Buying in Paris vs the US: costs and taxes

France will sell an American a two-bedroom in the 11th with no approval and, if it's your main home, never tax the gain. The IRS doesn't share France's generosity.

The short version

Americans can buy in Paris on the same terms as the French. There's no foreign-buyer approval, quota or surcharge.
Budget about 7% to 8% of the price for "notary fees" on an older apartment, most of it transfer tax. Paris raised its share by half a point from April 2025, with first-time buyers spared [1][2].
French banks cap total debt payments at 35% of income and loans at 25 years under a binding macro rule [3].
France doesn't tax the sale of your main home at all. Other property pays 19% income tax plus social charges, tapering to zero after 22 and 30 years [4].
The IRS taxes your worldwide gain, with Section 121 capped at USD 250,000 (USD 500,000 joint) [5].

USD conversions use the Federal Reserve H.10 rate of October 30, 2026 (USD 1.1163 per euro), rounded.

Can Americans buy in Paris?

Yes, freely. You don't need a French visa or residence permit to own property, and a US citizen pays the same taxes as a French buyer. What's different from a closing back home is how the deal runs:

The offer and the avant-contrat. You make a written offer, then sign a preliminary contract, usually a compromis de vente, and pay a deposit, often around 5% to 10%.
The cooling-off period. As a non-professional buyer of a home, you get a 10-day withdrawal period after the compromis is delivered to you.
The loan condition. The compromis normally includes a financing clause: if you're refused a loan, you get your deposit back.
The notary closes. The notaire, a public official, checks title, collects the taxes, reads the final deed (acte authentique) and registers it. One notary can act for both sides, or each side can have their own at no extra cost, since the fee is split.
The copropriété file. Most Paris apartments are in a co-ownership building. Read the last three years of general meeting minutes, the service charges and any planned works on the facade or roof before you sign.

Getting a loan: French bank or US lender?

In Paris. French banks lend to residents with French income, but the Haut Conseil de stabilité financière (HCSF) sets binding limits: total debt payments, including the new loan, can't exceed 35% of income, and the loan term can't exceed 25 years, with a small share of each bank's lending allowed outside the rule [3]. Fixed rates for the full term are the norm, which feels familiar to anyone with a 30-year fixed back home. Banks also require borrower insurance, and they're often cautious about lending to US citizens because of the FATCA reporting that comes with your accounts. Our guide to banking in France covers that.

Back home. Borrowing against a US home or using US savings is the other route; qualifying for a US loan on foreign income is the hard part. See US mortgages for Americans living abroad.

The currency trap. The IRS measures a euro mortgage in dollars. If the euro weakens while you owe it and you pay it off, you can owe US tax on a currency gain even though you repaid exactly what you borrowed, and a loss on a personal home loan usually isn't deductible. Our guide to currency gains on a foreign mortgage explains it.

Costs side by side

Rates as of November 2026.

	Paris	New York City (the US example)
Can you buy?	Yes, no restrictions on Americans	Yes
Transfer taxes	Droits de mutation, the bulk of the "frais de notaire"; the departmental share rose from 4.5% to 5% from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2028, except for first-time buyers of a main home [1][2]	NY state transfer tax 0.4%, usually paid by the seller; 1% "mansion tax" for the buyer at USD 1 million or more [6]; plus a city transfer tax
Notary and registry	Regulated notary fees and disbursements; all-in "frais de notaire" about 7% to 8% on older property [2]	Attorney, title insurance and recording fees
Agent fees	Often built into the advertised price; who pays is stated in the listing	Usually paid by the seller
Annual property tax	Taxe foncière, owed by the owner as of January 1; Paris raised its rate sharply in 2023	NYC property tax; co-op maintenance or condo common charges
Building fees	Copropriété charges and voted works	Included above
Tax on selling your main home	None in France [4]	Federal, state and city income tax after Section 121
Tax on selling other property	19% income tax plus social charges, reduced by holding period [4]	Federal, state and city income tax
US tax on the gain	Yes, worldwide, in dollars [5]	Yes; Section 121 if you pass 2 of 5 years [5]

Illustration only. On a EUR 700,000 older apartment (about USD 781,400), "frais de notaire" of about 7% to 8% come to EUR 49,000 to 56,000 (about USD 54,700 to 62,500) [2]. A USD 781,000 co-op in Manhattan is under the mansion tax line, and the state transfer tax usually falls on the seller [6]. Paris front-loads the cost onto the buyer; that's money you only earn back by staying.

