If you’re a foreigner in France, you may be declaring income from another country – here’s how to do your currency conversions.
French tax declarations are now open and if you’re living in France you will almost certainly have to complete the annual income tax declaration, even if you have no income in France – eg retirees living on a UK or US pension.
READ ALSO: Ask the expert: How to fill out the 2026 French tax declaration✎
You are also required to declare all your worldwide income – you probably won’t have to pay more tax in France if your country has a tax treaty with France (which most countries do) but you have to declare it all the same.
All of which means that foreigners living in France are quite likely to be declaring at least some income – earnings, pensions, rental income or share dividends – that is not in euros.
So how do you do the conversion?
The first thing to note is that all income on the French tax form must be declared in euros, there is no facility to declare in another currency, which means that you need to convert your income into euros before you start.
In terms of how you do the conversion, there is no fixed formula, and most people use online currency converters such as XE or Google for the sake of simplicity, but you can also look up the exchange rate and do your own calculations.
It is advised that you take a note of which method you used, and the date you did the conversion, just in case any of your working is challenged by the tax office.
Accountants report that it is very rare that the French tax office would challenge your return based on how you convert foreign currency into euros, but it is wise to keep a note of your method just in case.
Chartered accountant Faten Amamou, who specialises in international clients, told The Local: “Before you start to fill out your tax declaration, if you have any income that isn’t in euros, you’ll need to convert it to euros.
“There is no set method for doing this, but keep a note of the method, logic and currency conversion you have used in case you are questioned about it.”
Another thing that frequently catches out foreigners in France is the need to declare all non-French bank accounts – find more about that here.
You can find more details about the 2026 tax declaration, and deadlines in our tax section HERE.
