Investing from France: PEA, compte-titres and IFU

• Compte-titres: unless you choose otherwise, capital gains and dividends are subject to the flat tax (prélèvement forfaitaire unique, PFU) of 31.4%: 12.8% income tax and 18.6% social contributions.
• PEA: contributions up to EUR 150,000, for French tax residents only; up to EUR 225,000 together with the PEA-PME. Withdrawals after year 5 are free of income tax, not of social contributions.
• Account abroad: report it every year (box 8UU, form 3916-3916 bis), or risk a fine of EUR 1,500 per account. For the four brokers in our comparison that offer a PEA, we found no source saying they issue the IFU tax statement.
• TTF: 0.4% on purchases of shares in scope since 1 April 2025, owed by the executing firm, including firms abroad.
• US dividends: 15% withholding under the treaty. FGDR: securities covered up to EUR 70,000 per client and institution.

Example for an ordinary account: a gain of EUR 1,000 realised in 2026 costs EUR 128 in income tax and EUR 186 in social contributions, EUR 314 in total.

The 18.6% applies to investment income ("revenus de placements") received in 2026: CSG 10.6%, CRDS 0.5% and the solidarity levy 7.5%. For income received in 2025 it was 17.2%. According to service-public, assurance-vie, the plan épargne logement and rental income, among others, stay at 17.2%.

Opting for the progressive scale instead gives the 40% dividend allowance and allows part of the CSG and expenses to be deducted, but the option covers all investment income and securities gains of the year. From 2026 income, declared in 2027, it can be withdrawn if it turns out to be unfavourable.

On certain investment income, including dividends and interest, the paying institution withholds 12.8% as an advance on income tax (prélèvement forfaitaire non libératoire), settled with the return. Exemption is possible if your reference taxable income of the year before last is below EUR 50,000 (single) or EUR 75,000 (jointly taxed couple) for dividends, or EUR 25,000 and EUR 50,000 for fixed-income products. The request goes to the paying institution by 30 November of the year before payment.

According to service-public:

• Limit: contributions up to EUR 150,000. For a tax-dependent adult, a student for example, the limit is EUR 20,000 while the dependency lasts.
• Who: only people with their tax domicile in France.
• What: shares of European companies, and funds investing more than 75% in such shares. XTB names a registered office in the EU or EEA; Fortuneo names France, the EU, Iceland or Norway and requires the company to be subject to corporate tax.
• Tax inside the plan: gains reinvested inside the plan are free of income tax and social contributions.
• Tax on withdrawal: social contributions are due on every withdrawal. Withdrawals after year 5 are exempt from income tax. Special CSG rates can apply to the PEA, notably for gains or contributions before 2018.
• Early withdrawal: a withdrawal before the end of year 5 in principle closes the plan. Exceptions include a partial withdrawal linked to the dismissal, invalidity or early retirement of the holder or of their spouse or civil partner.

An example at the general rate: if a gain of EUR 10,000 is withdrawn after six years, no income tax is due; social contributions at 18.6% come to EUR 1,860. In a compte-titres the flat tax would take EUR 3,140.

When a provider advertises "tax-free gains" in a PEA, it means income tax: service-public states explicitly that social contributions are due.

The PEA-PME (PEA PME-ETI) is meant to finance small, medium-sized and mid-cap companies. It can hold up to EUR 225,000; together with a PEA the total stays at EUR 225,000, of which at most EUR 150,000 in the PEA. Holding more than one PEA-PME at a time is not allowed. The same tax rule applies on withdrawal.

Which brokers in our comparison offer a PEA

XTB states that its French branch (XTB S.A. Succursale française) is supervised by the AMF. DEGIRO's French site is operated by the Dutch branch of the German flatexDEGIRO Bank SE.

The French providers Fortuneo and Bourse Direct also offer the PEA, the PEA-PME and the compte-titres; both state in their legal notices that they are licensed by the ACPR. We do not compare or rate them (yet).

French paying institutions issue the IFU (imprimé fiscal unique) for the tax return, and as a rule the institution holding the securities also calculates gains and losses. Whether Saxo, XTB, Trade Republic or Interactive Brokers issue an IFU we could not find on their pages – that is neither a yes nor a no.

An account abroad is reported every year with the income tax return: tick box 8UU and fill in form 3916-3916 bis for each account. service-public explicitly includes accounts with a stockbroker ("agent de change"). The fine is EUR 1,500 per unreported account, and EUR 10,000 if the account is in a state that has not concluded a convention against tax fraud and evasion with France.

