before which the restrictions end. Employers must indicate that they are taking advantage of the second phase of the exemption on the DSN for February or March 2021.
Employers benefiting from the exemption also receive a social tax reduction calculated as 20% of the wages paid during the period of the exemption that are subject to social taxes. The reduction applies to all employee and employer social tax deposits due to URSSAF in 2020 or 2021, but is calculated by the employer and deducted from deposits by URSSAF, with previously postponed deposits prioritized over future deposits in receiving the reduction.
Law No. 2021-953, of July 19, 2021, extended the social tax reduction to employers with less than 250 employees whose primary business is in sectors listed in France’s categories of S1 and S1 bis. The reduction applies for May through July 2021 and is calculated as 15% of the wages paid during a given month.
Employers may postpone social tax deposits paid to URSSAF for up to three months. The postponement applied to deposits due March 15, April 5, April 15, May 5, and May 15, 2020, as well as to supplementary pension deposits due May 25, 2020. Employers with less than 5,000 employees did not have to make a request to postpone May deadlines, while employers with at least 5,000 employees were to request postponement. Starting with deposits due June 5 and June 15, 2020, and for supplementary pension deposits due June 25, 2020, employers must request postponement, which only applies to employer contributions. The Nominative Social Declaration (déclaration sociale nominative, abbreviated as DSN) must be filed on time, and if employers cannot file a completed DSN, they should file as complete a DSN as possible.
Social tax deposits due to URSSAF Oct. 5 and Oct. 15, 2020, could also be postponed by employers that had their business activity restricted by public health restrictions and by employers in Mayotte and French Guiana.
Social tax deposits due to URSSAF, and supplementary pension deposits, with deadlines from November 2020 to July 2021 may be postponed by employers, but returns must be submitted on time. A request form must be submitted online in advance. Forms that are not accepted will trigger a response within 48 hours; no response means the request was accepted. No penalty will be applied. URSSAF will contact employers to work out a plan to settle debts. Starting with January 2021, the extension only applies to employers, including in the overseas departments of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Mayotte, and Réunion, whose business continues to be restricted. For social tax deposits due in August 2021, employers that continued to be affected by Covid-19 restrictions could request postponements only of employer contributions. Starting with social tax deposits due in September 2021, only employers in overseas departments that continue to be affected by Covid-19 restrictions may request postponements.
Employers could request postponement of both monthly and quarterly payroll tax installments due in June, July, and August 2020 for three months.
The limit of €5,000 per year of overtime pay exempt from income tax and pension contributions was increased to €7,500 if the employee passes the €5,000 limit with overtime hours worked from March 16, 2020, to the end of France’s declared public health emergency.
Agreements between France and Germany, effective from March 11, 2020 to March 31, 2022; France and Belgium, effective from March 14, 2020 to March 31, 2022; France and Switzerland, effective from March 11, 2020, to March 31, 2022; and France and Italy, effective from March 12, 2020, to March 31, 2022; allow days worked at home by cross-border commuters who live in one country and work in the other, but must work at home because of the new coronavirus, to count as days worked in the normal work country. The agreements, except for the Germany agreement, are to automatically extend to June 30, 2022 unless ended at least one week before March 31, 2022.
Residents of France or Luxembourg who normally live in one country and work in the other can ordinarily work from home for 29 days per year while remaining subject to tax in the work country. Days worked at home by these employees because of coronavirus-related restrictions do not count towards the day limit, effective from March 14, 2020, to March 31, 2022. The agreement is to automatically extend to June 30, 2022 unless ended at least one week before March 31, 2022.
According to European Commission guidance, employees who normally work in one European Union member country and live in another are still considered to be insured by the social insurance system of the normal work country while working at home. France also has an agreement with Luxembourg extending social security coverage in a worker’s normal work country despite working at home in the other country through March 31, 2022.
Income Taxes
France’s requirement for employers to withhold income taxes on resident employees’ wages generally took effect Jan. 1, 2019. However, income tax withholding at source upon the wages of resident employees for their work for a household employer is required effective Jan. 1, 2020. Household employers are those who employ workers to perform services in a household or on the grounds of a household. The types of workers employed by household employers include, but are not limited to, home cleaners, launderers, gardeners, babysitters and home child caregivers, maternal assistants, and caregivers to elder individuals or individuals with medical needs.
Coverage: French residents, as well as foreign nationals residing in France, are liable for domestic income taxes on all worldwide income. For tax purposes, French residency is established if the taxpayer:
- has his/her home in France;
- has a primary abode in France;
- carries on a professional activity in France, whether salaried or not, unless the activity is deemed secondary;
- has the center of their economic activities in France.
Rates and Thresholds: Income tax rates are levied on a progressive scale, with rates ranging from zero to 45%. In the country’s progressive income tax system, portions of an individual’s income are allocated to the country’s personal income tax brackets, and each portion of income allocated to a tax bracket is taxed at the tax rate applicable to that tax bracket.
The progressive income tax brackets that generally are in effect in France are not the same as the nonpersonalized progressive income tax brackets in effect for income tax withholding on residents of France who choose not to have the government report a personalized income tax rate on their behalf to their employer.
Starting with 2019, personalized income tax rates for income tax withholding (prélèvement à la source, abbreviated as PAS) are determined by the government based on household income and sent by the government to individuals and employers. According to the government, 90% of individuals are to have an income tax withholding rate between zero and 10%. Individuals may choose to have their tax rate split differently between themselves and their spouse, or choose not to have their tax rate sent to their employer. Income tax withholding on employment income paid to resident employees who chose not to have their tax rate sent to their employer is based on a nonpersonalized tax rate table with brackets of monthly income. The tax rates in the table range from zero to 43%.
Effective for 2021, France’s nonpersonalized income tax withholding rates for residents of Metropolitan France and its five overseas departments, and the minimum and maximum amounts of monthly income for each tax bracket are as follows:| Range of Monthly Income (Euro) for Residents of Metropolitan France | Range of Monthly Income (Euro) for Residents of Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion | Range of Monthly Income (Euro) for Residents of French Guiana and Mayotte | Income Tax Withholding Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Less than €1,420 | Less than €1,629 | Less than €1,745 | Zero |
| At least €1,420 and less than €1,475 | At least €1,629 and less than €1,728 | At least €1,745 and less than €1,887 | 0.5% |
| At least €1,475 and less than €1,570 | At least €1,728 and less than €1,904 | At least €1,887 and less than €2,104 | 1.3% |
| At least €1,570 and less than €1,676 | At least €1,904 and less than €2,079 | At least €2,104 and less than €2,371 | 2.1% |
| At least €1,676 and less than €1,791 | At least €2,079 and less than €2,296 | At least €2,371 and less than €2,463 | 2.9% |
| At least €1,791 and less than €1,887 | At least €2,296 and less than €2,421 | At least €2,463 and less than €2,547 | 3.5% |
| At least €1,887 and less than €2,012 | At least €2,421 and less than €2,505 | At least €2,547 and less than €2,630 | 4.1% |
| At least €2,012 and less than €2,381 | At least €2,505 and less than €2,755 | At least €2,630 and less than €2,922 | 5.3% |
| At least €2,381 and less than €2,725 | At least €2,755 and less than €3,406 | At least €2,922 and less than €4,033 | 7.5% |
| At least €2,725 and less than €3,104 | At least €3,406 and less than €4,359 | At least €4,033 and less than €5,219 | 9.9% |
| At least €3,104 and less than €3,494 | At least €4,359 and less than €4,952 | At least €5,219 and less than €5,887 | 11.9% |
| At least €3,494 and less than €4,077 | At least €4,952 and less than €5,736 | At least €5,887 and less than €6,830 | 13.8% |
| At least €4,077 and less than €4,888 | At least €5,736 and less than €6,872 | At least €6,830 and less than €7,515 | 15.8% |
| At least €4,888 and less than €6,116 | At least €6,872 and less than €7,640 | At least €7,515 and less than €8,325 | 17.9% |
| At least €6,116 and less than €7,640 | At least €7,640 and less than €8,684 | At least €8,325 and less than €9,661 | 20% |
| At least €7,640 and less than €10,604 | At least €8,684 and less than €11,940 | At least €9,661 and less than €12,997 | 24% |
| At least €10,604 and less than €14,362 | At least €11,940 and less than €15,865 | At least €12,997 and less than €16,533 | 28% |
| At least €14,362 and less than €22,545 | At least €15,865 and less than €24,215 | At least €16,533 and less than €26,496 | 33% |
| At least €22,545 and less than €48,292 | At least €24,215 and less than €52,930 | At least €26,496 and less than €55,926 | 38% |
| At least €48,292 | At least €52,930 | At least €55,926 | 43% |
| Range of Monthly Income (Euro) for Residents of Metropolitan France | Range of Monthly Income (Euro) for Residents of Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion | Range of Monthly Income (Euro) for Residents of French Guiana and Mayotte | Income Tax Withholding Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Less than €1,418 | Less than €1,626 | Less than €1,741 | Zero |
| At least €1,418 and less than €1,472 | At least €1,626 and less than €1,724 | At least €1,741 and less than €1,883 | 0.5% |
| At least €1,472 and less than €1,567 | At least €1,724 and less than €1,900 | At least €1,883 and less than €2,100 | 1.3% |
| At least €1,567 and less than €1,673 | At least €1,900 and less than €2,075 | At least €2,100 and less than €2,367 | 2.1% |
| At least €1,673 and less than €1,787 | At least €2,075 and less than €2,292 | At least €2,367 and less than €2,458 | 2.9% |
| At least €1,787 and less than €1,883 | At least €2,292 and less than €2,417 | At least €2,458 and less than €2,542 | 3.5% |
| At least €1,883 and less than €2,008 | At least €2,417 and less than €2,500 | At least €2,542 and less than €2,625 | 4.1% |
| At least €2,008 and less than €2,376 | At least €2,500 and less than €2,750 | At least €2,625 and less than €2,917 | 5.3% |
| At least €2,376 and less than €2,720 | At least €2,750 and less than €3,400 | At least €2,917 and less than €4,025 | 7.5% |
| At least €2,720 and less than €3,098 | At least €3,400 and less than €4,350 | At least €4,025 and less than €5,208 | 9.9% |
| At least €3,098 and less than €3,487 | At least €4,350 and less than €4,942 | At least €5,208 and less than €5,875 | 11.9% |
| At least €3,487 and less than €4,069 | At least €4,942 and less than €5,725 | At least €5,875 and less than €6,817 | 13.8% |
| At least €4,069 and less than €4,878 | At least €5,725 and less than €6,858 | At least €6,817 and less than €7,500 | 15.8% |
| At least €4,878 and less than €6,104 | At least €6,858 and less than €7,625 | At least €7,500 and less than €8,308 | 17.9% |
| At least €6,104 and less than €7,625 | At least €7,625 and less than €8,667 | At least €8,308 and less than €9,642 | 20% |
| At least €7,625 and less than €10,583 | At least €8,667 and less than €11,917 | At least €9,642 and less than €12,971 | 24% |
| At least €10,583 and less than €14,333 | At least €11,917 and less than €15,833 | At least €12,971 and less than €16,500 | 28% |
| At least €14,333 and less than €22,500 | At least €15,833 and less than €24,167 | At least €16,500 and less than €26,443 | 33% |
| At least €22,500 and less than €48,196 | At least €24,167 and less than €52,825 | At least €26,443 and less than €55,815 | 38% |
| At least €48,196 | At least €52,825 | At least €55,815 | 43% |
Amounts of personal income tax withheld from resident employees’ wages as part of income tax withholding help satisfy resident employees’ general personal income tax obligation, which is determined using France’s standard personal income tax brackets.
