Legal basis for Australian and New Zealand residents
Neither Australia nor New Zealand belongs to the EU, the EEA, or the European social-security coordination area. Both fall fully inside the scope of Article 244 bis A. Above €150,000 per seller on a French real-estate sale, an accredited fiscal representative must be appointed before the deed; the notaire cannot release the proceeds until the representative signs the 2048-IMM filing. The Australia-France and NZ-France tax treaties grant France the primary right to tax the gain on French real estate and let the home country tax the same gain with a credit (Australia) or no tax at all on a personal-use sale (New Zealand).
For the French side, AU and NZ residents are treated identically: same threshold, same rates, same representative obligation. The only AU-specific point on the French file is that the proof of tax residency requested by the representative is a notice of assessment from the ATO, not the equivalent of a UK HMRC letter. NZ residents present the IRD residency certificate. Both are accepted as a matter of routine; the issue is the postal time-zone delay rather than the document itself.
Applicable rates in 2026
Three layers apply: a flat 19% income-tax CGT, the full 17.2% social charges, and a progressive surtax that begins at €50,000 of taxable gain per seller and reaches 6% above €260,000. Holding-period tapers cut both bases before the rates apply, with full income-tax exemption at 22 years and full social-charge exemption at 30 years. None of the EU/EEA carve-outs apply to AU or NZ residents.
View data as table
| Layer | Rate |
|---|---|
| Income-tax CGT | 19% |
| Social charges (CSG, CRDS, prélèvement de solidarité) | 17.2% |
| Progressive surtax (top band, gain above €260,000) | 6% |
Worked example: a Sydney couple sells in Provence
Tom and Helen live in Sydney and have owned a Provence farmhouse jointly since 2009. They sell in 2026 for €780,000, having paid €420,000 plus €36,000 of notarial fees, with €44,000 of documented renovation work invoiced by French registered contractors. Each spouse\'s share of the price is €390,000, which crosses the €150,000 threshold, so an accredited representative is required. Gross gain: €280,000 (€780k minus €420k minus €36k minus €44k). Holding period at signature: 15 years. Income-tax taper at 15 years cuts the taxable base to roughly 44% of the gross, so €123,200. Social-charge taper at 15 years cuts the base to about 73% of the gross, so €204,400. Income-tax CGT: 19% of €123,200, so €23,408. Social charges: 17.2% of €204,400, so €35,157. Progressive surtax on €123,200 of taxable income-tax gain: roughly €2,800. Representative fee, typically between 0.4% and 1% of the sale price, so between €3,120 and €7,800. Total French deductions from the escrow: approximately €65,000 to €70,000, before the notaire\'s own fees. On the Australian side, Tom and Helen each report their share of the gain in AUD on their tax returns, claim the 50% CGT discount on the AUD-converted gain, and offset the AUD-converted French income tax via the Foreign Income Tax Offset.
One rare tip for AU and NZ residents
Get the accredited representative to bundle the certified Australian or New Zealand tax-residency certificate into the file before the document is requested. Time zones turn a routine email exchange into a four-day round trip: the French firm asks for the certificate at 18:00 Paris time, the Sydney inbox sees the request the next morning, the request is forwarded to the ATO portal that afternoon, and the certificate arrives in Paris on day three or four. Pre-load the certificate at the mandate stage and the entire chain shifts forward by a week. That single week is often the difference between hitting and missing the original deed date.
The New Zealand specificity
New Zealand does not levy a general capital-gains tax on personal real estate. The bright-line rule covers NZ residential land sold within a defined holding window, but it does not extend to a French holiday home held by an NZ resident. The practical implication is that the French tax is the entire bill: there is no NZ tax to credit against, and no NZ filing trigger purely from the French sale. NZ sellers occasionally over-engineer the file in expectation of a credit calculation that never needs to happen. The exception is property used in a trading pattern (multiple holiday-home transactions over a few years), where IRD may treat the gain as ordinary income; if your pattern of acquisitions resembles that profile, brief an Inland Revenue specialist before the deed.
The time-zone calendar
The Antipodes-to-France delay is the single most underestimated element of an AU or NZ sale. France runs on Paris time, the notaire and the representative work standard French office hours, and any document round trip eats two business days simply because the questions are sent overnight in one direction and answered overnight in the other. Compress that into the final fortnight before the deed and slippage becomes inevitable. Build the calendar from day one with a 90-day runway from the signed compromis to the deed signature, schedule a weekly 30-minute video call with the representative at a Paris-friendly time (early morning Sydney, late morning Auckland), and the file glides through. Drop the rhythm and the file stalls.
Pitfall to avoid
Do not assume that an Australian self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) or an NZ family trust holding the French property removes the representative obligation. The representative is appointed for the seller as recorded in the French land register, regardless of the seller being an individual, a trust, or a fund. Trust-held French property occasionally arrives at the deed with the trustees expecting the SMSF or trust structure to substitute for the representative, and the deed is postponed while a representative is hired and the trust documentation is translated. Run the structure analysis at the same time as the estate-agent mandate, not three weeks before the deed.
Key takeaways
- AU and NZ residents need an accredited representative above €150,000 per seller, no treaty waiver applies.
- Full 17.2% social charges apply; no Brexit-style cap for AU or NZ residents.
- Australian residents offset the French income tax via the Foreign Income Tax Offset on the ATO return.
- New Zealand residents typically have no NZ tax on a personal French sale, so the French bill is the whole bill.
- Build a 90-day runway and pre-load tax-residency certificates to neutralise the time-zone delay.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Australia-France or NZ-France tax treaty waive the French representative requirement?
No. Both treaties allocate taxing rights and prevent double taxation, but neither overrides the procedural French rule. An accredited fiscal representative is required above €150,000 per seller regardless of the treaty.
Can I claim the French CGT and social charges as a foreign income tax offset in Australia?
The 19% income-tax CGT is generally treated as a creditable foreign income tax under the Foreign Income Tax Offset rules. The 17.2% social charges are more contested; positions diverge among Australian preparers. Document everything from the French file and brief a preparer with cross-border experience before lodging the return.
How does New Zealand treat the gain?
New Zealand does not have a general capital-gains tax on personal real estate, so a gain on a French holiday home is usually outside the NZ tax net entirely. The French rules still apply in full; the NZ-side relief is simply that there is no NZ tax to credit against. Confirm with an Inland Revenue specialist if the property was rented out or used in a property-trading pattern.
Will the 50% CGT discount on Australian residents apply to a French gain?
The 50% CGT discount applies to the Australian-side calculation if the property has been held for at least 12 months. It does not affect the French calculation. The French rules taper the gain on their own schedule and the two reliefs do not overlap.