France’s Contribution Sociale Généralisée applies to almost every kind of income at rates ranging from 3.8% to 10.6%, and the rates and exemptions of the Contribution Sociale Généralisée in 2026 turn on two questions: what type of income you earn, and whether you are affiliated with a French social security scheme. Starting in 2026, the CSG rate on interest, dividends, and securities capital gains rose from 9.2% to 10.6%, pushing the combined social levy on those earnings from 17.2% to 18.6%.1Service-Public.fr. Income Tax – Savings and Investment Income Residents affiliated with another EEA country’s social security system, along with Swiss and UK residents, are exempt from the CSG on property and investment income.
The CSG almost always travels with a companion levy, the Contribution pour le Remboursement de la Dette Sociale (CRDS), charged at a flat 0.5% on the same base.2Cleiss. The French Social Security System – Rates and Ceilings of Social Security and Unemployment Contributions The two are collected together, so most taxpayers experience them as a single withholding. Rates below are for the CSG alone unless a combined total is specified.
CSG Rates by Income Type in 2026
Wages and Salaries
Employment income is subject to CSG at 9.2%. The levy is calculated on 98.25% of gross pay, reflecting a 1.75% standard deduction for professional expenses, but only up to four times the annual social security ceiling (the PASS, set at €48,060 for 2026).3Boss.gouv.fr. Le Plafond de la Sécurité Sociale au 1er Janvier 2026 Earnings above €192,240 are subject to CSG on the full gross amount with no deduction.2Cleiss. The French Social Security System – Rates and Ceilings of Social Security and Unemployment Contributions Adding the 0.5% CRDS brings the total social levy on wages to 9.7%.
Pensions and Unemployment Benefits
Pensioners face a standard CSG rate of 8.3%, though lower-income retirees pay reduced rates or nothing at all under the brackets set out further down.4Cleiss. The French Social Security System Unemployment benefits carry a CSG rate of 6.2%.2Cleiss. The French Social Security System – Rates and Ceilings of Social Security and Unemployment Contributions Both are calculated on the gross amount before other deductions.
Investment and Property Income
This is where 2026 brought a significant change. For interest, dividends, and capital gains on securities, the CSG rate rose from 9.2% to 10.6%. Combined with the 0.5% CRDS and the 7.5% solidarity levy, total social charges on these earnings now stand at 18.6%.1Service-Public.fr. Income Tax – Savings and Investment Income
Not all asset income was hit equally. Unfurnished rental income, real estate capital gains, and returns from life insurance (assurance vie) policies still carry the older 9.2% CSG rate, keeping their combined social levy total at 17.2%. Furnished rental income, on the other hand, moves to the higher 18.6% total. The distinction matters when choosing between furnished and unfurnished letting structures.
Who Owes the CSG
The CSG is owed by individuals who meet two conditions: they are tax residents of France, and they belong to a mandatory French social security scheme.5Internal Revenue Service. French Foreign Tax Credits Article L136-1 of the French Social Security Code sets out this dual test.6Légifrance. Code de la Sécurité Sociale Article L136-1
Tax residency depends on your center of economic interests, your primary home, or where you spend most of your time. Citizenship alone doesn’t trigger liability. A French citizen living and contributing to Germany’s social system owes nothing to the CSG on German wages; a foreign national who moves to France and joins the French health system becomes subject to CSG on worldwide income.
Because both conditions have to be met, someone who lives in France but is not affiliated with a French scheme (for example, a person covered by an S1 health certificate from another EU country) can escape a large share of the levy, as the next section explains.
Exemption for EEA, Swiss, and UK Residents
After the Court of Justice of the European Union’s ruling in de Ruyter, France can no longer charge CSG and CRDS on property and investment income earned by people affiliated with a social security scheme in another EEA country (the EU plus Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein) or Switzerland.7Direction Générale des Finances Publiques. Capital Gains on the Sale of Property The principle is simple: EU rules bar double social security coverage, so France cannot layer contributions onto someone already paying into another member state’s system.
UK residents continue to qualify after Brexit under the terms of the UK-France withdrawal agreement.7Direction Générale des Finances Publiques. Capital Gains on the Sale of Property Qualifying individuals still owe the 7.5% solidarity levy, which was restructured so its revenue flows to the general budget rather than social security, keeping it outside the reach of the EU anti-double-coverage rules.
