Who this is for. You are a US citizen, a former green-card holder or a French national who worked in the United States; you are now tax-resident in France; and you draw, or will soon draw, from a traditional or Roth 401(k), a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA or a 403(b). This article explains 401(k) taxation in France under the France-US treaty, account type by account type, what the French return does with it, and what the United States withholds.
⚠ Disclaimer. General information on the French and US taxation of US retirement accounts as at October 2026, not advice for any specific situation. Tax rules and official positions change, and several points in this article are flagged as unsettled. Take advice on your own facts before acting.
Contents
- The short answer
- Four accounts, four treatments
- What Article 18 actually says
- How France applies it: taxed, then credited
- US withholding, by status
- The W-8BEN that quietly expires
- Pension rules, 10% allowance and the 7.5% option
- Early withdrawals
- CSG and CRDS: no single rate
- Roth IRA and Roth 401(k)
- Worked example: $40,000, four results
- US Social Security
The short answer
It depends on the account. A withdrawal from a traditional 401(k), IRA or 403(b) paid to you while you live in France is taxable only in the United States (treaty Article 18(1)). France still requires you to declare it (form 2047, lines 1AL and 8TK of form 2042) and uses it to set the rate on your other income, but cancels its own income tax on it. For a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k), a qualified distribution is tax-free in the United States; the French treatment is not settled.
Be cautious on four points. An early withdrawal (before 59½) can carry a 10% US tax that France does not offset. US withholding is 30% for non-citizens, with no treaty reduction on pensions; US citizens paid abroad cannot opt out (generally at least 10% on a lump sum, 20% on most employer-plan lump sums). CSG/CRDS (French social contributions) depend on your health-insurance affiliation, income and an open treaty question: no single rate applies to everyone. And a non-citizen’s W-8BEN lapses on 31 December of the third year after signature. Until these are confirmed, declare in full, budget for social contributions and model both countries’ tax before withdrawing.
Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, 401(k): four accounts, four treatments
“Your 401(k) or IRA” covers accounts taxed differently; sources are in the sections below.
| Account | United States | Treaty and France | Still open |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional 401(k) (employer plan; also 403(b)) | Pre-tax deferrals and employer contributions; distributions are ordinary income, apart from any after-tax basis | Squarely Article 18(1): taxable only in the US. France: declared, credit equal to French tax; pension rules, 10% allowance | CSG; whether the 7.5% lump-sum option works for a US plan |
| Traditional IRA | Contributions usually deducted; any non-deductible basis comes back tax-free. Otherwise ordinary income | Listed in Article 18(2)(c) (contributions paragraph only); the 2020 ministerial answer covers US plans without distinction. France: as for the 401(k) | CSG; whether an IRA funded by personal contributions meets “past employment” (untested) |
| Roth IRA | Contributions after tax. Qualified distributions tax-free; otherwise regular contributions come out first, then conversions (10% if within five years of the conversion), then taxable earnings | Two readings: Article 18(1) (rate effect only in France), or outside it, in which case France taxes the growth on a capital payment as investment income, with social levies. No 7.5% option | The classification itself |
| Roth 401(k) (designated Roth account) | Salary deferrals after tax inside the employer plan. Qualified distributions tax-free; otherwise the earnings share is taxable | Same two readings, but paid by an employer plan, so the employment link is stronger than for a Roth IRA. No 7.5% option | The classification itself |
Keep statements showing each account’s type, basis and first contribution year.
401(k) taxation in France: what Article 18 actually says
The France-US convention was signed in Paris on 31 August 1994; its pension article was rewritten by the protocol of 8 December 2004 (in force 21 December 2006) and retouched by that of 13 January 2009 (in force 23 December 2009). Article 18(1) provides that pension distributions and other similar remuneration arising in one State in consideration of past employment and paid to a resident of the other, whether paid periodically or in a lump sum, are taxable only in the first-mentioned State, that is, where the retirement arrangement is established.
The US Treasury’s technical explanation of the 2004 protocol calls this exclusive source-country taxation. Paragraph 2, on deducting contributions, lists the US plans France treats as corresponding to its own (401(a) plans including 401(k)s, IRAs, 403(a) and 403(b) plans), and the technical explanation adds that Roth IRAs are “of course a type of individual retirement plan” for that paragraph. A French ministerial answer (JO Sénat, 27 August 2020, question no. 13777) states that sums from US retirement plans, whether paid in one sum or periodically, are taxable only in the United States, that the paragraph 2 list has no bearing on that rule, and that France may include them for progressivity with a credit equal to the French tax. None of these texts applies “past employment” account by account: plain for an employer plan, not for a Roth IRA.
