2027 Finance Bill: exit tax, gifts of shares and contribution-sale, what risks for expatriates?

The stages are listed from the most recent to the oldest. Earlier entries form the history of the debates.

8 October 2026 - An amendment adopted in committee refocuses the reform

Status: amendment I-CF1877 adopted by the Finance Committee; no final adoption of the measure. Read Philippe Juvin’s amendment

This version preserves the current treatment of inheritances and keeps section II of Article 150-0 B ter. Its transitional clause would restrict the reform to capital gains deferred on contributions made from 7 October 2026. Earlier contributions would therefore remain governed by current law if this adjustment were finally retained.

Gifts would be targeted where the contributed shares have been sold, redeemed, repaid or cancelled within eight years of the contribution: either within the first three years, with the deferral maintained because of a reinvestment, in whole or in part, in certain funds; or after three years where the proceeds have not been reinvested in accordance with the time limits, proportions and direct-investment terms provided for by the text.

Taxation would be limited to the portion corresponding to the reinvestment in funds in the first case, or to the proceeds not reinvested in eligible assets in the second, taking into account the proportion of shares gifted. Certain restructurings would be excluded from the triggering events. A gift would therefore not systematically become taxable.

The amendment adapts the Exit Tax rules to these targeted events and extends the income tax payment plan to ten years following the year in which the capital gain becomes taxable. The request and guarantees would still be required; social security contributions would not be covered by this instalment arrangement.

1 October 2026 - The Government bill considers a broad tightening

Status: bill tabled, before the committee adjustments. Read Article 5 of the initial bill

The initial Government bill. Article 5, proposed on 1 October 2026, would replace, in several provisions of Article 150-0 B ter, the reference to a “transfer for consideration” with a reference to a “transfer” and would delete section II, which governs certain gifts. Both gifts and inheritances would thus become events ending the tax deferral.

This initial wording covers the shares received in exchange for the contribution, the shares or rights in interposed companies or groupings, and the shares resulting from successive contributions or exchanges, referred to in 1° and 3° of I and in 1° of IV of Article 150-0 B ter of the CGI. It could therefore affect multi-tier structures, without automatically covering all interposed holding companies.

The initial text covers transfers made from 1 October 2026, even where the contribution is older. For expatriates, it proposes ending the payment deferral on certain transfers of shares, including where shares carrying an unrealised gain at departure were contributed after the move abroad. It provides for income tax to be paid in instalments over the five years following the year of taxation.

The reference rules for the Exit Tax and the contribution-sale regime

The guidance below describes the law applicable on 14 October 2026, before the possible entry into force of the reform. For changes proposed or adopted afterwards, see the summary and the log at the top of the page. The dates of departure and of each transaction remain decisive.

Exit Tax - thresholds and payment deferral

Article 167 bis of the CGI taxes, when the tax domicile is transferred outside France, certain unrealised capital gains on shares held directly or indirectly by the tax household.

For this category, the scheme targets taxpayers who were French tax residents for at least six of the ten years preceding departure and whose holdings are worth more than €800,000 in total or represent at least 50% of a company’s profits.

The Exit Tax also applies to certain earn-out receivables and to capital gains previously deferred, in particular under Article 150-0 B ter. These categories follow separate rules.

The tax may benefit from an automatic payment deferral for certain destinations, notably the European Union, or from an optional deferral on request for the others. A move to the United Arab Emirates or Canada requires an optional deferral request, with the appointment of a tax representative in France and guarantees. A later sale may then make the tax due. To go further, see our analysis of the Exit Tax and real-estate-rich companies.

For departures since 1 January 2019, tax on unrealised gains may be cancelled after two years, or five years if the total value of the shares exceeded €2.57 million at departure, subject to the statutory holding conditions. These periods do not apply to capital gains previously deferred.

The 2019 Finance Act replaced the fifteen-year period with these two- and five-year periods. During the review of the 2026 Finance Bill, the National Assembly adopted amendment I-807 on 3 November 2025, aimed in particular at restoring the fifteen years. The measure was ultimately dropped from the text enacted on 19 February 2026: the two- and five-year periods were maintained.

We analysed this proposal in our December 2025 article on the Exit Tax reform. Article 5 of the 2027 Finance Bill pursues a different objective: changing the consequences of certain transfers, without restoring a general fifteen-year period.

Contribution-sale - gifts and holding of shares

Current law. Article 150-0 B ter of the CGI allows the taxation of a capital gain on a contribution of shares to a company subject to corporate income tax or an equivalent tax and controlled by the contributor to be deferred. A gift of the shares received does not trigger taxation of the donor.

The deferral may, however, be transferred to the donee who controls the holding company, subject to holding and reinvestment conditions. A gift therefore does not necessarily wipe out the capital gain for the whole family. The contributor’s death, in principle, leads to a permanent exemption.

Article 11 of the 2026 Finance Act extended the donee’s holding periods from five to six years, or from ten to eleven years in the event of reinvestment in certain funds. This extension applies to sales of contributed shares made since 21 February 2026. During these periods, certain transactions may make the capital gain taxable in the donee’s name.