Country file · FR
Potential · lowFrance: is a withholding-tax claim worth filing?
Honest answer: for an individual French resident, rarely. The 12.8% withheld already matches the treaty rate — the entry is already settled. Exceptions exist, and we list them below without selling false hope.
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Example for €10,000 of gross dividends, French tax resident: the entry is already settled — nothing to claim in the standard case. Indicative amounts — every claim is verified before filing.
Technical file
The numbers that matter
Both rates, the gap, the form and the time you have left: everything that decides whether a claim is worth opening.
12.8%
Statutory rate
withheld from non-residents by default
12.8%
Treaty rate
varies with residence — detail below
0 pts
Recoverable gap
nothing to claim in the standard case
2 years
Statute of limitations
from the end of the year of payment
Your deadline to act
2 years
Claims are admissible until 31 December of the 2nd year following the withholding year, as a general rule.
Compute my exact deadline →The procedure in practice
- Form
- Forms 5000 + 5001
- Competent authority
- DGFiP (French public finances directorate)
- Online filing
- No
- Relief at source
- Yes
Relief at source prevents the over-withholding before it exists: the correct rate is applied at payment time. See the relief-at-source service →
Treaty rate by country of residence
The rate you owe depends on the treaty between this country and your country of tax residence.
- France
- 12.8%
- Belgium
- 15%
- Luxembourg
- 15%
- Switzerland
- 15%
- Other treaty country
- 15%
Data reviewed on 12 July 2026 · Indicative amounts — every claim is verified before filing.
Transparency
Why we won't sell you this claim
In the standard case, the tax withheld already matches the treaty rate: there is no over-withholding for an individual to claim. Our free diagnostic will tell you exactly that — we would rather see you leave informed than keep you as the client of a claim that will return nothing.
Specifics
What you should know about this country
- An honest, counter-intuitive case: for a non-resident individual, France withholds 12.8% — below the usual 15% treaty rates. In the standard case there is therefore nothing to recover.
- Over-withholding appears when the paying agent applied a wrong rate (the 25% reserved for certain entities, or a punitive rate): those gaps are recovered through the 5000/5001 pair.
- Prevention is the normal route: a Form 5000 delivered before payment secures the correct rate at source directly.
- A French tax resident is not concerned by this page: their French dividends fall under domestic taxation, not treaty withholding.
Claim documents
The documents required
What we gather with you. Most of these can be requested online or produced from your brokerage statements.
- Form 5000 (residence attestation) stamped by the residence-country administration
- Schedule 5001 (computation of the dividend withholding)
- Evidence of the French dividends and the withholding levied
- A representation mandate where applicable
Resources
Go further
- Problems & risks8 min read
The countries where there is nothing to recover (and why we tell you)
The UK, the Netherlands, France seen from abroad, US dividends under a valid W-8BEN, ETFs: the honest list of the zeros — from a provider paid on success only, with no interest in hiding them.
- Best in class7 min read
The right refund form, country by country: the reference table
Modelo 210, Form 83, NR7-R, 276 Div.-Aut., 5000/5001… The form, the authority, the window and the filing channel for all 19 covered countries — all free from the administrations, table updated with our country database.
- Best in class12 min read
Which countries offer the best recovery potential for a French resident?
Finland, Ireland and Switzerland on top — the UK, the Netherlands and France at zero, and we say so. All 19 countries ranked by recoverable gap for an individual French resident, with each one's traps.
- Best in class9 min read
Statute of limitations: how long you have to claim, ranked by country
From Canada and Portugal (only 2 years) to Austria, Sweden, Japan and Norway (5 years): claim deadlines ranked across all 19 covered countries — with both counting rules, the 31 December cliff, and the filing order that follows.
Unsure about your own case?
The simulator will give you the same honest answer as this page — and check the other countries in your portfolio while it's at it.
No win, no fee · Pricing 100% public · FR / EN