Question 2297 — French people abroad

Summary

Mr. Stéphane Vojetta draws the attention of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs to the situation of French men and women established outside France who are confronted, upon the death of a loved one in whose inheritance they are, with problems of delay in obtaining the French certificate of non-requirement. Indeed, in the context of the estate of a deceased person, as a tax resident in a non-French territory, in Spain for example, a French person must request a French certificate of non-payment of inheritance tax for inheritances below the deduction of 100,000 euros, in order to allow the French bank to release the deceased's assets and life insurance taken out in France. However, the time limit for issuing this certificate, limited to 6 months in France, too often exceeds the time limit allowed by the authorities of the country of residence which is 5 months in Spain to stay on this example. The international succession in the State of residence of a French national abroad is therefore determined by the French certificate and if the latter takes too long, a French national abroad cannot declare the international succession in time because it is only when he receives the transfer of said assets, through a notary, that he can be able to know the final costs of the French estate, in particular the emoluments as well as the final invoices relating to notarial services which are tax deductible, where applicable, in the example of Spain. Thus, a French person established in Spain cannot validly determine the net inheritance assets, i.e. the gross assets from which the costs have been deducted, when he is awaiting the definitive amount of the costs which will be deducted from the taxable gross in application of international tax provisions, in this case according to the Tax Convention of July 8, 1963 established between France and Spain, then in application of Spanish domestic law. Furthermore, it is possible to request an additional period of 6 months in Spain by indicating within this period (itself 5 months from the death) the assets and liabilities of the estate, even provisional. But in practice, respect for this new deadline is very rarely possible because notarial acts, to be completed, take even longer, sometimes up to more than 10 months after the death of the deceased, also due to notarial processing and the delays of the French tax administration. Also, taking into account all these difficulties, he would like to know the Government's provisions in order to propose shorter deadlines, perhaps even specific to the French established outside France and who depend on other national laws relating to their State of residence, with the aim of allowing them, ultimately, not to be penalized and to benefit from the same inheritance conditions as French people residing in France.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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