France: CSG and CRDS are creditable, and your assurance-vie is a reporting problem.
There is a US–France income tax treaty and a totalization agreement. Since 2019 the IRS has accepted CSG and CRDS as creditable income taxes rather than social charges, which raises the credit available on Form 1116 — and is worth revisiting on earlier years still open.
Tax snapshot — France
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Sources: IRS Publication 54; IRS Publication 901; US–France income tax treaty (1994, as amended); US–France totalization agreement (1988); IRS CSG/CRDS position (2019); Rev. Proc. 2025-32. Checked 28 August 2026.
What that means on your return
The CSG and CRDS position changed in 2019. If your earlier returns treated them as non-creditable social charges, the credit was understated, and years still within the amendment window can be corrected. It is one of the few genuinely retrospective wins in expat tax.
Assurance-vie is the French item that catches people. It is tax-favoured in France, reportable in the US on Form 8938, and the funds inside it are frequently PFICs. A wrapper that simplifies your French tax can complicate your American one considerably.
The totalization agreement covers French social security, so a self-employed American contributing in France generally escapes the US 15.3% charge, evidenced by a certificate of coverage.
If you are in France as a…
Questions I get about France
Can I credit CSG and CRDS on my US return?
Yes. Since 2019 the IRS has accepted them as creditable income taxes. If earlier returns treated them otherwise, amending years still open is worth examining.
How is my assurance-vie taxed in the US?
Not the way it is taxed in France. It is reportable on Form 8938, and the funds inside it are frequently PFICs, so the US treatment is usually less favourable than the French.
I already pay high tax in France. Do I still file a US return?
Yes, every year. Citizenship-based taxation does not care what you pay locally. The foreign tax credit usually removes the US liability, but the filing obligation stands, and FBAR and FATCA reporting stand with it.
When is my return due?
15 June, under the automatic extension for filers living abroad. Form 4868 moves it to 15 October, and I file the extension free.
Do I have to file an FBAR for my French bank account?
If your foreign accounts together passed $10,000 at any point in the year, yes. You can file it free through FinCEN's own system. The non-willful penalty for not filing is $16,536.
I have not filed for several years. What now?
The Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures: three returns, six FBARs and Form 14653 certifying non-willfulness. Penalties are waived. Note that the IRS terminated the separate Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures around 1 July 2026.
Filing from France this year?
Twenty minutes with the Enrolled Agent who will prepare and sign it. Complete return, $599.
An IRS Enrolled Agent working only on US tax for Americans living abroad. I prepare and sign every return myself — 17 years in practice, 12 of them as an Enrolled Agent.