Effective for 2021, France’s standard personal income tax rates for residents of Metropolitan France and its five overseas departments, and the minimum and maximum amounts of annual income for each standard tax bracket are as follows:| Range of Annual Income (Euro) | Income Tax Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to €10,084 | Zero |
| More than €10,084 and up to €25,710 | 11% |
| More than €25,710 and up to €73,516 | 30% |
| More than €73,516 and up to €158,122 | 41% |
| More than €158,122 | 45% |
| Range of Annual Income (Euro) | Income Tax Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to €10,064 | Zero |
| More than €10,064 and up to €25,659 | 11% |
| More than €25,659 and up to €73,369 | 30% |
| More than €73,369 and up to €157,806 | 41% |
| More than €157,806 | 45% |
Individuals and couples with annual income of more than €250,000 must pay an additional surcharge, called the exceptional contribution on high incomes (contribution exceptionnelle sur les hauts revenus), of either 3% or 4%, creating an effective top marginal tax rate of either 48% or 49%. For single taxpayers, the surcharge is 3% on income of more than €250,000 and up to €500,000, and the surcharge is 4% on income of more than €500,000. For couples in a marriage or domestic partnership, the surcharge is 3% on income of more than €500,000 and up to €1 million, and the surcharge is 4% on income of more than €1 million. The surcharge also applies to nonresidents if they have enough France-sourced income to meet the thresholds.
France has separate income tax rates in effect for nonresidents, as detailed in the Foreign Workers section of this primer.
Registration: Within the first 15 days of activity, resident employers must register with the local Center for Business Formalities (Centres de formalités des entreprises, abbreviated as CFE) using the M0 form for companies. Employers must declare their specific tax regime depending on their status as farmers, companies subject to corporation taxes or another category. Businesses must register no later than the second business day following May 1.
Foreign employers must register with the government of France using an E0 form through URSSAF, or the Association for Collection of Social Security and Family Contributions (Unions de recouvrement des cotisations de securite sociale et d’allocations familiales), which is a collection of private organizations responsible for collecting social security contributions. This registration will yield a single account (Siret) number that applies to all employees at the company subject to the social security system. Registration is completed online, printed and mailed into the URSSAF office. While initial enrollment is done only once, an employer must complete a Declaration Prior to Hiring (Déclaration préalable à l’embauche, abbreviated as DPAE) form for each new employee.
Taxable Amounts: The income tax system categorizes varying incomes into tiers, with a single individual’s income behaving as a single unit. Income tax liability is adjusted based on the total number of units per household. This is called the splitting system. Essentially, a single-person household contains one unit; a couple is two units; the first two children are a half-unit each; and each additional child is an additional one unit.
Generally, all salaries, wages and gross proceeds, including benefits in kind, are liable for income taxes. Tax liability on income is determined based on the complete earnings of a household, including the primary earner, his/her spouse (whether in a civil or marital arrangement) and any children or dependents residing in the household.
Among other sources of taxation, resident employees are taxed on all wages, salaries, compensation and other payments received in consideration of employment. Taxable income is calculated by taking the total wages of an employee and deducting social security payments and expenses related to business activities (i.e. payments in kind), as well as applicable tax credits (e.g. childcare for young children).
The total deductible amount for taxpayers on personal income taxes is capped at €18,000, plus 6% of their total net taxable income.
Effective since Jan. 1, 2019, the first €5,000 of overtime pay that an employee is paid during a year is exempt from income taxation.
Withholding Methods: France generally implemented income tax withholding at source upon employees’ wages Jan. 1, 2019, although income tax withholding on payments by household employers to household employees is required effective Jan. 1, 2020.
Income tax is deducted by employers at source from employees’ wages and directly sent to the Directorate General of Public Finances.
With regard to personalized income tax withholding rates for 2020, the tax authorities initially calculated employees’ personalized rates based on tax returns for 2018 income, with the tax rates communicated to employers in September 2019. Withholding rates were adjusted again once income tax changes contained in France’s 2020 finance law were passed by the country’s parliament, and were communicated to employers in January 2020.
An employee’s personalized income tax withholding rate may be increased or decreased in a year if income increased or decreased. Changes in employees’ personalized income tax withholding rates generally are communicated to employers and take effect starting with September of each year. Employers generally must apply newly changed withholding rates within two months of the change.
More information on the implementation of employer withholding is available on a government website regarding the implementation.
Before income tax withholding was implemented, individuals made income tax payments. The payments were equal to one-third of the previous year’s tax liability and were payable by Feb. 15 and May 15, respectively. Thus, for example, during 2017, taxpayers made payments calculated on the tax assessed in 2016 with respect to 2015 income. A taxpayer could elect to pay tax on a regular monthly basis by means of a standing order with a bank.
The government entirely canceled income tax payments for tax owed on wages, pensions, and other types of non-exceptional income that were to be made in 2019 with a tax credit, ensuring that individuals were not taxed twice in 2019 through the introduction of withholding.
Returns and Remittance: Taxes are remitted to the government either online or through telepayment. Employers generating more than €230,000 in their total sales of goods and services in a single tax year must pay taxes online. Companies may also be required to pay their taxes through bank transfer when the tax liability exceeds €50,000.
For income tax withholding, the Direction générale des Finances publiques (Directorate General of Public Finance, abbreviated as DGFiP) is to send the employer a business report (compte-rendu métier, abbreviated as CRM) each month using the Net-Entreprises portal containing the withholding rates to be applied to employees’ pay. Employers are to access the business report, insert the withholding rates into their payroll software, and calculate the tax to be withheld.
Withheld income taxes must be electronically remitted, and data regarding income tax withholding must be reported to the government using the employer’s déclaration sociale nominative (DSN), which is already in use for social taxes and is submitted using the Net-Entreprises portal. The DSN must be submitted on a monthly basis. The dates for submitting the DSN and remitting withheld income taxes are as follows:
- For employers with at least 50 employees, the DSN detailing income taxes withheld from wages paid during a month is to be submitted by the 5th day of the following month and income taxes withheld from wages paid during a month are to be remitted by the 8th day of the following month.
- For employers with fewer than 50 employees, the DSN detailing income taxes withheld from wages paid during a month is to be submitted by the 15th day of the following month and income taxes withheld from wages paid during a month are to be remitted by the 18th day of the following month.
- Employers with 10 or fewer employees may optionally remit withheld income taxes quarterly.
Any other taxes withheld at source (possibly for foreign workers or for equity income) are paid over to the government by the employer either monthly, quarterly, or annually—depending on the size of the employer. The timing for payment of taxes also is dependent on the total tax owed.
Taxes should be remitted by employers to the Business Tax Services (Services des impôts des entreprises, abbreviated as SIE) or, if the company meets certain criteria, the Department of Large Businesses (Direction des grandes entreprises, abbreviated as DGE). Taxes can be remitted online after registering with Net-Entreprises.
Employers are to provide employees with pay slips that include the taxable income, the income tax withholding rate, the amount of income tax withheld, and the amount that would have been paid to the employee in the absence of income tax withholding.
Employee Stock or Share Plans: Employees that take part in stock option plans and receive gains from these plans are subject to paying income tax and contributions to social taxes.
The discount, the first type of gain that can be acquired from a stock option plan, is equal to the difference between the value of a share at the time of offer and the price of a share when it becomes available to the employee. Only discounts considered excessive (equal to or greater than 95%) are taxable in the year in which the option is exercised. Discounts are taxed as income.
The exercise of stock option plans and bonus shares also are taxed on the progressive income tax scale in addition to being subject to a withholding tax of 19% (this does not include social security contributions).
For internationally mobile employees, the buying and selling of shares acquired in France is subject to withholding tax after leaving France. If an individual normally contributes to the social security regime, these amounts also are subject to social taxes.
Recordkeeping: Tax records generally must be kept for a minimum of five years. Pay-slips, registry of staff and documents related to salaries, bonuses, benefits and account balances must be retained by the employer for five years. Documents related to payroll and payroll taxes, as well as accounts of employee work days, must be retained for three years. Finally, employee schedules, standby hours and compensation for those hours must be retained for at least one year.
Penalties: Late income tax filings are subject to a 10% penalty. If a taxpayer is liable for additional taxes after a tax reassessment, then the taxpayer may be liable for 0.4% in interest for each month the payment is left outstanding.
Civil and criminal penalties are imposed by courts whereas administrative penalties are imposed without the need for court action.
Social Taxes
France has numerous social programs that are financed by assessments on employment income.
The social programs financed by assessments on employment income are the old-age pension, health insurance, supplementary pension plans, the National Housing Assistance Fund, unemployment insurance, work accident insurance, and family allowances.
The social dialogue contribution is designed to supplement a joint fund that is dedicated to financing trade unions and professional employer organizations.
Some of France’s social contributions, such as the generalized social contribution, contribution for the repayment of social debt, and the social package are designed to provide additional funding for France’s social programs.
Funding for the Wage Guarantee Insurance Association, which is part of the unemployment insurance program, is designed to fund replacement income for employees who become unemployed because their employer ceased operations.
The family allowances program assists families with at least two children with a monthly family allowance payment.
France’s Association for Collection of Social Security and Family Contributions (Unions de Recouvrement des cotisations de Sécurité Sociale et d’Allocations Familiales, abbreviated as URSSAF), has the primary role in overseeing the country’s social welfare contributions.
Coverage: Generally, social insurance contributions are levied on all employees and held at source by their employers. All employers, including foreign employers, who hire employees eligible for social insurance must withhold contributions and pay into the social insurance system. Employers also are responsible for some social welfare payments based on employee salaries as well.
Rates and Thresholds: Employers are responsible for withholding multiple types of social insurance contributions from employment income paid to employees, and employers also are responsible for paying employer portions of multiple types of social insurance contributions.
Old-age pension (Assurance vieillesse): Each employer and each employee is assessed two separate old-age pension insurance contribution rates, one that is capped by a maximum amount of employment income paid to an employee upon which it may be assessed, and another that is not capped. The maximum amount of employment income paid per employee upon which the capped rate for employers and the capped rate for employees may be assessed is known as the Social Security ceiling (le plafond de la sécurité sociale, abbreviated as PSS). The monthly Social Security ceiling is commonly referred to as the PMSS, which is an abbreviation for the equivalent French term, plafond mensuel de la sécurité sociale, and the annual Social Security ceiling is commonly referred to as the PASS, which is an abbreviation for the equivalent French term, plafond annuel de la sécurité sociale.
Effective for 2021, unchanged from 2020, the monthly Social Security ceiling is €3,428 and the annual Social Security ceiling is €41,136.
Employers are assessed an old-age pension insurance contribution rate of 8.55% up to the Social Security ceiling for each employee, and employers also are assessed an old-age pension insurance contribution rate of 1.9% of the total employment income paid to employees.
Employees are assessed an old-age pension insurance contribution rate of 6.9% up to the Social Security ceiling, and each employee also is assessed an old-age pension insurance contribution rate of 0.4% of the employment income paid to the employee.
Supplementary Pension Plans (Régimes de retraite complémentaire): Supplemental pension plans also are mandatory and are financed through joint contributions from both employees and employers. These plans are organized and controlled by the AGIRC-ARRCO group, which a fusion of the Association for Employees’ Supplementary Pension Schemes (Association pour la regime de retraite complementaire des salariés, abbreviated as ARRCO) and the General Association of Retirement Institutions for Executives (Association générale des institutions de retraite complémentaire des cadres, abbreviated as AGIRC). ARRCO is designed for both executive employees and nonexecutive employees. AGIRC predominantly focuses on executives, but has some program components for nonexecutive employees. Taxable income for supplemental plans is similar to the taxable income applicable to other social security taxes in France and includes gross wages, holiday pay, benefits-in-kind, and tips. Effective until Dec. 31, 2018, the AGIRC and ARRCO were separate organizations with different methods for determining contribution rates and the ranges of employment income subject to contribution rates.
