Must I declare dividends that are reinvested outside of France?

Reader Question: Must I declare UK dividends received that are immediately reinvested? There is no ‘income’ received, just an increase in the shareholding that could trigger capital gains tax if and when sold

Yes, you should treat the new shares as a form of income and declare them in the dividends section of your tax declaration.

This is generally the case with foreign shares unless they are held within a French investment structure with different rules. 

For example, shares in a plan d’épargne en actions that are sold and reinvested within the plan are generally exempt from income tax.

This is the case unless you make withdrawals from the plan within the first five years or, sometimes, in the case of income from shares that are not listed on a stock exchange, usually invested in small and medium-sized businesses. 

Read more: Key errors foreigners may make with French tax declarations

The latter only become taxable if the gains are more than 10% of the purchase value of these investments.

A UK ‘wrapper’ such as an Isa is not recognised by France, so income and capital gains of shares held within these are declarable.

When declaring online, you need to select revenus de capitaux mobiliers (investment income). In the case of income from overseas, you should also complete the dividends section of the 2047 foreign income section.