Form 2074 (Cerfa 11905), attached to the return, declares gains and losses on securities sales and PEA closures; form 2778-DIV-SD covers the advance levy and social contributions on distributions paid from outside France. When exactly an account abroad makes them necessary, the pages we read do not say.

France taxes purchases of shares with the "taxe sur les acquisitions de titres de capital" (CGI art. 235 ter ZD). Since 1 April 2025 the rate is 0.4%. According to BOFiP the tax is owed by the investment firm that executes the buy order, wherever it is established; providers outside France are liable on the same terms. On a purchase of EUR 5,000 of a share in scope, that is EUR 20.

Which shares are in scope and which exemptions apply we have not checked in the original text, nor whether a given foreign broker actually collects the tax.

For residents of France, US withholding tax on dividends under the treaty is 15%; 5% applies only to qualifying direct holdings (IRS Table 1, rev. May 2023).

The FGDR guarantee fund compensates securities up to EUR 70,000 per client and institution, in any currency. It pays only if securities have disappeared from the accounts (fraud, IT failure) and the failed institution can neither return nor reimburse them. Cash held with the securities counts within the deposit guarantee of EUR 100,000 per client and institution when the provider is a bank; with an investment firm it is covered up to EUR 70,000. Which scheme applies to a broker based in another country is shown on its page in our comparison, under each licence.

We found no source for a tax-advantaged securities account in Luxembourg. The rules according to the government portal guichet.lu:

• Capital gains on shares with a holding below 10%: progressive rates if sold within 6 months, exempt after more than 6 months. Gains below EUR 500 in a calendar year are not taxable. For a substantial participation (over 10% in the 5 years before the sale), half the rate applies after 6 months, with an allowance of EUR 50,000 (doubled for joint taxation), reduced by the allowances of the previous 10 years.
• Dividends: progressive rates plus 1.4% dependency insurance (assurance dépendance). Half is exempt for dividends from a fully taxable capital company in Luxembourg, an EU state or a treaty country. Taxable interest and dividends together carry an allowance of EUR 1,500 a year, doubled for joint taxation.
• Withholding: Luxembourg companies withhold 15% on dividends, an advance on residents' income tax; Luxembourg and foreign withholding is in principle creditable. Certain interest from a Luxembourg bank is subject to the RELIBI final withholding of 20%.
• Filing: you declare taxable gains yourself under "revenus nets divers", based for example on a bank certificate.
• Rates: guichet.lu (pages last changed 2013 to 2023) still shows up to 42.80% or 43.60%; PwC gives 8% to 42% plus a solidarity surcharge of 7% or 9% of the tax. We have not read the official scale.
• US dividends: 15% under the treaty, 5% for qualifying direct holdings.

The supervisor is the CSSF. The SIIL scheme compensates eligible clients of investment firms and banks up to EUR 20,000 per person and firm; deposits fall under the FGDL fund instead, whose amount we did not read.

From our comparison, Swissquote operates Swissquote Bank Europe, a CSSF-supervised Luxembourg bank and FGDL member. We have not compared or rated BGL BNP Paribas, a CSSF-supervised bank that, according to its own page, executes stock-exchange orders in web banking for EUR 25 per transaction. More on the page brokers for investors in Luxembourg.

• whether Saxo, XTB, Trade Republic and Interactive Brokers issue an IFU or withhold the 12.8% advance;
• whether DEGIRO offers a PEA;
• which shares fall under the TTF, and whether a given foreign broker collects it;
• when forms 2074 and 2778-DIV-SD are required with a broker abroad;
• the plan d’épargne retraite (PER) and assurance-vie, which we did not research for this article;
• for Luxembourg: the FGDL amount, the official scale, pension contracts (art. 111bis LIR), any tax on securities transactions, and brokers' Luxembourg tax certificates.

You can also compare providers by country of residence: stock brokers for investors in France and ETF brokers for investors in France.

• service-public.fr: F2385 (PEA); F2329; F21618; F34913; F2613; A18891 (18 May 2026); R1286; R50088
• BOFiP, BOI-TCA-FIN-10-30, version of 28 May 2025
• FGDR, securities guarantee
• IRS, Tax Treaty Table 1 (Rev. May 2023)
• Providers: Saxo; XTB; Trade Republic; Interactive Brokers Ireland; DEGIRO; Fortuneo; Bourse Direct
• guichet.lu: shares; dividends; bank interest
• CSSF, home, investor compensation
• PwC, Luxembourg, taxes on personal income (reviewed 3 August 2026); ACD, tax scales
• Swissquote Bank Europe; BGL BNP Paribas

This article is for information only and does not constitute investment, legal or tax advice.