ARRCO contribution rates are assessed on employment income paid to nonexecutive employees and executive employees, while AGIRC contribution rates are assessed on employment income paid to executive employees but not employment income paid to nonexecutive employees.
Each ARRCO contribution rate, also known as the effective rate (taux effectif) for ARRCO, is the result of multiplying a points calculation rate (taux de calcul des points), which refers to the amount of the contribution rate that is devoted to accumulating retirement points that affect employees’ future annual amounts of supplementary pension payments, by a call rate (taux d’appel), which raises additional funds to provide solidarity balance funding for supplemental pension payments. The points calculation rate also is known as the contractual rate (taux contractuel). Each ARRCO effective rate represents the combination of the rates assessed on the employer and employee, with 60% of the ARRCO effective rate consisting of the employer portion and 40% of the ARRCO effective rate consisting of the employee portion.
Effective for 2021, unchanged from 2020, the points calculation rate is multiplied by the call rate of 127% to determine the effective rate; i.e., the effective rate is slightly more than 5 ⁄ 4 of the points calculation rate.
Separate ARRCO effective rates apply to the two different ranges of employment income that are subject to assessment for ARRCO. The overall amount of employment income subject to ARRCO assessment is known as the contribution base (assiette des cotisations), which consists of two salary tranches (tranches de salaire), also known as salary bands. Tranche 1 consists of employment income up to the Social Security ceiling and Tranche 2 consists of employment income of more than the Social Security ceiling and up to eight times the Social Security ceiling. Tranche 1 sometimes is referred to by the national government as T1, and Tranche 2 likewise sometimes is referred to by the national government as T2. Employment income paid to an employee in excess of eight times the Social Security ceiling is not subject to assessment for the ARRCO rates. Effective until Dec. 31, 2018, whether an employee was a nonexecutive or executive affected what amounts of employment income qualified as the employee’s ARRCO contribution base and tranches.
Effective for 2021, unchanged from 2020, Tranche 1 consists of monthly employment income of up to the monthly Social Security ceiling of €3,428 and Tranche 2 consists of monthly employment income of more than €3,428 and up to eight times €3,428, which is €27,424.
Effective for 2021, unchanged from 2020, the ARRCO effective rate for Tranche 1 is 7.87%, consisting of an employer portion of 4.72% and an employee portion of 3.15%, and the ARRCO effective rate for Tranche 2 is 21.59%, consisting of an employer portion of 12.95% and an employee portion of 8.64%.
There are four types of AGIRC contributions: the general equilibrium contribution (contribution d’équilibre général, abbreviated as CEG), the technical balance contribution, (contribution d’équilibre technique, abbreviated as CET), the contribution for the Association for the Employment of Executives (Association pour l’emploi des cadres, abbreviated as APEC), and a contribution for death insurance (assurance décès) for executives. The general equilibrium contribution also is known as the overall balance contribution and as the general balance contribution. The CEG, APEC contribution, and contribution for death insurance for executives are assessed on employment income paid to executive employees but not on employment income paid to nonexecutive employees. The CET is assessed on employment income paid to executive employees and employment income paid to nonexecutive employees, but the CET is only assessed on employment income paid to an employee when that employee’s total employment income exceeds eight times the Social Security ceiling. As with the ARRCO effective rates, each AGIRC contribution rate, except the contribution for death insurance for executives, is presented as a total that consists of an employer portion of 60% of that rate and an employee portion of 40% of that rate.
Assessment of the CEG and assessment of the CET use the same tranches of employment income applicable to ARRCO assessment, with the CEG rates likewise differentiated between Tranches 1 and 2 and the CET rates instead consistent between the tranches.
Effective for 2021, unchanged from 2020, the CEG rate for Tranche 1 is 2.15%, consisting of an employer portion of 1.29% and an employee portion of 0.86%, and the CEG rate for Tranche 2 is 2.7%, consisting of an employer portion of 1.62% and an employee portion of 1.08%.
Effective for 2021, unchanged from 2020, the CET contribution rate for Tranche 1 is the same as the CET contribution rate for Tranche 2 and is 0.35%, consisting of an employer potion of 0.21% and an employee portion of 0.14%.
The APEC contribution does not use the tranche system applicable to other AGIRC-ARRCO contributions and instead is assessable on employment income up to four times the Social Security ceiling.
Effective for 2021, unchanged from 2020, the maximum monthly amount of employment income upon which the APEC contribution can be assessed is €13,712, which is four times the monthly Social Security ceiling of €3,428.
The APEC contribution rate is 0.06%, consisting of an employer potion of 0.036% and an employee portion of 0.024%.
The contribution for death insurance for executives also does not use the tranche system applicable to other AGIRC-ARRCO contributions and instead is assessable on employment income up to the Social Security ceiling.
The rate of the contribution for death insurance for executives is 1.5% and is assessed on employers but not employees.
Effective since Jan. 1, 2019, the contribution for the Association for the Management of the AGIRC and ARRCO Funds (Association pour la Gestion du Fonds de Financement AGIRC and ARRCO, abbreviated as AGFF) no longer is in effect.
Health Insurance (Assurance maladie): For each employee, the employer is assessed one of two health insurance contribution rates based on whether the employee’s annual amount of employment income paid by the employer is up to 2.5 times the annualized amount of the applicable minimum wage or more than 2.5 times the annualized amount of the applicable minimum wage. In determining whether an employee is paid during a year more than 2.5 times the applicable minimum wage, the applicable minimum wage generally is France’s standard minimum wage, although the applicable minimum wage for employees in France’s overseas department of Mayotte is the minimum wage specific to Mayotte. Effective until Dec. 31, 2018, the health insurance contribution rate assessed on employers was not differentiated based on the amount of employment income paid to an employee.
Effective starting Oct. 1, 2021, as France’s standard monthly minimum wage is €1,589.47, the annualized amount of this minimum wage, or 12 times the monthly amount, is €19,073.64, and 2.5 times that annualized amount is €47,684.10. Effective from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2021, as France’s standard monthly minimum wage was €1,554.58, the annualized amount of this minimum wage, or 12 times the monthly amount, was €18,654.96, and 2.5 times that annualized amount is €46,637.40. Effective for 2020, as France’s standard monthly minimum wage was €1,539.42, the annualized amount of this minimum wage, or 12 times the monthly amount, was €18,473.04, and 2.5 times that annualized amount was €46,182.60.
Effective starting Oct. 1, 2021, as the monthly minimum wage in Mayotte is €1,199.08, the annualized amount of this minimum wage, or 12 times the monthly amount, is €14,388.96, and 2.5 times that annualized amount is €35,972.40. Effective from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2021, as the monthly minimum wage in Mayotte was €1,173.27, the annualized amount of this minimum wage, which is 12 times the monthly amount, was €14,079.24, and 2.5 times that annualized amount was €35,198.10. Effective for 2020, as the monthly minimum wage in Mayotte was €1,161.77, the annualized amount of this minimum wage, which is 12 times the monthly amount, was €13,941.24, and 2.5 times that annualized amount was €34,853.10.
Employers are assessed a health insurance contribution rate of 7% on employment income they paid to each employee who during a year is paid up to 2.5 times the annualized amount of the applicable minimum wage. Employers are assessed a health insurance contribution rate of 13% on employment income they paid to each employee who during a year is paid more than 2.5 times the annualized amount of the applicable minimum wage.
The health insurance contribution rates sometimes are presented by the national government as a combination of one of the aforementioned rates and the solidarity contribution for autonomy rate of 0.3%. When the rates are presented this way, the government communicates the lower contribution rate for health insurance as 7.3% and the higher contribution rate for health insurance as 13.3%.
Effective since Jan. 1, 2018, health insurance contribution rates generally no longer are assessed on employees. However, employees in the departments of Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin and Moselle, which collectively are known as Alsace-Moselle, are assessed a supplemental sickness contribution (cotisation salariale maladie supplémentaire) rate of 1.5% of their employment income.
The health insurance contribution rate also is known as the contribution rate for health, maternity, disability, and death insurance.
Solidarity contribution for autonomy (Contribution de solidarité pour l’autonomie, abbreviated as CSA): Taxable wages for the CSA are the same as taxable wages for health insurance, and the contribution assists with the financing of health benefits for the elderly. All employers are assessed as CSA contribution rate of 0.3% of all employee earnings. Employers are assessed the CSA in exchange for not paying employees on the day of solidarity (journée de solidarité), in which employees are annually required to work for free for seven hours that they otherwise would not already work for pay. The employer can specify the day of solidarity as a public holiday other than May 1; another nonworking day specified by the employer’s collective bargaining agreement; or any seven hours that employees do not already work, except for days of annual leave. The seven hours of the day of solidarity do not count toward the annual overtime limit. Employees covered by an apprenticeship contract are not included in the CSA calculation.
If an employee has multiple employers during the year and has already completed a day of solidarity with the first employer, the hours worked for the second employer’s day of solidarity must be paid and count towards the annual overtime limit, or the employee may decline to work the extra time without retaliation. All employers responsible for health insurance contributions on an employee’s wages are responsible for the CSA regarding the employee.
National Housing Assistance Fund (Fonds national d’aide au logement, abbreviated as FNAL): Employers, but not employees, are assessed a contribution rate for the National Housing Assistance Fund.
Effective Jan. 1, 2020, assessments of the National Housing Assistance Fund contribution on employers with fewer than 50 employees are capped, with the Social Security ceiling serving as the maximum amount of employment income paid to an employee subject to assessment. Employers with at least 50 employees are assessed a National Housing Assistance Fund contribution without a cap on the amount of employment income they paid upon which the contribution may be assessed. An employer’s applicable number of employees for calculating the employers’ National Housing Assistance Fund contributions for a year is the employer’s average monthly number of employees during the previous calendar year. Effective until Dec. 31, 2019, assessments of National Housing Assistance Fund contributions on employers with fewer than 20 employees were capped, while assessments on employers with at least 20 employees were not capped.
Effective for 2021, unchanged from 2020, employers with fewer than 50 employees are assessed a National Housing Assistance Fund contribution rate of 0.1% on the employment income they paid to each employee, up to the Social Security ceiling of €3,428 per month or €41,136.
Effective for 2021, unchanged from 2020, employers with at least 50 employees are assessed a National Housing Assistance Fund contribution rate of 0.5%.
Unemployment Insurance (Contribution assurance chômage): Employers are assessed an unemployment insurance contribution rate and a contribution rate for funding the Wage Guarantee Insurance Association (association pour la gestion du régime de garantie des créances des salariés, abbreviated as AGS). For both of these contributions, the maximum amount of employment income paid to an employee upon which the contributions may be assessed generally is four times the Social Security ceiling.
Effective for 2021, unchanged from 2020, the maximum monthly amount of employment income upon which the unemployment insurance and AGS contributions can be assessed is €13,712, which is four times the monthly Social Security ceiling of €3,428.
The standard unemployment insurance contribution rate assessed on employers is 4.05%.
Starting Sept. 1, 2022, employers may be assessed a lower or higher unemployment insurance contribution rate than the standard rate, a practice known as bonus-malus, if they have at least 11 employees and are in specified sectors which have an average employee separation rate of at least 150% over a three-year period. A decreased rate, which may be as low as 3%, may be assessed on employers if the quality of their unemployment program history is more than the median quality rating for other employers in their industry sector, particularly if their employee separation rate is lower than the median rate. An increased rate, which may be as high as 5.05%, may be assessed on employers if the quality of their unemployment program history is less than the median quality rating for other employers in their industry sector, particularly if their employee separation rate is higher than the median rate.