To claim the exemption, tick boxes 8SH or 8SI on your tax return (for taxpayer 1 and taxpayer 2 respectively). If only one spouse in a joint filing qualifies, put the exempt property income amount in box 8RF.8Direction Générale des Finances Publiques. Notice 2041-E The gap between 18.6% (or 17.2%) and 7.5% is large, and this is one of the most commonly missed exemptions among eligible taxpayers.
Reduced Rates and Exemptions for Pensioners
Retirees drawing a French pension pay CSG at rates that scale with reference tax income (revenu fiscal de référence, or RFR). The RFR used for 2026 comes from the 2026 tax return on 2024 income. For a single-person household, the brackets are:4Cleiss. The French Social Security System
- Below €13,048: fully exempt from CSG and CRDS.
- €13,048 to €17,057: CSG at 3.8%, plus 0.5% CRDS.
- €17,058 to €26,471: CSG at 6.6%, plus 0.5% CRDS and 0.3% CASA (an additional solidarity contribution for elderly care).
- €26,472 and above: full-rate CSG at 8.3%, plus 0.5% CRDS and 0.3% CASA.
Thresholds are adjusted annually and apply to pension income specifically. A retiree with investment income on the side still owes the full social levies on those returns, no matter where the pension itself lands in the brackets. Certain benefits are carved out entirely: the Solidarity Allowance for the Elderly and war pensions are protected from CSG regardless of total income.
Deducting Part of the CSG From Income Tax
A share of the CSG you pay can be subtracted from your taxable income before income tax is calculated. The deductible share depends on the income type and the rate paid:
- Wages at 9.2% CSG: 6.8% is deductible, 2.4% is not.
- Pensions at the full 8.3% rate: 5.9% is deductible.
- Pensions at the 6.6% rate: 4.2% is deductible.
- Pensions at the 3.8% rate: the full 3.8% is deductible.
- Investment income: 6.8% is deductible, but only if you opt for the progressive income tax scale instead of the flat tax.
That last point trips up many taxpayers. Accept the default flat tax (the Prélèvement Forfaitaire Unique, or PFU) on investment income and none of the CSG is deductible, because the 12.8% income tax component already accounts for it. The deduction only applies when you actively choose the progressive scale on your annual return, a choice that applies to all your investment income for the year. For someone in a low bracket, the progressive scale combined with the CSG deduction can produce a lower total than the flat tax, so it’s worth running the numbers both ways.
The CRDS is never deductible from income tax. Neither is the solidarity levy.
CSG and US Taxpayers
American citizens and residents with French income deal with the CSG through two overlapping frameworks: the US foreign tax credit and the bilateral social security agreement.
On the credit side, the IRS will not challenge foreign tax credits claimed for CSG and CRDS payments, a position formalized through diplomatic communications between the US and France in 2019 on the shared understanding that both levies are taxes rather than social security contributions covered by the totalization agreement.9Internal Revenue Service. Foreign Tax Credit For years before this resolution, the IRS had argued the opposite, leaving many US taxpayers in France with no relief on either side of the Atlantic.
On the affiliation side, the US-France Social Security Agreement prevents dual coverage. A US employer sending an employee to France for five years or less can keep that worker in the US system, and therefore off the hook for the CSG on wages, by obtaining a Certificate of Coverage (form SE 404-2) from the Social Security Administration. Workers covered by this exemption cannot get free healthcare in France, so private health insurance is a practical necessity. Assignments longer than five years, and locally hired positions, generally fall into the French social security system, with CSG owed like any other affiliated worker.10Social Security Administration. Agreement Between the United States and France
A Separate Surcharge for Non-Working Residents
The CSG is not the only social levy that can catch French residents living on passive income. The Cotisation Subsidiaire Maladie (CSM), often called the PUMA surcharge, is a roughly 6.5% health system contribution on worldwide passive income above 50% of the PASS (€24,030 for an individual in 2026, €48,060 for a couple), capped at eight times the PASS (€384,480). You are exempt if you earn more than €9,612 per year (20% of the PASS) from employment or professional activity, or if your spouse or civil partner does. The CSM stacks on top of the regular CSG, CRDS, and solidarity levies on the same income, so early retirees and investment-income households moving to France should factor it in alongside the CSG itself.