You are an expatriate in the UAE (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah) and you are selling a property in France? Your tax situation has one distinct advantage: the UAE levies no personal income tax or capital gains tax. In practice, the French tax is the only one you will have to pay on the capital gain. The only priority is to minimise it as much as the law allows.

The UAE is not part of the European Economic Area. Any UAE tax resident selling a property in France for more than €150,000 (or held for less than thirty years) must appoint an accredited tax representative. Without this appointment, the signature cannot take place at the notary’s office.

The absence of income tax in the UAE means there is no double taxation to avoid and no tax credit to activate. The French source tax (19% income tax + 17.2% social levies = 36.2% before allowances, plus a possible surcharge) is the only deduction you will face on this transaction.

This absence of a double taxation elimination mechanism makes every euro of French optimisation all the more valuable. Three priority levers: (1) application of holding period allowances (full income tax exemption at 22 years, full social levies exemption at 30 years), (2) flat-rate deduction for renovation works (15% of the acquisition price after 5 years), (3) potential first-sale exemption if this is your first sale of a French property since leaving France.

The France-UAE tax treaty, signed on 19 July 1989 and revised several times, grants France the right to tax capital gains on property located in France. Since the UAE does not tax capital gains for individuals, the treaty primarily plays a formal allocation role: it confirms French primacy and the absence of additional UAE taxation.

One important note: the UAE introduced a corporate income tax of 9% in 2023. If your sale is carried out through a structure (a French SCI held by a UAE company), a specific analysis is required.

An expatriate living in Dubai sells in 2026 a villa bought for €600,000 in 2008 (18 years of ownership). Sale price: €950,000. Flat-rate acquisition costs (+7.5%): €45,000. Flat-rate works (+15%): €90,000. Gross gain: €215,000. Income tax allowance (18 years, 14 × 6%): 84%. Social levies allowance (18 years, 14 × 1.65%): 23.1%. Income tax: €215,000 × 16% × 19% = €6,536. Social levies: €215,000 × 76.9% × 17.2% = €28,412. Total French tax: approximately €34,948. No UAE tax. No credit mechanism. Optimising the French tax is the single lever available.

Our value for a UAE file focuses on two areas. First, competitive tendering among accredited tax representatives, reducing representation fees by 20 to 40% on average — an advantage all the more significant since no tax credit will absorb these fees. Second, a thorough review of optimisation levers, in particular eligibility for the first-sale exemption which can eliminate up to €150,000 of taxable capital gain.

ACCREDITAX finds you the right accredited tax representative at the best rate. Free and no-obligation quote.