The initial unemployment insurance rate adjustments, which take effect Sept. 1, 2022, are to be based on employee separations occurring from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022.
The AGS contribution rate assessed on employers generally is 0.15%, although the AGS contribution rate assessed on employment income paid to temporary workers by employers that are temporary work companies is 0.03%.
Effective since Oct. 1, 2018, employees generally no longer are assessed unemployment insurance contributions. However, three categories of employees still are assessed unemployment insurance contributions. These categories are:
- residents of France who are working in Monaco, who are assessed an unemployment insurance contribution rate of 2.4%;
- expatriate employees whose circumstances of employment did not require their employer to affiliate them with France’s unemployment insurance scheme and who decided to make the individual decision to join the scheme despite their employer choosing not to affiliate them, who are assessed an unemployment insurance contribution rate of 4.05%; and
- temporary workers in the entertainment industry on a fixed-term contract for up to three months, who are assessed an unemployment insurance contribution rate of 2.4% and whose employer is assessed an unemployment insurance contribution rate of 9.05% instead of the standard rate of 4.05%.
Additionally, effective since Jan. 1, 2020, employers of casual dockworkers are assessed an unemployment insurance contribution rate of 4.55% instead of the standard rate of 4.05% on employment income paid to them.
Unemployment insurance contribution provisions pertaining to employment income paid to employees in Mayotte differ from the aforementioned provisions with regard to the maximum amount of assessable employment income and the unemployment insurance contribution rate.
The maximum amount of employment income paid to an employee in Mayotte upon which the unemployment insurance and AGS contributions may be assessed is €4,728.
Instead of the standard rate of 4.05%, employers are assessed an unemployment insurance contribution rate of 2.8%. Employers nonetheless are assessed the same AGS rate for employment income paid to employees in Mayotte as they otherwise would be assessed for funding the AGS.
Aspects of France’s unemployment insurance program are overseen by the National Interprofessional Union for Employment in Industry and Commerce (Union Nationale Interprofessionnelle pour ĺEmploi dans ĺIndustrie et le Commerce, abbreviated as Unédic).
Work Accident Insurance (Accidents du travail): Employers are assessed a contribution for accidents at work and occupational diseases (cotisation d’accidents du travail et maladies professionnelles, abbreviated as AT/MP), with contribution rates varying among employers based on their size and comparative degrees of workplace risk of injury or illness for the employer or employer’s sector. There is no employee contribution to this fund.
Employers are annually informed of their work accident insurance contribution rate by regional pension and occupational health insurance funds (caisse d’assurance retraite et de la santé au travail, abbreviated as Carsat) in metropolitan France, or by overseas departments’ general social security funds.
Family Allowances (Allocations familiales): For each employee, the employer is assessed one of two family allowance contribution rates based on whether the employee’s annual amount of employment income paid by the employer is up to 3.5 times the annualized amount of the applicable minimum wage or more than 3.5 times the annualized amount of the applicable minimum wage. In determining whether an employee is paid during a year more than 3.5 times the applicable minimum wage, the applicable minimum wage generally is France’s standard minimum wage, although the applicable minimum wage for employees in France’s overseas department of Mayotte is the minimum wage specific to Mayotte.
Effective starting Oct. 1, 2021, as France’s standard monthly minimum wage is €1,589.47, the annualized amount of this minimum wage, or 12 times the monthly amount, is €19,073.64, and 3.5 times the annualized amount is €66,757.74. Effective from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2021, as France’s standard monthly minimum wage was €1,554.58, the annualized amount of this minimum wage, or 12 times the monthly amount, was €18,654.96, and 3.5 times that annualized amount was €65,292.36. Effective for 2020, as France’s standard monthly minimum wage was €1,539.42, the annualized amount of this minimum wage, or 12 times the monthly amount, was €18,473.04, and 3.5 times that annualized amount was €64,655.64.
Effective starting Oct. 1, 2021, as the monthly minimum wage in Mayotte is €1,199.08, the annualized amount of this minimum wage, or 12 times the monthly amount, is €14,388.96, and 3.5 times that annualized amount is €50,361.36. Effective from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2021, as the monthly minimum wage in Mayotte is €1,173.27, the annualized amount of this minimum wage, or 12 times the monthly amount, is €14,079.24, and 3.5 times that annualized amount is €49,227.34. Effective for 2020, as the monthly minimum wage in Mayotte was €1,161.77, the annualized amount of this minimum wage, or 12 times the monthly amount, was €13,941.24, and 3.5 times that annualized amount was €48,794.34.
Employers are assessed a family allowance contribution rate of 3.45% on employment income they paid to each employee who during a year is paid up to 3.5 times the annualized amount of the applicable minimum wage. Employers are assessed a family allowance contribution rate of 5.25% on employment income they paid to each employee who during a year is paid more than 3.5 times the annualized amount of the applicable minimum wage.
Employees are not assessed a family allowance contribution rate.
Employers’ contribution to the social dialogue (contribution patronale au dialogue social): The contribution to the social dialogue is assessed on employers and is not assessed on employees.
Employers are assessed a social dialogue contribution rate of 0.016% on the total employment income they paid to employees.
Generalized social contribution (Contribution sociale généralisée, abbreviated as CSG): The CSG is assessed on numerous categories of individual income, with the CSG rate applicable to salaries, wages, and other elements that qualify as employment income differing from the CSG rates applicable to other categories of income, such as unemployment benefits and retirement income.
For each employee, the CSG rate is assessed on 98.25% of the employment income paid to the employee up to the annual CSG threshold amount. The annual CSG threshold amount is equivalent to 48 times the monthly Social Security ceiling or four times the annual Social Security ceiling. Employees are assessed the CSG rate on the full amount of employment income they are paid during a year in excess of the CSG threshold amount. The exemption of 1.75% of employment income up to the CSG threshold is an allowance for professional costs (abattement pour frais professionnels).
Effective for 2021, unchanged from 2020, the annual CSG threshold is €164,544.
Each employee is assessed a CSG contribution rate of 9.2% on the employment income paid to the employee. This contribution rate consists of a 6.8% portion that is deductible from income tax and a 2.4% portion that is not deductible from income tax.
Contribution for the repayment of social debt (Contribution pour le remboursement de la dette sociale, abbreviated as CRDS): The CRDS is unlike the CSG in that there is a single CRDS rate, but the CRDS is like the CSG in that it has the same employment income threshold as the CSG with regard to applicability of the 1.75% allowance for professional costs.
Therefore, for each employee, the CRDS rate is assessed on 98.25% of the employment income paid to the employee up to the annual CRDS threshold amount, and the annual CRDS threshold amount is equivalent to 48 times the monthly Social Security ceiling or four times the annual Social Security ceiling. Employees are assessed the CRDS rate on the amount of employment income they are paid during a year in excess of the CRDS threshold amount.
Effective for 2021, unchanged from 2020, the annual CRDS threshold is €164,544.
The CRDS rate assessed on all covered types of individual income, including employment income, is 0.5%.
Social package (forfait social): The social package contribution is assessed on amounts of remuneration that generally are otherwise excluded from social security contributions but that are subject to the generalized social contribution (Contribution sociale généralisée, abbreviated as CSG).
Remuneration subject to the social package contribution includes bonuses, some forms of severance pay, and employer contributions to savings plans and supplementary pension plans, when these amounts are exempt from other social security contributions.
The standard contribution rate for the social package is 20% and is assessed on employers. Employers may be eligible for reduced rates of 8%, 10%, or 16% for some types of remuneration.
General reduction of contributions (réduction générale des cotisations): Employers may reduce the employer portion of social taxes assessed on the wages of employees who are paid up to 1.6 times the applicable minimum wage and who are covered by unemployment insurance. In determining whether an employee is paid up to 1.6 times the applicable minimum wage, the applicable minimum wage generally is France’s standard minimum wage, although the applicable minimum wage for employees in France’s overseas department of Mayotte is the minimum wage specific to Mayotte.
The amount of the reduction is determined according to a formula taking into account the annual minimum wage and the employee’s gross annual pay, including wages, bonuses, overtime pay, tips, and allowances. The reduction applies to the health insurance contribution, the National Fund for Housing Assistance contribution, family allowance contributions, the solidarity contribution for autonomy, and old-age pension contributions. Effective since Jan. 1, 2019, the reduction is extended to supplementary pension contributions paid to AGIRC-ARRCO, and effective since Oct. 1, 2019, the reduction is extended to unemployment insurance contributions.
Effective starting Oct. 1, 2021, 1.6 times France’s standard minimum wage of €10.48 per hour or €1,589.47 per month is €16.77 per hour or €2,543.15 per month. Effective from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2021, 1.6 times France’s standard minimum wage of €10.25 per hour or €1,554.58 per month was €16.40 per hour or €2,487.33 per month. Effective for 2020, 1.6 times France’s standard minimum wage of €10.15 per hour or €1,539.42 per month was €16.24 per hour or €2,463.07 per month.
Effective starting Oct. 1, 2021, 1.6 times Mayotte’s minimum wage of €7.91 per hour or €1,199.08 per month is €12.66 per hour or €1,918.53 per month. Effective from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2021, 1.6 times Mayotte’s minimum wage of €7.74 per hour or €1,173.27 per month was €12.38 per hour or €1,877.23 per month. Effective for 2020, 1.6 times Mayotte’s minimum wage of €7.66 per hour or €1,161.77 per month was €12.26 per hour or €1,858.83 per month.
Types of employees for which reduced rates (les taux réduits) are applicable: Regardless of whether employers are eligible to reduce the employer portion of social taxes based on the aforementioned general reduction of contributions, employers of some types of employees, and these employees as well, are eligible to be assessed social insurance contribution rates that are lower than the aforementioned contribution rates. Some of the applicable rates based on employment income paid to these employees are lower than the aforementioned rates, while the rates are the same as the aforementioned rates for some types of social insurance.
The types of employees for which employment income paid to them is subject to reduced contribution rates for some types of social insurance are:
- performing artists and models;
- journalists; and
- part-time medical professionals.
For employment income paid to performing artists, models, and part-time medical professionals, when a rate reduction applies to the contribution rate for a type of social insurance, it generally is a reduction of 30% that causes the effective rates for the types of social insurance for which the reduction is applicable to be 70% of the rates that otherwise would apply. For employment income paid to journalists, when a rate reduction applies to the contribution rate for a type of social insurance, it generally is a reduction of 20% that causes the effective rates for the types of social insurance for which the reduction is applicable to be 80% of the rates that otherwise would apply.
Registration: Employers must register their scheduled contributions with the French URSSAF. Employers must file a Declaration Prior to Hiring (Déclaration préalable à l’embauche, abbreviated as DPAE) eight days prior to hiring a new employee. This form registers the employer with the general social security system and triggers a new account with the URSSAF.
Taxable Amounts: Taxable amounts for social security contributions are based on gross wages and earnings, holiday pay, bonuses, gratuities, benefits in kind, cash or amounts received through a third-party, such as tips. Employer contributions into the social security system are not counted toward employees’ taxable incomes.
Effective since Jan. 1, 2019, each employee is not assessed pension contributions on the first €5,000 of overtime pay that the employee is paid during a year.
Effective starting Jan. 1, 2018, payments to employees are subject to the social tax contribution rates and Social Security ceilings applicable to the period of employment even when the payment is made on a date that does not fall in that period. Payments made on or before Dec. 31, 2017, were subject to the social tax contribution rates and Social Security ceilings in force at the time of payment.