How France applies it: taxed, then credited, not simply exempt
Under Article 24(1)(a), US-source income taxable only in the United States is still taken into account for the computation of French tax, with a credit equal to the French tax attributable to it (crédit d’impôt égal à l’impôt français). The 2026 notice to form 2047 sends these pensions to lines 1AL to 1DL of form 2042, with the same amount in box 8TK, gross of US tax.
Two consequences people miss: the distribution enters your revenu fiscal de référence, which drives CSG rates; and no US tax, including any 10% early-withdrawal tax, is credited in France.
US withholding: what to expect, by status
Not a US citizen. You give each custodian Form W-8BEN. Publication 515: absent a treaty exemption, the payer withholds 30% on the US-source part of a pension distribution, and may apply graduated rates to the part arising from US services after 1986. For France there is no treaty reduction: the IRS treaty table shows 30 under pensions, citing Article 18(1). Publication 519 treats the part attributable to contributions for US services after 1986 as effectively connected income, taxed at graduated rates on Form 1040-NR, so the final US tax on that part may be lower than the 30% withheld, while earnings stay taxed at a flat 30%; over-withheld tax comes back only if you file Form 1040-NR. The 10% and 20% withholding rules below do not apply to you: Publication 515 gives foreign-person withholding precedence.
Former citizens and long-term green-card holders. If you are a “covered expatriate” under section 877A, other rules apply. On a 401(k), once you notify the payer (Form W-8CE) and waive treaty reductions, it withholds 30% of each taxable payment; otherwise the benefit was treated as received the day before expatriation. An IRA was treated as fully distributed the day before expatriation, with later distributions adjusted. Take US advice.
US citizen (or green-card holder still a US tax resident). You give Form W-9 and are reported on Form 1099-R. The saving clause (Article 29(2)) lets the United States tax its citizens as if the treaty did not exist. An IRA withdrawal carries a default 10% (Form W-4R); an eligible rollover distribution from an employer plan (401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b)) paid to you carries a mandatory 20%, avoided only by a direct rollover. Choosing no withholding requires a US home address (Publication 575), and the 2026 Form W-4R adds that you generally cannot choose less than 10% for nonperiodic payments delivered outside the United States; periodic payments are withheld like wages (Form W-4P).
See our guide to US expat tax filing from France and our note on FEIE versus the foreign tax credit.
The W-8BEN that quietly expires
Form W-8BEN establishes a non-US individual’s foreign status with a US payer. It remains in effect from signature to the last day of the third succeeding calendar year, unless a change in circumstances makes it incorrect: a form signed in June 2023 expires on 31 December 2026, and nobody writes to tell you. Without it, the payer applies presumption rules (30%, 24% backup withholding or FATCA) and no treaty rate. The 30% pension rate does not rise, but you lose graduated-rate withholding (Publication 519) and the 15% treaty cap on portfolio dividends (Article 10(2)(b)) in any taxable account at that custodian; some custodians may also restrict undocumented accounts. Each custodian’s form has its own date: diary renewal for the autumn of the third year. A change in circumstances, such as a move to the United States or out of France, or becoming a US citizen or resident, must be notified within 30 days.
How France classifies the money: pension rules, the 10% allowance and the 7.5% option
For a traditional account, retirement benefits paid in capital follow the ordinary pension rules (French tax code, CGI, art. 158, 5-a; BOFiP, the tax authority’s official commentary, BOI-RSA-PENS-30-10-20, § 1), with the 10% allowance (for 2025 income, capped at 4,439 euros per household, minimum 454 euros per beneficiary, notice 2041-NOT) and an option for the quotient or the 7.5% flat rate.
The 7.5% option (CGI art. 163 bis, II) is narrow: contributions must have been deductible, or related to exempt income, where taxable (BOFiP § 260), above 50% of the total in mixed plans (§ 330), and the capital paid in one non-fractioned payment, foreign schemes allowing staggered withdrawals being excluded (§ 350-370). The base is the capital less an uncapped 10% allowance (§ 440-460), lines 1AT to 1DT. A pre-tax 401(k) liquidated in one payment may qualify, but nothing published confirms it for a US plan or explains how the levy meets the treaty credit; a Roth cannot. Budget on the ordinary pension rules.
Early withdrawals: two tax systems, no offset
US side. Under IRC section 72(t), a distribution from a qualified plan or IRA before 59½ bears an additional 10% tax on the part included in gross income, unless an exception applies (among others death, disability, equal periodic payments). Some exceptions depend on the account: separation from service in or after the year you reach 55 covers an employer plan such as a 401(k), not an IRA, so rolling the 401(k) into an IRA first can lose it; the first-home (up to $10,000) and education exceptions cover IRAs only. From a Roth IRA, regular contributions come out first, tax-free, then converted and rolled-over amounts, then earnings. Earnings can bear tax and the 10%; a converted amount is not taxed again, but the part taxable on conversion bears the 10% if withdrawn within five years of that conversion (each conversion has its own clock).
