French inheritance tax return: deadlines, penalties

Six months or one year: the place of death is what counts

Articles 641 and 642 of the CGI set the deadline according to where the deceased died and, overseas, where they were domiciled, not where the heirs live:

Sources: CGI, art. 641 and 642. Service-public.gouv.fr sets out the same deadlines for the overseas départements.

Service-public.gouv.fr specifies that a deadline falling on a Sunday or public holiday is extended to the next working day, and that the tax authorities accept filing up to the last day of the month. Example: for a death on 10 January 2025 in mainland France, the deadline expires on 10 July 2025 and the tolerance runs until 31 July 2025.

Where to file? At the centre des finances publiques (tax office, pôle enregistrement (registration department)) for the deceased’s home if they lived in France; at the service des impôts des particuliers non résidents (tax office for non-resident individuals) if they lived abroad (service-public.gouv.fr). Heirs living outside France may entrust the return to a notaire (notary), but remain responsible to the tax authorities (same source).

Who must file, and who is exempt

Every heir, legatee or recipient of a gift is concerned; the heirs may file a single return, signed by all of them (service-public.gouv.fr). Anyone who renounces the estate does not have to file a return. Being exempt from the tax, like the spouse or the partenaire de Pacs (civil partner), does not on its own exempt anyone from filing (same source).

According to service-public.gouv.fr, the following are exempt from filing:

• the spouse, the civil partner, children, grandchildren and parents where the actif brut (gross estate) is less than €50,000 and they have received only declared or registered gifts;
• other beneficiaries where the gross estate is less than €3,000.

As soon as the estate includes a property, using a notaire is compulsory (service-public.gouv.fr), and the estate often exceeds these thresholds. See our guide on succession et immobilier (inheritance and property).

Penalties for late filing

Late-payment interest. Its rate is 0.20% a month (CGI, art. 1727; the rate is unchanged in the version in force from 1 January 2027). It is calculated “from the first day of the month following the one in which the tax should have been paid until the last day of the month of payment” (same article) (our translation).

The surcharge. For inheritance tax returns, the 10% surcharge applies “from the first day of the seventh month following the month in which the six-month and twenty-four-month deadlines provided for in articles 641 and 641 bis respectively expired” (our translation); it rises to 40% if the return is not filed within 90 days of a formal notice (CGI, art. 1728). The text refers to the six-month deadline: the surcharge therefore applies from the 13th month after the death. Service-public.gouv.fr applies the same 13th month where the filing deadline is one year (death abroad): the surcharge then applies from the month following the expiry of that deadline.

Example: death on 10 January 2025 in mainland France, tax of €20,000, return filed and paid in March 2026. The deadline expired on 10 July 2025: interest runs from August 2025 to March 2026, i.e. 8 months × 0.20% = €320. March 2026 falls after 1 February 2026, the first day of the seventh month following July 2025: the 10% surcharge is added, i.e. €2,000.

Paying in instalments or later

The tax is due on filing, but two forms of payment credit exist. They must be requested by a letter attached to the return, with security offered (a mortgage over a property, for example) and interest paid, at the rate shown in the authorisation. The express agreement of all the heirs is required. The tax authorities reply within 2 months; if they agree, the security must be provided within 4 months (service-public.gouv.fr).

Paiement fractionné (payment in instalments) (CGI, annex III, art. 404 A):

• general case: equal instalments, three at most, no more than six months apart, the last at the latest one year after the filing deadline expires;
• estate including at least 50% of non-liquid assets, including property: period extended to three years and seven instalments at most.

Any late payment means losing the benefit of payment in instalments (service-public.gouv.fr).

Paiement différé (deferred payment) (CGI, annex III, art. 397 and 404 B), only for the tax relating to:

• assets received as nue-propriété (bare ownership): until at most six months after the usufruct is reunited with the bare ownership, or after the bare ownership is sold;
• the home subject to the spouse’s droit viager d’habitation (lifelong right of residence): until at most six months after the spouse’s death or the conversion of their rights into an annuity or a lump sum;
• soultes (equalisation payments) payable at a later date in the case of attribution préférentielle (preferential allocation).

On the tax value of bare ownership, see our guide on usufruit et nue-propriété (usufruct and bare ownership).

Which professional to consult

The notaire (notary), compulsory as soon as a property is involved, prepares the return and the request for payment in instalments or deferred payment. The agent immobilier (estate agent) provides the valuation of the property, the basis for the declared value.