Withholding Methods: Taxes are withheld at source by employers during each pay period.
Returns and Remittances: Employers are required to remit withheld social welfare contributions levied on employee wages to the tax authorities through France’s Association for Collection of Social Security and Family Contributions (Unions de Recouvrement des cotisations de Sécurité Sociale et d’Allocations Familiales, abbreviated as URSSAF).
Employers must report data regarding social contributions electronically using the Nominative Social Declaration (déclaration sociale nominative, abbreviated as DSN), which may be filed through France’s Net-Entreprises online portal. Additional information regarding the DSN is available on France’s DSN homepage.
The DSN must be filed on a monthly basis. Social taxes must be electronically remitted, and data regarding social taxes must be reported to the government using the DSN, as follows:
- For employers with at least 50 employees, social taxes due for a month and the DSN detailing data regarding those taxes are to be submitted by the 5th day of the following month.
- For employers with fewer than 50 employees, social taxes due for a month and the DSN detailing data regarding those taxes are to be submitted by the 15th day of the following month.
- Employers with 10 or fewer employees may optionally remit social taxes on a quarterly basis instead of a monthly basis.
- Supplementary pension contributions due for a month must be remitted by the 25th day of the following month by employers with at least 10 employees, while employers with less than 10 employers make quarterly deposits by the 25th day of the month following the end of the quarter. Starting in 2023, supplementary pension contributions are to be paid to URSSAF instead of AGIRC-ARRCO.
Employers generating more than €230,000 in their total sales of goods and services in a single tax year must pay taxes online. Companies may also be required to pay their taxes through bank transfer when the tax liability exceeds €50,000.
Recordkeeping: Contribution records generally must be kept for a minimum of five years. Pay-slips, registry of staff and documents related to salaries, bonuses, benefits and account balances must be retained by the employer for five years. Documents related to payroll and payroll taxes, as well as accounts of employee work days, must be retained for three years. Finally, employee schedules, standby hours and compensation for those hours must be retained for at least one year.
Penalties: Employers failing to accurately document or remit social security contributions to the government are at risk for noncompliance. Penalties are not uniform and are determined by the tax authorities who levy the allegations. The penalty is based on the severity of the noncompliance and will be particularly severe if the employer attempted to consciously deceive the authorities (like forgery).
Other TaxesEmployers also are subject to being assessed payroll taxes based on total wages, although the amount is dependent on whether, and to what extent, employers are subject to the value-added tax (VAT).
In addition, an apprenticeship tax can be levied on the total compensation paid to employees employed by a company.
Employer Payroll Tax
Coverage: Some employers are liable for payroll taxes on wages if they are not subject to the value-added tax (VAT) or are subject to VAT on less than 90% of total sales. This percentage is calculated by taking the total gross sales not subject to VAT the previous year divided by the total gross sales in the previous year multiplied by 100. If this percentage results in more than 10% of total sales not subject to VAT, then the employer is subject to being assessed rates ranging from 4.25% to 13.6% based on each employee’s income. Employers that are subject to the tax, but are not entirely exempt from VAT, have their taxable base reduced according to a formula.
The payroll tax is based on the total annual remuneration, or annual salary, paid by employers domiciled or established in France. The remuneration and salaries paid to members of a company’s board of directors must be included for calculating the company’s liability for this tax.
Some additional exceptions to this tax apply. New companies, in particular, are responsible for calculating their VAT percentage based on current year revenue, rather than previous year. Employers should seek assistance from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Foreign workers are not subject to this payroll tax, but are subject to an alternative withholding tax.
In order to determine whether employers are required to pay the payroll tax, the employer’s total VAT liability must be initially determined.
The payroll tax only applies if less than 90% of the employer’s revenues are subject to VAT. Employers are assessed tax on employees’ wages according to the table in the Rates and Thresholds subsection.
Rates and Thresholds: For employers not subject to VAT or only subject to VAT on less than 90% of gross sales, a progressive tax rate applies with rates ranging from 4.25% to 13.6%.
The payroll tax rate is lower for wages earned in the overseas departments of France, with a rate of 2.95% for Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion, and a rate of 2.55% in French Guiana and Mayotte.
Effective for 2021, France’s payroll tax rates for employers and minimum and maximum amounts of annual income for each tax bracket generally are as follows:| Range of Annual Income Paid to Employee (Euro) | Income Tax Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to €8,020 | 4.25% |
| More than €8,020 and up to €16,013 | 8.5% |
| More than €16,013 | 13.6% |
| Range of Annual Income Paid to Employee (Euro) | Income Tax Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to €8,004 | 4.25% |
| More than €8,004 and up to €15,981 | 8.5% |
| More than €15,981 | 13.6% |
| Range of Annual Income Paid to Employee (Euro) | Income Tax Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to €7,924 | 4.25% |
| More than €7,924 and up to €15,822 | 8.5% |
| More than €15,822 | 13.6% |
Registration: Employers must subscribe to an online account for businesses operated by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. This service allows employers to file their payroll tax, VAT, and other associated corporate and professional taxes. Taxes should be remitted by employers to the Business Tax Services (Services des impôts des entreprises, abbreviated as SIE) or, if the company meets certain criteria, the Department of Large Businesses (Direction des grandes entreprises, abbreviated as DGE). Taxes can be remitted either online via their tax account, or through telepayment, after registering with Net-Entreprises.
Taxable Amounts: The payroll tax is based on each employee’s salary or remuneration, including all wages, benefits, bonuses, gratuities, contributions, or profit sharing. The tax does not have to be paid by employers if the tax owed is less than €1,200 annually. If the tax owed between €1,200 and €2,040, then the total tax due qualifies for marginal relief equal to three-quarters of the difference between €2,040 and the amount of tax owed.
Returns and Remittances: The payroll tax is paid to the government online or through telepayment, along with social welfare contributions. The amount of employer payroll tax due for a year is based on each employee’s annual income paid during the previous year. The tax must be remitted at least once per year from the employer’s revenue, although the timing of the filing and payment is made monthly, quarterly, or annually based on the total employer payroll tax that the employer was required to pay for the previous year.
If the employer payroll tax that an employer was required to pay for the previous year was from €1,200 to €4,000, then an annual payment must be made. If total tax due was from €4,000 to €10,000, then quarterly payments are made. If total tax due exceeded €10,000, then monthly payments are made. The employer payroll tax must be remitted to the government on the 15th day of the month following the taxable period.
Employers should use the following forms: No. 2502 Annual Statement for annual payments, No. 2501 for three prepayments plus the annual form No. 2502 for quarterly payments, or No. 2501 for 11 prepayments plus the annual form No. 2502 for monthly payments. Form No. 2502 should always be filed Jan. 15 following the taxable year.
Recordkeeping: Tax records must generally be kept for a minimum of five years. Pay-slips, registry of staff and documents related to salaries, bonuses, benefits and account balances must be retained by the employer for five years. Documents related to payroll and payroll taxes, as well as accounts of employee work days, must be retained for three years. Finally, employee schedules, standby hours and compensation for those hours must be retained for at least one year.
Penalties: Delayed payment of the payroll tax beyond the 15th day of the month following the reporting period can result in late payment interest and a penalty fee of 5%.
Apprenticeship Tax (taxe d’apprentissage, abbreviated as AT) and Additional Apprenticeship Contribution (contribution supplémentaire à l’apprentissage, abbreviated as CSA)
Employers are subject to assessments for the apprenticeship tax unless they fulfill one of the following exceptions:
- Employers that employ at least one apprentice and have wages subject to the tax of up to six times the annual minimum wage;
- Educational institutions;
- Nonprofit civil societies of means (sociétés civiles de moyens, abbreviated as SCM); or
- Other groups of farmers or agricultural employers who themselves would be exempt from the tax.
Employers with less than 11 employees are not responsible for the apprenticeship tax on wages paid to apprentices.
The apprenticeship tax is a 0.68% tax on total taxable wages and benefits in kind paid to all employees the previous calendar year. A rate of 0.44% applies in the departments of Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, and Moselle. The industry-specific training bodies to which payments are made may specify additional contributions.
Employers with at least 250 employees that must pay the apprenticeship tax and that have work-study students making up less than 5% of their workforce must also pay the additional apprenticeship contribution. Effective since Jan. 1, 2016, the contribution rates for the additional contribution are as follows:
| Percentage of Work-Study Students in Workforce | Additional Apprenticeship Contribution Rate |
|---|---|
| At least 3% and less than 5% | 0.05% (0.026% in Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, and Moselle) |
| At least 2% and less than 3% | 0.1% (0.052% in Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, and Moselle) |
| At least 1% and less than 2% | 0.2% (0.104% in Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, and Moselle) |
| Less than 1% | 0.4% (0.208% in Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, and Moselle) |
| Less than 1%, and employer has at least 2,000 employees | 0.6% (0.312% in Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, and Moselle) |
The taxes are reported together with other social taxes using the nominative social declaration (déclaration sociale nominative, abbreviated as DSN).
Payments are made to 11 industry-specific training bodies (French).
Of the total amount of the apprenticeship tax that employers are assessed for a year based on wages paid in the previous year, 87% of that total amount must be deposited by March 31 of the same year for which the tax is assessed and 13% must be deposited by May 31 of the same year for which the tax is assessed. However, exceptionally for 2021, 40% of the amount due for 2021 based on wages paid in 2020 must be paid by Sept. 15, 2021, and the remaining 60% must be paid by March 1, 2022.
Employers with more than 10 employees must pay the 87% portion in two core installments, plus a supplemental installment. When considering percentages of the 87% portion, 60% is due as a first core installment by March 1 of the same year for which the tax is assessed, 38% is due as a second core installment by Sept. 15 of the same year for which the tax is assessed, and the remaining 2% is due as a supplemental installment by March 1 of the following year.
The entire amount of the additional contribution must be paid by March 1 of the following year.
Starting in 2022, payments for both apprenticeship taxes are to instead be made to URSSAF. The 87% portion of the standard apprenticeship tax is to be remitted in monthly payments together with other social taxes. Payments of the remainder of the standard apprenticeship tax due for each year are to be made with social taxes due for April of the following year, while payments of the additional contribution are to be made with social taxes due for March of the following year.
Transport Payment (versement transport, abbreviated as VT)
The transport payment is assessed on employers that employ at least 11 employees in a commune where the transport payment is required to be paid.
Contribution rates for the transport payment are assessed on types of income subject to Social Security contributions and vary among communes based on their size and transportation infrastructure.
Within Ile-de-France, which is one of the 18 regions of France and the region where Paris is located, transport payment rates range from 1.6% to 2.95%. Outside of Ile-de-France, transport payment rates range from zero to 2.5%.
Each commune’s transport payment contribution rate is subject to semiannual adjustment on Jan. 1 and July 1.
Employers may use URSSAF’s Transport Payment rate tool to determine the rate applicable to a commune where they employ at least 11 employees.
State/Jurisdiction Taxes
Overseas departments: Some employers in France’s overseas departments, except Mayotte, receive reductions in their required social taxes. The reduction applies to all types of social taxes.
Eligible employers are those that have fewer than 11 employees and those in specified industries regardless of the number of employees.
The reduction is not a reduced rate. Instead, the amount of the reduction generally depends on:
- the ratio of employees’ gross hourly minimum wages relative to the standard minimum wage;
- the employee’s gross monthly pay; and
- the number of hours worked.
The formulas for calculating the overseas-department reductions in social taxes, effective starting with calculations in 2019, were included in the Ministry of Action and Public Accounts’s Decree No. 2019-199.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
French employees are entitled to a variety of legal protections under the French Labour Code. In addition to a minimum wage and overtime mandate, work hours are also regulated. Workers in France are guaranteed pay for 11 holidays per year, as well as five weeks of paid vacation. Workers are permitted to take leave in addition to being entitled to termination pay.
