I am a cross-border worker and I am selling my main residence in the Pays de Gex: am I exempt from capital gains?

Under French tax law, the sale of the main residence is completely exempt from capital gains tax, with no condition as to the length of time it is held. This rule is laid down in Article 150 U of the General Tax Code. It applies to both income tax (19%) and social security contributions, subject to an important clarification for cross-border workers, which we will see in section 4.

The condition is simple in principle: the property must constitute the habitual and effective residence of the owner on the day of the sale. It doesn't matter if you bought two years ago or twenty years ago. It does not matter how much capital gain is realized. As long as you actually occupy the property as your main occupation at the time of signing at the notary's office, no capital gains tax is due.

By this the French tax authorities mean the place where you have your home, i.e. where you live permanently with your family, where your address is registered and where you spend most of your nights. It is not the place of work — you work in Switzerland — but the place of life. For a cross-border worker from the Pays de Gex, this notion typically corresponds to the house or apartment on the French side where you return every evening (or every week for B permits with accommodation in Switzerland).

Proof of the main residence is based on a set of concordant evidence: French tax address, proof of address (electricity bills, water, internet), vehicle registration, place of schooling of the children. The notary and the tax authorities can check these elements.

The Franco-Swiss tax treaty of 9 September 1966 is the founding text of the taxation of cross-border workers. It divides taxing rights between the two countries to avoid double taxation.

On the specific subject of real estate capital gains, the treaty is clear and favourable to cross-border workers residing in France: capital gains realised on the sale of a property located in France fall exclusively under French tax jurisdiction. Switzerland does not intervene — neither to impose nor to complicate. The capital gain will not be declared in Switzerland, and the canton of Geneva has no right to tax it.

This is an important difference with the situation of wage income, which is certainly taxed in Switzerland but reintegrated in France for the calculation of the effective rate. For real estate capital gains, this effective rate mechanism does not apply : the capital gain is fully exempt if the conditions are met, or taxed at a flat rate (36.2%) otherwise. Your Swiss income does not aggravate the taxation of your real estate capital gain.

It does not change the French exemption conditions. As a French tax resident who sells a property located in France, you are subject to French rules of common law. It is not your status as a cross-border worker that requires the exemption, but the nature of the property sold (main residence) and the conditions under which you sell it.

The property must be occupied as a main residence on the day of the sale. It is not necessary to have lived there for a minimum number of years. On the other hand, if you left the premises before the final deed was signed, the situation becomes more complicated.

It often happens that the owner has to leave his home before finding a buyer: moving to a larger property, professional mobility, separation. In this case, the tax authorities accept that the exemption remains applicable provided that the sale takes place within a normal period from the start — generally assessed at one year, except in exceptional circumstances. The property must not have been rented out or loaned free of charge to a third party during this waiting period.

For a cross-border worker in the Pays de Gex, this situation is concrete: if you buy a new property while waiting to sell the old one, you have one year to conclude the sale and keep the benefit of the exemption on the old home.

This is the technical point that is most often misunderstood, and yet it is significant.

For a typical French resident, the non-exempt capital gain on real estate is subject to two components: income tax (19%) and social security contributions (17.2%, including CSG, CRDS and solidarity levy). That is an overall tax of 36.2%.

A cross-border worker working in Switzerland and affiliated to the Swiss social security system (which is the case for almost all Geneva cross-border workers) benefits from a favourable rule on social security contributions, which is the result of a confirmed case law that has now been codified. As they are affiliated to the social security of a State of the European Economic Area or Switzerland, they are exempt from CSG and CRDS, but remain liable for the solidarity levy (7.5%).

In concrete terms, if your capital gain is taxable (property that is not your main residence), the overall rate applicable is not 36.2% but 26.5% (19% income tax + 7.5% solidarity levy).

In the case of the main residence, this subtlety is theoretically irrelevant since the capital gain is totally exempt. But it becomes very concrete if you sell a second home or a rental investment, or if you are only partially exempt. It is also an additional argument to properly document your affiliation to the Swiss scheme at the time of sale.