Treaty. Article 18(1) covers lump sums with no age condition, so an early distribution stays taxable only in the United States. The 10% is a federal income tax under the Internal Revenue Code, which the convention covers (Article 2), but France credits only its own tax, so the 10% is a net extra cost. No official text addresses the point; non-citizens should check with a US preparer how it applies alongside the 30% tax.
French side. BOFiP’s capital rules address retirement benefits; a withdrawal at 50 while working is not obviously one, and nothing has been published on the point. The classification drives CSG: replacement-income rates as a pension, or patrimony-income levies on the growth for after-tax money (next section).
Prudent course: model both countries before any early withdrawal and budget on the higher French figure.
CSG and CRDS: no single rate, and an open treaty question
If the payment is a pension (the normal case for a traditional account), the 2026 notice to form 2047 sets cumulative conditions: tax domicile in France (CGI art. 4 B); cover, in any capacity, by a French compulsory health-insurance scheme; and no convention excluding taxation in France. If covered, French pension rates apply to the gross amount: zero; reduced, 3.8% CSG + 0.5% CRDS; median, 6.6% + 0.5% + 0.3% CASA (a further levy on pensions); or full, 8.3% + 0.5% + 0.3% (9.1%), by revenu fiscal de référence (RFR, the household reference income on the French return) of two years earlier. For 2026, service-public.fr gives, for a single person (one part), zero up to 13,048 euros of 2024 RFR, reduced up to 17,057, median up to 26,472, full above; leaving the reduced rate takes two consecutive years over its ceiling. Declare them in rubrique 9 of form 2047, boxes 8TV, 8TH or 8TX, carried to form 2042 C.
If it is investment income. For a foreign capital payment funded with non-deductible contributions, BOFiP taxes only the growth, with patrimony-income levies (CSS art. L136-6). impots.gouv.fr applies 18.6% to most such income (2025 income included), with a closed list kept at 17.2%; which applies to a US account is unconfirmed. Do not assume the health-insurance condition above, written for activity and replacement income, applies here.
The open point. BOFiP records the US accepting in July 2019 that CSG and CRDS fall within the convention. Whether Article 18’s “taxable only in the United States” therefore excludes them, or Article 24’s inclusion-with-credit lets France levy them, is not addressed in any official text we found. Until it is settled, declare and budget for them (at your RFR rate, or 18.6% on the growth where investment-income treatment is likely) rather than omit them on the strength of Article 18.
Roth IRA and Roth 401(k): what is settled and what is not
The US side is settled. A qualified Roth IRA distribution (after the five-year period from the first contribution year, and on or after 59½, on death, disability or for a first home within limits) is not included in gross income (Publication 590-B); Publication 575 gives the same result for a designated Roth account in a 401(k), 403(b) or 457(b) after five tax years of participation, on or after 59½, death or disability.
The French side is not. Asked about Roth 401(k) and Roth IRA withdrawals, the 2020 ministerial answer replied that sums from US retirement plans are taxable only in the United States, without distinguishing Roth from pre-tax plans. Read literally, it would only raise your French rate; that is unconfirmed: the answer never uses the word Roth and is not, to our knowledge, in BOFiP; and a Roth IRA funded by voluntary contributions meets “past employment” less obviously than a Roth 401(k) funded by salary deferrals. If Article 18 did not apply, Article 22 (other income) would make the income taxable only in France as residence State, and French law would tax the growth on a capital payment as investment income, with patrimony-income levies (BOFiP, BOI-RPPM-RCM-10-30-10-10, § 210-300). That regime (CGI art. 120, 6° bis) covers only benefits paid as capital where no contribution was deductible (§ 250). Instalments, or a payment France does not accept under it, could instead be taxed as a pension on the gross amount; no text says which applies to a Roth.
Until confirmed in writing, declare every Roth distribution, budget for French tax and levies on the growth, and take advice before you file or withdraw.