Companies with more than 50 employees are required to offer profit-sharing incentives and benefits.
Coronavirus (Covid-19) Guidance: Effective from March 12, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2020, employers may require employees who have had their working hours reduced, but still receive their normal wages, to convert up to five accrued but unused statutory rest days or days of annual leave into wages, which are paid into a solidarity fund to compensate other employees who have had their wages reduced by their reduction in working hours. Days of annual leave may only be used if the employee would have at least 24 days left over. Employees who have had their wages reduced by a reduction in working hours may also request the same measures for themselves to compensate for their reduction in wages.
Decree No. 2020-1787, of Dec. 30, 2020, allows employers who have reduced or temporarily suspended working hours to apply to the Ministry of Labour, Employment, and Economic Inclusion for reimbursement of 70% of vacation pay paid to employees for up to 10 days of paid leave taken from Jan. 1 to March 7, 2021, up to a maximum of 4.5 times the minimum wage. To qualify, public entry to part or all of the business must have been prohibited for at least 140 days in 2020; or the employer must have suffered a decrease of at least 90% in sales during France’s public health emergency compared to the same period of 2019.
Partial unemployment allowances (chômage partiel): Employers may apply to the Regional Directorates for Enterprises, Competition, Consumption, Labour, and Employment (Direccte) for partial unemployment allowances for employees whose wages are reduced because their working hours are reduced or because the employer must close temporarily. Employers must pay affected employees 70% of their normal gross wages, but at least the minimum wage. The employer receives a reimbursement of 60% of the employee’s gross wages, up to a maximum of 4.5 times the minimum wage, except that the reimbursement is 70% of wages, subject to the maximum, for certain sectors, including tourism, hotels and restaurants, sports and culture, transport, and aviation.
A longer-term version of the program, known as long-term partial work (activité partielle de longue durée), may be used by employers facing a permanent decline in business. This program requires that the employer must not reduce an employee’s hours by more than 40%, but otherwise has the same payment and reimbursement requirements, and may be used for up to 24 months out of a 36-month period.
Sick leave changes: Effective from Jan. 1 to June 1, 2021, requirements related to accessing sick leave benefits are waived for employees who cannot work, including remotely, because they are considered high-risk for Covid-19 and cannot benefit from reduced working hours or temporary closures; they must isolate because they were exposed to Covid-19; they have Covid-19 symptoms and are waiting for the result of a test taken within two days of stopping work; they tested positive for Covid-19; or they must isolate for seven days upon arrival in France or an overseas department or collectivity. One year of service is not required and the seven-day waiting period does not apply to access employer-provided benefits. Covid-19-related periods of sick leave do not count towards the maximum number of days of benefits provided in a 12-month period.
Telecommuting allowances: Telecommuting allowances provided to employees in 2020 of up to €2.50 per day, €50 per month, or €550 per year are exempt from income tax.
Exceptional Purchasing Power Bonus: Effective from June 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022, employers are permitted to pay their employees a bonus that can be exempt from social taxes subject to certain conditions. An employer that pays a bonus and is not implementing a profit-sharing agreement will have an exempt limit up to €1,000. However, an employer that already implements a profit-sharing agreement and pays a bonus to its employees, or that has less than 50 employees even if it does not have a profit-sharing agreement, will have an exempt limit up to €2,000. If an employer exceeds the designated exempt limit, then the difference in value will be subject to social taxes.
Minimum Wage
France has a standard minimum wage, subject to annual adjustment, that applies throughout Metropolitan France (i.e. the parts of France in Europe), France’s overseas departments except Mayotte, and the overseas collectivities of St. Barthélemy, St. Martin, and St. Pierre and Miquelon.
Effective starting Oct. 1, 2021, France’s standard minimum wage is €10.48 per hour or €1,589.47 per month. Effective from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2021, France’s standard minimum wage was €10.25 per hour or €1,554.58 per month. Effective for 2020, France’s standard minimum wage was €10.15 per hour or €1,539.42 per month.
France’s overseas department of Mayotte has a lower minimum wage than France’s standard minimum wage.
Effective starting Oct. 1, 2021, Mayotte’s minimum wage is €7.91 per hour or €1,199.08 per month. Effective from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2021, Mayotte’s minimum wage is €7.74 per hour or €1,173.27 per month. Effective for 2020, Mayotte’s minimum wage was €7.66 per hour or €1,161.77 per month.
Employers may establish higher salaries and pay year-end bonuses, and collective bargaining agreements often provide more generous compensation than the statutory minimum.
The acronym SMIC, which is an abbreviation of the French term “salaire minimum interprofessionnel de croissance,” is frequently used to refer to the minimum wage.
Overtime
The law or applicable collective bargaining agreement sets an annual quota of overtime per employee, usually 220 hours. Workers may not work in excess of this amount.
Compensation for overtime is calculated as:
- 125% of the normal hourly wages for the first eight hours worked above the standard workweek of 35 hours and
- 150% for every additional hour.
Higher rates may be stipulated in collective agreements.
Overtime pay may be replaced, if agreed to in a collective agreement, by compensatory time off.
Hours of Work
Under French law, the standard workweek for non-management positions is 35 hours, although collective bargaining agreements may set a different standard. Employees must be granted 11 consecutive hours of rest away from work per day, and 35 consecutive hours of rest, with 24 hours added to the daily 11-hour period, once per week. Nonmanagerial employees cannot work more than six days per week, with the weekly day of rest generally Sunday.
Overtime is allowed provided employees do not work more than 44 hours a week on average over a 12 week period. Under no circumstances are employees allowed to work more than 48 hours a week or 10 hours a day.
These rules do not apply to senior management, including executives, officers, sales representatives (VRP), caretakers of individual residential services, servants, and carers for children.
Holidays
Employees are guaranteed only Labor Day (May 1) as a paid holiday. An employee required to work on Labor Day is entitled to an extra day’s worth of pay. Whether other holidays are nonworking days and whether employees receive paid leave for holidays may be determined by the employer or a collective bargaining agreement. However, it is customary for employers to provide employees working in France with paid leave for some or all of the national holidays.
France’s national statutory public holidays are as follows:
- Jan. 1: New Year’s Day, celebrating the start of a new Gregorian Calendar year.
- Easter Monday, the Monday immediately after Easter Sunday.
- May 1: Labor Day, which internationally is the most common date for Labor Day.
- May 8: Victory in Europe Day.
- Ascension, which occurs 39 days after Easter Sunday.
- Whit Monday, which occurs 50 days after Easter Sunday.
- July 14: Bastille Day.
- Aug. 15: Assumption.
- Nov. 1: All Saints’ Day.
- Nov. 11, commemorating the end of World War I in 1918.
- Dec. 25: Christmas.
Metropolitan France’s departments of Moselle, Bas-Rhin, and Haut-Rhin have two additional statutory public holidays:
- Good Friday, the Friday immediately before Easter Sunday.
- Dec. 26: St. Stephen’s Day.
Each of France’s overseas departments has an additional public holiday marking the abolition of slavery in each department. The holidays are as follows:
- April 27 in Mayotte;
- May 22 in Martinique;
- May 27 in Guadeloupe;
- June 10 in French Guiana; and
- Dec. 20 in Réunion.
Holidays do not move if they fall on weekends.
Day of solidarity: Employees are required to annually work for seven hours without pay beyond their normal compensated working time. These seven hours are a period known as the day of solidarity (journée de solidarité). In return for not paying employees, the employer must make a contribution of 0.3% of employees’ wages known as the solidarity contribution for autonomy (Contribution de solidarité pour l’autonomie, abbreviated as CSA). While the day of solidarity was initially Whit Monday, a specific date is no longer required, although Whit Monday is commonly chosen, and employers may choose another public holiday besides May 1, a nonworking day granted by the employer’s collective bargaining agreement, or any other method that allows employees to work for seven hours not otherwise worked, excluding days of annual leave. In the departments of Moselle, Bas-Rhin, and Haut-Rhin, the day of solidarity also may not be held on Good Friday, Christmas, or Dec. 26. If an employer is not covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the employer should choose the date in consultation with employee representatives. The day of solidarity does not have to be the same for all employees in a company.
Leave
Employees are entitled to five weeks of annual leave and can accrue leave at a rate of 2.08 days per month for a five-day workweek (up to 2.5 days per month) during a reference period from June 1 to May 31. At least 12 consecutive days of leave must be taken between May 1 and Oct. 31. Sunday work remains an exception and must be authorized either by law (for specific sectors or geographical areas) or by the Labor Administration.
An employee is entitled to vacation pay equivalent to 10% of gross compensation earned during the reference period and can in no case be paid less than what would have been earned had the employee worked during that vacation period.
Sick Leave: Health insurance funds pay an employee on sick leave a daily benefit after a three-day waiting period, and the employer is required to provide additional benefits after a seven-day waiting period should employees have at least one year of service and report the illness within 48 hours. The employer-provided benefit is divided into a period of 90% of the employee’s normal gross wages, followed by an equal period of two-thirds of the employee’s normal gross wages, with the total benefit provided ranging from 60 to 180 days, depending on the employee’s length of service, in a 12-month period. If sick leave lasts longer than 30 days, the employee must undergo a medical examination before returning to work.
Family Leave: Any employee may take paid family leave of: three days following the birth or adoption of a child; four days for her/his own wedding; one day for his/her child’s wedding; and one day for the death of a close relative (father, mother, parents-in-law, and siblings).
An employee may take unpaid family leave of: three to five days per year for a sick child; six weeks for adoption of a child abroad; three months to take care of a relative with a terminal illness or severe handicap; one to three years of parental leave to raise a child under three years old; one year to set up a business; up to 11 months of sabbatical leave (subject to the employer’s agreement); and six months to take part in a humanitarian association abroad.
Collective bargaining agreements may provide more generous benefits.
Maternity Leave: Employees are required to take, and employers are required to compensate for, maternity leave. The amount of time designated for such leave is determined based on the following metric:
One child (with one child preexisting) grants the mother 6 weeks of prenatal leave, plus 10 weeks of postnatal leave. One child (with two or more children preexisting) grants the mother eight weeks of prenatal leave, plus 18 weeks of postnatal leave. Twins yield 12 prenatal weeks and 22 postnatal weeks; triplets yield 24 prenatal weeks and 22 postnatal weeks. Medical complications will yield two additional prenatal weeks and four additional postnatal weeks.
Mothers receiving maternity leave are required to use at least eight weeks of the leave.
Paternity Leave: Effective since July 1, 2021, fathers are entitled to three days of required birth leave and four days of required paternity leave after the child’s birth, followed by 21 days of paternity leave, or 28 days for multiple births, that must be taken within six months of the child’s birth. Effective until June 30, 2021, male employees were entitled to paternity leave of 11 consecutive days within the four months following a child’s birth and three days of birth leave.
Adoption Leave: On the day of the child’s arrival, a parent is eligible for 10 weeks of leave if one or fewer children reside in the home. If a home has two preexisting children, a parent is eligible for 18 weeks of leave. If two or more children are adopted simultaneously, a parent is eligible for 22 weeks of leave. Additional time between 11 and 18 additional days may be granted for parents who split their leave eligibility between them.
Wage Payment
Payment of salary (i.e. wages, not bonuses or allowances) is required to be once per month, unless the employee’s occupation is classified as seasonal, temporary, intermittent, or work-from-home. Employees not receiving a monthly payment must be compensated at least two times per month and an employer cannot exceed 16 days between payments.
