France⁠–⁠Andorra tax treaty: who taxes what?

Official text (PDF, BOFiP), dates and taxes covered

The tax treaty between France and Andorra aims to avoid double taxation and to prevent tax evasion and avoidance with respect to taxes on income. The authentic text is the one published in the Official Journal by Decree No. 2015-878 (Légifrance). The French tax authorities publish a consolidated version as a PDF, updated for the OECD multilateral instrument, and comment on it in the BOFiP (BOI-INT-CVB-AND). Its adoption followed an eventful path:

The treaty covers taxes on income: on the French side, income tax and corporate income tax; on the Andorran side, the taxes that existed in 2013 and those that have supplemented them since, including the personal income tax created in 2014, as the Protocol provides. It covers neither inheritance tax nor the tax on real estate wealth: see what the treaty does not cover below.

Who is a resident of Andorra within the meaning of the treaty?

A resident of Andorra is anyone who meets one of the two criteria laid down in point 2 of the Protocol; three situations are excluded:

The 183-day threshold is assessed per calendar year: our tool lets you count your days of presence throughout the year.

In the event of dual residency, Article 4 decides according to the permanent home, then the centre of vital interests, habitual abode and nationality. The details, with practical cases, are in our guide to tax residency in Andorra.

Article 4 B and the treaty: what the Finance Act for 2025 changed

Since 16 February 2025, the French General Tax Code has expressly provided that a person who meets one of the French criteria of tax domicile cannot be considered domiciled in France if, under a tax treaty, they are not regarded as a resident of France (Article 4 B, as amended by Article 83 of Law No. 2025-127 of 14 February 2025). If the criteria of Article 4 of the treaty attribute your residence to Andorra, France can therefore no longer treat you as domiciled there; it keeps the right to tax the French-source income that the treaty allocates to it. See the primacy of treaty residence.

Who taxes what? The main rules

In principle, the country of residence taxes. The country the income comes from keeps the right to tax, in particular, salaries for work carried out on its soil, income from real property located there and the public pensions it pays, plus a capped withholding tax on investment income:

Based on the consolidated version published by impots.gouv.fr. “Taxable in” one State does not always exclude the other: double taxation is then avoided by Article 21. What remains taxable in France after leaving is detailed in Leaving France for tax purposes.

Salaries: taxed where the work is carried out

Article 14 in principle attaches salaries to the place where the work is carried out. A resident of Andorra who works in France is taxable there on that pay, and Andorra deducts the French tax from its own tax, up to the amount of the Andorran tax. Conversely, a resident of France employed in Andorra is taxable in Andorra; France takes this salary into account in calculating its tax, then grants a tax credit equal to the corresponding French tax, provided the salary has been subject to Andorran tax (Article 21). The main exception: for a work stay of 183 days or less in any twelve-month period, the salary is taxable only in the State of residence if the employer is not resident in the State of the stay and the pay is not borne by a permanent establishment that the employer has there. Civil servants and company directors follow their own rules (Articles 15 and 18). Practical cases, permits included, are covered in our guide to working in Andorra and living in France.

Pensions: private in Andorra, public in France (Articles 17 and 18)

For a retiree living in Andorra, the treaty distinguishes two cases. Private-sector pensions (general scheme, supplementary pensions) are taxable only in Andorra, the State of residence (Article 17). French civil service pensions remain taxable in France, except for an Andorran resident who has Andorran nationality without having French nationality (Article 18). Our profile guide retiring in Andorra brings together the other points to check.

Property located in France: always taxed in France

An Andorran resident who keeps a property in France remains taxable there on the rents (Article 6) and on the capital gain on sale (Article 13). The rule also applies to shares in a company more than 50% of whose value is derived, at any time during the 365 days preceding the sale, from real property located in France, excluding property used for its own business. France then applies its own rules for non-residents; Andorra, for its part, deducts the French tax from its own tax, up to the amount of the Andorran tax.

The formalities to complete in France for this income are set out in our guide Leaving France for tax purposes.

Inheritance, gifts, IFI: what the treaty does not cover

The treaty covers only taxes on income (Article 2): neither inheritance and gift tax nor the tax on real estate wealth (IFI) falls within its scope, and no treaty on inheritance binds France and Andorra. Each country therefore applies its own law, with no treaty mechanism to avoid double taxation:

• Andorra has neither inheritance tax nor wealth tax;
• France can tax assets located in France and what is received by an heir who has been domiciled in France for at least 6 of the last 10 years: see our guide to inheritance tax between France and Andorra;
• the tax on real estate wealth remains payable by a non-resident whose net French real estate assets exceed €1,300,000.

Not to be confused: the social security agreement

Contributions, healthcare and pensions fall under another text, the France⁠–⁠Andorra social security agreement of 12 December 2000, in force since 1 June 2003: it sets out, in particular, the rules applicable to posted employees and how insurance periods completed in both countries are taken into account. It is presented in our guide to CASS contributions.

Dividends, interest, royalties: withholding of 15% and 5% at most

For investment income, the treaty leaves the main taxation to the country of residence and caps the withholding tax of the source country (see the table above). Three points to note:

• some interest bears no withholding tax, in particular interest paid by a State or between financial institutions;
• copyright royalties, excluding software, films and recordings, are taxable only in the State of residence;
• to benefit from these caps, you must present an attestation of residence certified by the tax authority of your country.

On the Andorran side, the law on non-resident income tax already exempts dividends and interest paid to non-residents: a resident of France who holds Andorran securities is therefore not taxed there, and declares this income in France. Conversely, an Andorran resident bears the French withholding tax within the limit of the caps, then Andorran tax on savings income, reduced by that withholding. See our guide to tax on dividends and capital gains in Andorra.

The nationality clause (Article 25): written, but inoperative

This clause would allow France to tax its nationals living in Andorra, but it cannot apply on its own: it would require a French law introducing taxation based on nationality, then an agreement between the two tax authorities on how it is to be implemented. At 10 October 2026, no law of this kind has been adopted.

When the treaty was examined, the government described it as a clause “without legal effect” and stated that no plan of this kind existed, as the Senate reports. An amendment known as the “impôt universel ciblé” (targeted universal tax), examined in October 2025 during the debate on the Finance Bill for 2026, was narrowly rejected in plenary session, according to the specialist press.

Anti-abuse clauses and the multilateral instrument

The treaty contains several safeguards, strengthened by the OECD multilateral instrument:

• a principal purpose test: a benefit is denied if it is reasonable to conclude that obtaining it was one of the principal purposes of an arrangement or transaction (Article 25, paragraph 1, a, as worded by the multilateral instrument);
• a beneficial owner clause: the benefit may be denied when the recipient is not the beneficial owner of the income and the transaction reduces the tax (Article 25, paragraph 1, b);
• the exclusion of the apparent beneficiary from the concept of resident (Article 4, paragraph 5);
• an effective taxation rule: when one State taxes only a portion of an income, the benefit granted by the other State applies only to that portion (Article 25, paragraph 2);
• a preamble stating that the treaty must not create opportunities for non-taxation or reduced taxation through tax evasion or avoidance.

In practice, an Andorran structure with no real activity, set up mainly to obtain a treaty benefit, risks being denied that benefit. See the economic substance required of an Andorran company and, on Andorra’s status with regard to the lists and French law, is Andorra a tax haven?

France⁠–⁠Andorra double taxation: how it is avoided

Through a deduction or a tax credit, calculated according to the State in which you reside:

To compare the income tax due in each of the two countries:

France or Andorra?

Income tax in France and in Andorra on the same taxable income, with every assumption shown.

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