Worked example: the same $40,000, four results
Illustrative and simplified. $40,000 (about 35,000 euros at an assumed rate) paid to a French resident aged 62, at the full CSG rate, with no other household pension. The Roth is qualified; $15,000 of it is growth.
| Case | United States | France: income tax | France: social contributions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional IRA, non-citizen | $12,000 withheld (30%); final tax on Form 1040-NR, possibly lower | 31,500 euros (after 10% allowance) sets the rate on other income; French tax on it cancelled | About 3,200 euros (9.1% of 35,000) if levied: the open treaty point |
| Traditional IRA, US citizen | At least $4,000 withheld (10%, foreign address); final tax on Form 1040 | Same | Same |
| Roth IRA, either status | Nil (a custodian unable to confirm the distribution is qualified may still withhold; any excess comes back on Form 1040-NR or 1040) | Reading 1 (Article 18): rate effect only. Reading 2: from about 1,700 euros (12.8% of 13,000 euros of growth, if accepted as capital under CGI art. 120, 6° bis and the flat rate applies) up to the progressive scale on the full 31,500 euros, with no credit, if taxed as a pension | Reading 1: about 3,200 euros if levied. Reading 2: about 2,400 euros (18.6% of 13,000), or about 3,200 euros if taxed as a pension |
Relief runs one way: France cancels its own tax and never credits the US tax. At age 50, with no exception, a US citizen’s traditional IRA adds a $4,000 US tax (10%), credited nowhere; for a non-citizen, confirm with a US preparer.
US Social Security: same direction, different line
Article 18(1) also gives US Social Security to the paying State, including for US citizens. For a non-citizen the IRS table shows 30, applied to the 85% of the benefit that Publication 519 treats as US-source (25.5% effective). France grants the credit equal to French tax; the CSG question applies equally.
The thing people get wrong. Treating every US retirement account alike: what is settled for a traditional 401(k) is not settled for a Roth IRA. Then two opposite errors. US citizens assume the treaty lets them skip France, then find the distribution must go on form 2047 and lines 1AL and 8TK, where it raises the rate on their other income and feeds their revenu fiscal de référence. Non-citizens assume a W-8BEN buys a treaty rate on their IRA, then find the IRS table reads 30 for France and that the form lapses at the end of the third calendar year after signature. And the 10% US tax on an early withdrawal is credited nowhere.
How Expand CPA can help
Expand CPA can review your situation on both sides: what the United States withholds and taxes on a distribution, and what France expects on forms 2047 and 2042. We explain the French and US obligations that apply to you, help you or your advisers meet the filings in both countries, and coordinate with your custodian and any US adviser where needed. On the points this article flags as unsettled (Roth classification, early withdrawals, CSG on treaty-allocated income and the 7.5% option), we set out the options and the prudent course for your file; the outcome on those points cannot be guaranteed.
If you are planning a withdrawal, especially an early or lump-sum one, talk to us before you instruct the custodian so that both countries’ tax can be modelled, and check that your W-8BEN or W-9 is current. See our US private taxation service.
Frequently asked questions
Is my 401(k) or IRA withdrawal taxed in France or in the United States?
For a traditional 401(k) or IRA, only in the United States (Article 18(1)). France includes it to set the rate on your other income, then grants a credit equal to the French tax on it (Article 24). Declare it on form 2047 (lines 1AL and 8TK). Roth accounts and CSG are not settled.
Are qualified Roth IRA or Roth 401(k) distributions tax-free in France?
Not settled. The 2020 ministerial answer says sums from US retirement plans are taxable only in the United States, which would leave only a rate effect in France, but it does not name Roth accounts and is not, to our knowledge, in BOFiP. Until confirmed, declare the distribution, budget for French tax and social levies on the growth, and take advice before filing.
What changes if I withdraw before 59½?
The United States adds a 10% tax on the taxable part unless an exception applies; separating from service in or after the year you turn 55 helps for a 401(k), not for an IRA. France does not credit it, and has not said how it classifies an early withdrawal, which affects CSG. On a Roth IRA, amounts converted less than five years earlier can also bear the 10%. Model both countries’ tax before you withdraw.
Can I switch off US withholding from France?
Not really. A non-citizen gives Form W-8BEN: 30% by default, no treaty reduction for pensions, graduated rates only at the payer’s option, and any excess back only through Form 1040-NR. A US citizen gives Form W-9: without a US home address the payer must withhold, generally at least 10% on a lump-sum IRA withdrawal paid abroad, and 20% on an eligible rollover distribution from an employer plan unless rolled over directly.
How long is a W-8BEN valid?
From signature to the last day of the third succeeding calendar year, unless a change in circumstances makes it incorrect earlier. A form signed at any time in 2024 expires on 31 December 2027.
Do I owe CSG on a US retirement distribution?
It depends. On a foreign pension, CSG, CRDS and CASA are due only if you are tax-domiciled in France and covered by a French compulsory health-insurance scheme, at zero to 9.1% depending on your revenu fiscal de référence. Whether the treaty excludes them is open: declare and budget for them, and if the payment may be investment income (a Roth, for instance), budget for 18.6% on the growth.
Drawing from a US retirement account while living in France?
Send us your plan statements (showing traditional and Roth balances), your citizenship status and the date of your last W-8BEN or W-9. We will review your situation, explain the US withholding and French filing obligations that apply, and flag the open questions for your file. Our US private taxation services.