Employers must provide payslips to employees whenever they are paid. Among the details that must be provided on a payslip issued in conjunction with a payment to an employee are the gross and net payment amounts, social tax liabilities for the employee and employer, exemption amounts, the number of regular hours and overtime hours of work attributable to the payment, and the hourly regular and overtime rates of compensation applicable to the payment.
Payslips generally must be provided to employees electronically, although employers need to allow employees to have the opportunity to opt out of receiving payslips electronically and instead receive paper payslips. The opportunity to opt out of electronic receipt of payslips must be provided to employees on their date of hire, or one month before they receive their first payslip.
Bonuses and Special Benefits
Profit-Sharing: There are various incentive plans set forth in the French Labor Code, including profit-sharing, stock options and free allotment of shares.
Companies with more than 50 employees are required to offer a profit-sharing plan negotiated as part of a collective bargaining agreement with employee representatives. Unless a minimum seniority condition applies, all employees are plan participants. Rights are allocated based on salary, although ceilings may be set to ensure a larger share to lesser paid employees. Employees may choose to invest their funds in company stock or bonds or in accredited investment funds. Depending on plan design, employee access to funds is blocked for three to five years. Amounts credited to the plan are deductible by employers for tax purposes and generally not subject to social security contributions, while for employees profit-sharing sums are exempt from income tax.
The employer must reimburse professional expenses if substantiated and within the limits set by the company. The employer may pay additional compensation for food, lodging and transportation, although this additional compensation is only partially exempt from social security contributions.
It is customary though not mandatory for employees to receive a 13th month bonus at the end of December.
Termination Pay
Employees are entitled to one of two types of redundancy payments at termination depending on which is most favorable: statutory redundancy and contractual redundancy. Employees who have worked for an employer for at least one year are entitled to severance pay. This payment is calculated based on the employee’s gross salary in the year preceding termination. Although termination pay is generally subject to income taxes, in specific cases, termination pay can be exempt from income tax. These exemptions are listed in the Labor Code.
Employees are not entitled to this benefit if they are terminated due to their own poor performance or negligence. Employees who are terminated outside of their own fault are entitled to at least two-tenths of a month’s salary per year of service. At 10 years of seniority, the employee is eligible for two-tenths of a month’s salary, plus two-fifteenths of a month’s salary for each year of service beyond 10 years.
Employees released from employment for reasons other than gross misconduct after at least one year of service are entitled to compensatory redundancy. This payment is calculated based on a reference wage and depends on the employee’s seniority in the company.
The reference wage is one-twelfth of the gross remuneration (including bonuses) for the preceding 12 months of employment or one-third of the gross remuneration for the preceding three months—whichever is more favorable. The compensation cannot be less than one-fifth of the month of salary per year of service, plus two-fifteenths months per year beyond 10 years of service. If the dismissal is triggered by economic reasons, these rates are doubled.
For internationally mobile employees, the buying and selling of shares acquired in France is subject to withholding tax after leaving France. If an individual normally contributes to the social security regime, these amounts also are subject to social taxes.
Workers’ Compensation
Workers’ compensation, often known as work accident and professional illness insurance (accident du travail/maladie professionnelle, abbreviated as AT/MP), is overseen by regional pension and occupational health insurance funds in metropolitan France and by overseas departments’ general social security funds. Information regarding contributions is available in social taxes. All employees covered by health insurance are also covered by workers’ compensation.
The employee’s salary must be paid for the day of the accident, and benefits start the day after the accident and are 60% of the employee’s daily salary for the first 28 days of benefits. Starting with the 29th day, benefits increase to 80% of the employee’s daily salary. Benefits are subject to daily maximums that may be adjusted each year. Employees with a degree of permanent disability of at least 10% may receive a pension, which is paid quarterly if the degree is less than 50% or monthly if the degree is at least 50%.
Recordkeeping
Employers must keep pay stubs for five years, and the pay stubs must include a message encouraging employees to indefinitely keep them.
FOREIGN WORKERS
Employees not domiciled in France generally are not liable for payroll taxation, but for a distinct withholding tax levied on all wages of French origin. Regardless of nationality, nonresidents are liable for income taxation on French earnings, including:
- income from professional activities, salaried or not, or from for-profit operations conducted in France;
- income, salaried or not, from activities related to artistry or sport conducted in France.
Amounts paid for any services of any kind rendered or used in France also are liable to domestic taxation. Nonresidents also generally are ineligible for tax deductions or credits, even on income earned solely in France.
The buying and selling of shares acquired in France by foreign workers is subject to withholding tax after leaving France. If an individual normally contributes to the social security regime, these amounts also are subject to social taxes.
Visa Requirements: Applicants for long-stay visas (including students, spouses of French nationals, employees, trainees, scientists and researchers and visitors) are required to pay residency fees when they submit their applications—rather than only after being approved. The French Office of Immigration and Integration (OFII) requires fees on long-stay visas, in some cases totaling approximately €340.
The visa is free of charge for certain categories of workers. Payment of visa taxes must be made solely through credit card at the time of application with the processing cost pegged to the type of visa requested.
EU Blue Card: The Blue Card is a work permit intended to permit highly educated non-EU citizens to work and live in the EU. The card is intended to be equivalent to the U.S. green card and encourages long-term residency in an EU country. Workers who receive the Blue Card are required to meet three criteria:
- a diploma representing at least three years of higher education issued by a higher education institution recognized by the country in which it is located or justify five years of professional experience comparable level;
- an employment contract for a period equal to or greater than one year, covered by the Foreign Workforce Department;
- a monthly salary of at least 1.5 times the average gross fixed reference year as established by the Minister of Immigration.
In return, the recipient is granted a one-track permit process valid for two years and additional rights tailored to family reunification.
Non-European nationals: All other nationalities are required to possess a work permit, unless otherwise noted in a treaty with France. Several countries have secured bilateral agreements with France on migration and occupational mobility issues. The following countries have secured agreements pertaining to young professionals seeking training or careers in France: Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada, Morocco, Romania, New Zealand and the United States. The following countries have secured occupational mobility agreements: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Madagascar, Russia, Senegal and Tunisia.
European nationals: Citizens of European Union member states, with the exceptions of Bulgaria and Romania, do not require a visa or work permit to enter France. Citizens of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco and San Marino also do not require a work permit or visa to work in France. A Schengen visa allows short-term visitors the ability to move freely among the Schengen Agreement states, including: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Other skilled workers: Visa, non-EU skilled workers are divided into four categories:
- Skills and Talent Visa Card: This three-year status is for candidates who are seeking work in France whose skills are uniquely suited to a project’s success. This status requires a fee paid by the employee. Spouses joining the employee also are required to pay a fee. The employer is not required to pay a fee.
- Employee-on-Assignment Visa Card: This status is designed for nationals of non-EU countries working for non-French companies who have been seconded to France for at least three months, retain a salary of at least 1.5 times the minimum wage, and bring a set of skills necessary to the success of the project abroad. Employers and employees are both responsible for paying fees on this permit based on the length of stay and the level of pay.
- Scientific-Research Visa Card: This status applies to non-EU citizens, as well as Bulgarians, Romanians, Algerians and holders of higher education diplomas attempting to conduct all or part of their research in France. Employers and employees are both responsible for paying fees on this permit based on the length of stay and the level of pay. If an employee works in the public sector, then the employer is not required to pay this fee.
- Artistic and Cultural Profession Visa Card: In order to be approved under this status with a French employer, the employer must demonstrate an unsuccessful candidate search among French workers. The recipient of this status must also have signed a work agreement for at least three months with an employer whose main activity is the exploitation of a work of the mind. Employers and employees are both responsible for paying fees on this permit based on the length of stay and the level of pay.
Taxes: Nonresidents only are subject to taxation on the income they earn in France. Nonresident employees therefore are not liable for general payroll taxation, although they are subject to a substitutive withholding tax on wages. Income tax rates assessed on wages paid to nonresidents for work performed in metropolitan France range from zero to 20%.
Income tax rates assessed on wages paid to nonresidents for work performed in France’s overseas departments, other than with regard to the rate of zero for the first nonresident income tax bracket, are lower than those in effect on wages paid to nonresidents for work performed in metropolitan France and range from zero to 14.4%.
Note: The separate income tax withholding brackets for nonresidents are to be abolished, effective starting Jan. 1, 2023, and withholding for nonresidents is to be calculated according to the nonpersonalized brackets for residents’ income tax withholding.
Effective for 2021, France’s income tax withholding rates and minimum and maximum amounts of annual income for nonresident employees are as follows:| Range of Annual Income (Euro) | Income Tax Rate for Work in Metropolitan France | Income Tax Rate for Work in France Overseas Departments |
|---|---|---|
| Up to €15,018 | Zero | Zero |
| More than €15,018 and up to €43,563 | 12% | 8% |
| More than €43,563 | 20% | 14.4% |
| Range of Annual Income (Euro) | Income Tax Rate for Work in Metropolitan France | Income Tax Rate for Work in France Overseas Departments |
|---|---|---|
| Up to €14,839 | Zero | Zero |
| More than €14,839 and up to €43,047 | 12% | 8% |
| More than €43,047 | 20% | 14.4% |
An exception to the aforementioned income tax rates for nonresidents is that nonresident artists and athletes are assessed a flat income tax rate of 15% on wages paid to them for work performed in France.
Nonresidents also are subject to an income tax surcharge called the exceptional contribution on high incomes (contribution exceptionnelle sur les hauts revenus), using the same surcharge income brackets and rates in effect for residents. More information about the surcharge is available in the Income Taxes section.
Employers are responsible for paying some taxes for each foreign worker hired, though the amount depends on the contract period and residency length. Employer taxes range from €74 for a three- to 12-month visa residence permit for employee wages totaling less than minimum wage to as much as 55% of gross monthly employee wages (up to 2.5 times the minimum wage) if an employee is on assignment as a temporary resident for more than a year.
French employees working outside of France for a French employer are still entitled to the same insurance benefits, and contributions, as their domestic counterparts, although expatriate employees living away from France long-term may elect to reduce their coverage voluntarily to sickness, maternity, disability; accidents, occupational diseases; and retirement pensions, only. Supplemental pensions are not mandatory for expatriate French employees. Moreover, employees temporarily assigned beyond France are entirely entitled to and responsible for social security contributions, as though they work in France.
Note that the buying and selling of shares acquired in France is subject to withholding tax after leaving France. If an individual normally contributes to the social security regime, these amounts also are subject to social taxes.
Tax Incentives: Expatriate employees who are seconded to France by non-French employers or who are recruited from abroad by a French employer may receive income tax exemptions. They may receive the exemptions until the end of the fifth year after the year in which employment began if their employment in France began by July 5, 2016. Alternatively, they may receive the exemptions until the end of the eighth year after the year in which employment began if their employment in France began on July 6, 2016, or later. The tax exemptions are on certain wages and benefits in a system known as the impatriate regime ( régime fiscal des impatriés), and sometimes in English as the expatriate regime. To be eligible for the benefit, the employee must not have been a French tax resident in the preceding five years, and must not have moved to France for work on the employee’s own initiative before beginning the employment in question. The benefit allows for remuneration received outside of France by the expatriate as well as “expatriate bonuses,” or overseas living allowances related to living in France, to be income tax-free for the employee. However, if an employer wishes to exempt an employee’s expatriate bonus from tax, the employee’s taxable income must without the bonus be at least equal to the wages paid to a French employee for a similar position. Employees can also choose to have 30% of their total net compensation, not including social tax contributions, considered a tax-free expatriate bonus.
Tax-free expatriate bonuses paid to employees benefiting from the impatriate regime who began employment July 6, 2016, or later, may also be deducted from the wages used to calculate the payroll tax owed by the employer.