This is a common scenario in the Pays de Gex: you decide to switch to Swiss residency (switching from tax residence to Geneva or Vaud) and then you sell your old home in France.

In this case, you become a non-French tax resident at the time of the sale. The situation is then dealt with under a different regime: the non-resident can benefit from a total exemption on his former main residence if certain conditions are met (property not rented or loaned from the start, sale within one year). Any taxable capital gain will be taxed according to the rules applicable to non-residents — with the particularity that Swiss residents, affiliated to the Swiss social security system, only pay the solidarity levy of 7.5% and not the CSG-CRDS (17.2%).

Beware of the repayment of the 2nd pillar: if you had financed the purchase of this property by releasing your LPP early, the resale in principle obliges you to repay the amount withdrawn from your pension fund, unless you reinvest in a new main residence within two years. Check this with your caisse before signing.

If your main residence is held via a real estate company (SCI), the exemption rules do not apply in the same way. The SCI is a separate legal entity: it is the one that sells the property, and the main residence exemption is, in principle, reserved for natural persons. Arrangements exist, but they require a case-by-case analysis with a notary or a tax lawyer.

In joint ownership (for example an unmarried couple), each co-owner can benefit from the exemption on his or her share, provided that the property is also his or her main residence.

When spouses or civil partners separate and one of them ceases to occupy the family home, the exemption remains applicable to each of them at the time of the sale, even if one of them left the premises before the sale, provided that the home was the couple's common residence before the separation.

For the record and to complete the picture, here is what applies if you sell a property that is not your main residence — second home, studio kept for late working weeks in Geneva, rental investment.

The capital gain is then taxable. The calculation is carried out in two stages: first the overall rate (36.2% for a French resident, 26.5% for a cross-border worker affiliated to the Swiss regime as seen above), then application of progressive allowances according to the length of time of ownership. The total exemption from income tax occurs after 22 years of ownership, and the total exemption from social security contributions after 30 years. A progressive surcharge (from 2 to 6%) is added when the net capital gain exceeds €50,000.

In the Pays de Gex, where property prices have risen significantly over the last fifteen years, significant capital gains can be made on properties held for less than 22 years. The holding period is therefore a strategic parameter to be integrated into any sales decision.

In October 2024, as part of the parliamentary debates on the finance bill for 2025, an amendment put forward by Socialist deputies caused a lot of talk. It proposed to condition the main residence exemption on a minimum period of occupation of 5 years, with exceptions for professional transfers, sales to acquire a new main residence, separations or prolonged hospitalizations.

The stated objective was to fight against "speculative tumbles" — the rapid purchase-resale of properties declared as a main residence to circumvent capital gains tax, a phenomenon observed in particular in tense tourist areas.

This amendment was not retained in the final text of the finance law promulgated on February 14, 2025. The main residence exemption therefore remains, in 2026, total and without any condition of duration of ownership. If you have lived in your property for only two years and wish to resell it, you benefit from the same exemption as if you had occupied it for fifteen years.

This issue nevertheless deserves to be followed: the problem of short-term real estate speculation remains on the legislative agenda, and a similar measure could resurface in a future finance bill.

Unlike the sale of a taxable property, the sale of the main residence does not give rise to a declaration or payment of capital gains. The notary simply notes the exemption in the deed of sale, without any particular formality related to the capital gain. You do not have to declare anything on your French tax return in this respect.

Yes. If you have to leave before selling (new home found, transfer), do not leave the property vacant for too long and do not rent it out. Each month that passes starts the one-year period beyond which the administration can contest the exemption. Organize the sale as soon as you leave, or ideally before.

The capital gain realized on a property located in France is not taxable in Switzerland, in accordance with the Franco-Swiss treaty. As a French tax resident, you do not have to declare it in the Swiss tax return. If you have transferred your residency to Switzerland and have become a Swiss resident, check with a local advisor: in Switzerland, capital gains on private wealth are generally exempt at the federal level, but specific cantonal taxes may apply.

No. You can freely repatriate the proceeds to a bank account in Switzerland. Just remember to declare this account to the French tax authorities via form 3916 if you haven't already done so — all accounts held abroad must be declared by French tax residents.