Tax when you sell

The French side

The headline is great news: the sale of your résidence principale is fully exempt from French capital gains tax, however large the gain and however long you've owned it [4]. It must really be your main home when you put it on the market; the tax office looks at where you actually live.

Everything else, such as a pied-à-terre you kept after moving or a rental, pays 19% income tax plus social charges, with holding-period relief [4]:

Years held	Income tax relief	Social charges relief
Up to 5	None	None
6 to 21	6% a year	1.65% a year
22	4% (fully exempt after 22 years)	1.60%
23 to 30	Already exempt	9% a year (fully exempt after 30 years)

Large gains on non-main homes can also face an extra surtax. Sell after you've left France and different non-resident rules apply, sometimes including a French tax representative. Our guide to French taxes for Americans has more.

The US side

Uncle Sam taxes your worldwide gain, measured in dollars:

Section 121 covers a Paris home. Own it and live in it for at least 24 months of the 5 years before the sale, and up to USD 250,000 of gain (USD 500,000 for most joint filers) is excluded. You generally can't use it again within two years [5].
France's unlimited exemption has a US ceiling. Sell a Left Bank apartment with a USD 600,000 gain as a single filer and France charges nothing, but the IRS can tax USD 350,000 of it, with no French tax to credit.
The foreign tax credit. When France does tax a sale, the income tax and social charges on the gain may be creditable on Form 1116 [7]. The US–France treaty and totalization rules affect how social charges are treated, so have a preparer look at it. Transfer taxes and taxe foncière aren't income taxes.
Currency counts. Your dollar cost uses the rate when you bought and your proceeds use the rate when you sell, so a stronger euro can turn a sale at your euro purchase price into a US gain.

Your old home in New York

The 2-of-5-years clock keeps ticking after you move. After more than three years in Paris, the exclusion on your New York place is usually lost, depreciation from renting it out is taxed on sale even when the rest is excluded [8], and New York can tax the gain on New York property. Our guide to selling your US home after moving abroad has the details.

Renting it out

The French side. Rent from an unfurnished Paris apartment is taxed as property income, with a simplified regime for smaller rents and a real-expenses regime above it. Furnished rentals have their own rules. Paris also caps rents in most leases (encadrement des loyers), and short-term rentals of your main home are limited to a set number of nights a year and need a city registration number. If you leave France and keep renting it out, France still taxes the rent.

The US side. Report the rent on Schedule E. A Paris apartment is used predominantly outside the United States, so you must depreciate it under the Alternative Depreciation System (ADS) over 30 years for property placed in service after 2017, not the 27.5 years a New York rental gets [9][10]. French income tax on the rent can go on Form 1116 [7].

If the rental is your place back home, our guide to rental income from a US property covers the stateside side.

Which makes sense for whom

Staying long term. Paris can make sense if you'll be here seven years or more, enough to absorb the notary bill. Keep it as your main home and France never taxes the sale; Section 121 covers the first USD 250,000 or 500,000 of gain on the US side.
Retiring in France. Similar logic, but plan the estate: France has forced heirship rules and taxes heirs, and the US taxes the estate. See wills and estate planning across two countries.
Moving back in a few years. Renting in Paris and keeping (or buying) stateside usually wins. The 7% to 8% entry cost and a euro swing can wipe out a modest gain.
Buying to rent out. Rent caps, French tax on the rent, 30-year US depreciation and recapture at sale: run the numbers before falling for the parquet floors.

A US expat tax preparer (or a French notaire) can check your situation before you sign the compromis. Swap notes with other buyers in our community group for Americans in France at /join/.

Buying in Paris vs back home: what Americans really pay