Wages/Payments: There are no special wage payment requirements for foreign workers.
WORKING IN THE UNITED STATES
Foreign workers from France must meet general visa requirements and be certified to be employed in the U.S. General visa requirements for the U.S. are included in the separate
France is eligible for the visa waiver program for business visitors, which allows French citizens to travel to the U.S. for 90 days or less for business-specific purposes without having to obtain a B-1 business visa. Stays longer than 90 days will require a visa. Individuals may return to the U.S. under the visa waiver program if a “reasonable length of time” has passed. The determination for a reasonable length of time is at the discretion of the Department of Homeland Security.
U.S. employers also must check the names of all new-hires and employees against the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Because OFAC prohibits financial transactions with individuals on the list, employers cannot employ them and may face fines for failing to comply.
For tax purposes, French citizens are subject to U.S. employment-based taxation on income earned in the U.S. unless they can claim an exemption under certain tax treaty provisions or they work under specific visa types that exempt earnings from taxes. France has both a tax treaty and a social tax totalization agreement with the U.S.
State and local taxation of French workers also can apply, although some states within the U.S. recognize international tax treaties that can eliminate that income tax liability for foreign workers.
The U.S. labor laws apply to all workers employed and providing services in the country.
Work eligibility as an employee is contingent upon Department of Homeland Security and Labor Department approval and the employee receiving a U.S. Social Security number from the Social Security Administration.
Tax Residency: In general, employees working in the U.S. on a temporary basis are considered nonresidents for tax purposes unless they qualify for resident status. Employees can be granted permanent resident status through the so-called green card test or if they meet the substantial presence test under the U.S. tax code. More information on these requirements is in the
Permanent residents are subject to U.S. tax requirements the same as U.S. citizens and are taxed under the U.S. system on their worldwide earnings.
Income Taxes: Generally, nonresidents in the U.S. who are from France and are working in the U.S. are subject to U.S. taxes based on their U.S.-sourced income. Income is taxed differently based on whether it is categorized as wage income or nonwage income, which includes interest and dividends.
A Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate, must be filed by each employee with their employer. All nonresidents in the U.S. who are from France and are working in the U.S. must claim “single” in Step 1c, regardless of marital status; write “Nonresident Alien” or “NRA” in the space under Step 4c of the form; and may not claim “exempt” in the space under Step 4c.
Nonresident alien employees may adjust withholding using Step 2b or 2c of the Form W-4; certain employees also may be able to use Steps 3, 4a, or 4b. More information about Form W-4 requirements for nonresident alien employees is available in the
Although the versions of Form W-4 issued in 2020 or later significantly differ from the versions issued in 2019 or earlier, nonresident employees that filed a valid version of Form W-4 from 2019 or earlier with their employer do not need to file another Form W-4 with the employer unless they need to implement a change for their withholding. On Forms W-4 issued in 2019 or earlier, nonresident alien employees were required to check the “single” box on line 3, regardless of marital status; write “Nonresident Alien” or “NRA” above the dotted line on line 6; and were not permitted to claim “exempt” on line 7 of the form.
An additional amount is added to a nonresident alien employee’s wages for calculating federal income tax withholding, with the amount based on pay period frequency and the date of the employee’s most recently filed Form W-4. The table of additional amounts applicable to Forms W-4 from 2020 or later and the table applicable to Forms W-4 issued before 2020 are available in the
Nonwage income and self-employed foreign workers can be subject to income tax withholding at a flat rate of 30%.
Additionally, foreign workers may be taxed differently based on the specific type of visa they hold.
Tax treaties: France and the U.S. have a tax treaty with provisions addressing host country taxation of the nonresident workers. A summary of those benefits is listed in the Tax Treaty Exemption Comparison Chart. To claim the treaty benefit, the nonresident must file Form 8233, Exemption From Withholding on Compensation for Independent (and Certain Dependent) Personal Services of a Nonresident Alien Individual, with the employer.
Students, trainees, teachers and researchers in particular must include a statement with Form 8233 to claim a tax treaty exemption from withholding of tax on compensation for dependent personal services. This statement affirms that the student, trainee, teacher or researcher is temporarily in the U.S. for purposes of studying or has accepted an invitation by the U.S. government (or by a political subdivision or local authority) for the purpose of teaching or engaging in research for a period not expected to exceed two years by a university or other recognized educational institution in the U.S. It also must affirm that the individual will receive compensation for services performed in the U.S. The student exemption is not to exceed $8,000 a year; no limit is placed on the teacher or researcher compensation for French residents.
Examples of the statements necessary to claim a treaty exemption from U.S. taxes are included in Internal Revenue Service Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens.
Social Taxes: Most foreign workers are subject to paying into the U.S. Social Security system. Foreign nationals who are exempt from paying income tax and who do not have the eligibility to receive a social security number may not be required to pay social taxes. Foreign workers contributing to Social Security for a certain time period may be eligible to receive benefits.
Generally, foreign workers in the U.S. that have specific visas as exchange visitors or students or who are temporarily in the U.S. for agricultural work are not subject to social taxes on income that is obtained from the purpose in which they originally entered the U.S.
Totalization Agreements: Social Security totalization agreements can allow foreign workers and U.S. nationals working abroad to avoid paying into two social security systems while being subjected to losing benefits for their home country system. Under totalization agreements, generally, foreign workers will only pay into one of the social security systems, either the home or the foreign system, but not both. Foreign nationals, utilizing a totalization agreement, also can count years of contributions paid to different social security systems to all of the systems they have contributed to in order to be eligible for benefits in one country.
France and the U.S. have entered into a totalization agreement aand a summary of those provisions is included in
Wage Payment: Under certain visas for certain types of employment, employers are required to pay foreign workers the higher of either the prevailing wage or the actual wage that is paid to U.S. workers that have similar skills and qualifications.
There are no particular requirements that employees be paid in U.S. dollars.
TREATY ARRANGEMENTS
France has entered into more than 100 income tax treaties, including an income tax treaty with the United States. France also has entered into more than 20 totalization agreements for social tax coverage purposes, including a totalization agreement with the United States. Additionally, France has income tax treaties in effect between its European mainland and four of its oversees collectivities, and these treaties affect taxation of individuals who may have presence in some form in the collectivities or in the European mainland part of France.
France’s tax treaties are available in
The totalization agreement between France and the U.S. is with regard to Social Security protection for citizens who have worked in both countries, but may lack enough credits for eligibility in either country. The agreement guarantees to workers monthly retirement, disability and survivors benefits, without requiring payment into both systems. While the agreement eliminates double taxation for social taxes, it does not offer certain U.S. Medicare benefits or benefits under the Supplemental Security Income program.
If employees work in the U.S., then they generally pay Social Security taxes in the U.S. If employees work in France, they generally pay Social Security taxes in France. Notably, if employers send employees from their home country to work in the other country for less than five years, then employees will still be taxed by their home country for Social Security.
RESOURCES
All resources in English unless otherwise noted.
General
Employer Obligations, Center for European and International Liaisons for Social Security (French)
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency:
- The World Factbook: France
- The World Factbook: Languages
U.S. Department of Commerce: Export.gov: France - Business Travel
U.S. State Department: U.S. Relations With France
Currency Details
Unicode Consortium: Currency Symbols
International Organization for Standardization: Currency Codes - ISO 4217
United Nations: United Nations Terminology Database: France
Taxes
LegiFrance, Legislative Database (French)
French Tax Administration (French)
Income Tax Calendar (French)
Nonpersonalized Tax Rates for Income Tax Withholding (French)
Information for Employers on Income Tax Withholding (French)
News Release on Income Tax Withholding Rate Notices (French)
Social Insurance System Contribution Rates (French)
Association for Collection of Social Security and Family Contributions (French)
Employer Payroll Tax (French)
Directorate General of Public Finances: Payroll Tax Regulations (French)
Ministry of Public Action and Accounts: News Release Regarding Income Tax Withholding for Household Employment (French)
Law No. 2018-1213 of December 24, 2018 on Emergency Economic and Social Measures (French)
General Reduction for Employer Social Taxes (French)
URSSAF, Extension of General Reduction to Unemployment Insurance Contributions (French)
URSSAF, Extension of Social Tax Deadlines (French)
URSSAF, Terms of Application for Exemption and Payment Assistance (French)
URSSAF, Employer Covid-19 Measures (French)
Loi 2020-1721 du 29 décembre 2020 de finances pour 2021 [Law No. 2020-1721 of Dec. 29, 2020, on Finances for 2021], Journal Officiel de la République Française, Dec. 30, 2020 (French)
Arrêté du 22 décembre 2020 portant fixation du plafond de la sécurité sociale pour 2021 [Order of Dec. 22, 2020, Fixing the Social Security Ceiling for 2021], Journal Officiel de la République Française, Dec. 29, 2020 (French)
Décret n° 2019-797 du 26 juillet 2019 relatif au régime d’assurance chômage [Decree No. 2019-797 of July 26, 2019, Relating to the Unemployment Insurance Scheme], Journal Officiel de la République Française, July 28, 2019 (French)
Décret n° 2020-1739 du 29 décembre 2020 relatif au recouvrement et à la répartition des contributions dédiées au financement de l’apprentissage et de la formation professionnelle [Decree No. 2020-1739 of Dec. 29, 2020, Relating to the Collection and Distribution of Contributions for Apprenticeship and Vocational Training], Journal Officiel de la République Française, Dec. 30, 2020 (French)
Ordonnance n° 2021-797 du 23 juin 2021 relative au recouvrement, à l’affectation et au contrôle des contributions des employeurs au titre du financement de la formation professionnelle et de l’apprentissage [Ordinance No. 2021-797 of June 23, 2021, Related to the Collection, Allocation, and Control of Employers’ Contributions to Finance Vocational Training and Apprenticeship], Journal Officiel de la République Française, June 24, 2021 (French)
Loi n° 2021-953 du 19 juillet 2021 de finances rectificative pour 2021 [Law No. 2021-953, of July 19, 2021, on Corrective Finance for 2021], Journal Officiel de la République Française, July 20, 2021 (French)
Compensation and Benefits
Labour Code (French)
Service-Public.fr: Minimum Wage in France (French)
Service-Public.fr: Payslip Details (French)
Service-Public.fr: Maternity Leave (French)
Ministry of Labour, Employment, and Economic Inclusion:
- Partial Unemployment Allowances (French)
- Long-Term Partial Work (French)
Ministry of the Economy and Finance: 2020 Telecommuting Allowances (French)
Social Security: Health Insurance (French)
Décret n° 2021-13 du 8 janvier 2021 prévoyant l’application de dérogations relatives au bénéfice des indemnités journalières et de l’indemnité complémentaire [Decree No. 2021-13 of Jan. 8, 2021, Providing Exemptions Related to the Benefit of the Daily Allowance and Supplementary Allowance] (French)
Foreign Workers
French Embassy: Authorization for Foreign Workers
French Embassy: Visas for France
European Union Blue Card
Directorate General of Public Finances: Impatriate Regime Regulations (French)
Guidance Regarding Impatriate Regime (French)
Working in the United States
U.S. Department of Labor:
- Foreign Labor Certification:
- Hiring Foreign Workers
U.S. Department of State: Visa Waiver Program
U.S. Internal Revenue Service:
- IRS Notice 1392, Supplemental Form W-4 Instructions for Nonresident Aliens
- IRS Publication 15, Circular E, Employer’s Tax Guide
- IRS Publication 515, Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Entities
- IRS Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens
- IRS Publication 901, U.S. Tax Treaties
Treaty Arrangements
U.S./France Totalization Agreement