Money, tax and inheritance · Pensions · France-Switzerland
Swiss pension withdrawal when you live in France: AVS, second pillar and French tax
If you worked in Switzerland and live in France, your Swiss AVS (AHV) state pension is paid to you in France, and each country pays for the years you contributed there (EU Regulation 883/2004). In the second pillar, the mandatory part stays blocked on a vested benefits account while you are insured in France (Swiss LFLP, art. 25f); the extra-mandatory part can be cashed out. France taxes second-pillar pensions and lump sums.
Text in force11 March 2023Sources checked30 October 2026
- Official texts cited
- Sources checked on
- Drafted with AI assistance, our method
General legal information with official references and dated checks. It is not personalised advice: for a decision that commits you, have your situation checked by a qualified professional.
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Does the 7.5 % flat tax apply if you take your lump sum in instalments?
No, France’s 7.5 % flat tax on a retirement lump sum applies only if the payment is not split (CGI, article 163 bis, II). A Swiss second-pillar lump sum received in instalments is taxed on the progressive scale. Withdrawing the extra-mandatory part when you leave, then the vested benefits at retirement, are two separate payments: check the condition for each.
Read the referencesYou worked in Switzerland and now live in France: I can go through your AVS pension and your second pillar with you, and how France will tax each payment.
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What happens to your Swiss second pillar when you leave a Swiss job?
When you leave a Swiss job to live in France, your second pillar becomes a leaving benefit: the extra-mandatory part can be paid to you in cash, but the mandatory part stays blocked on a vested benefits account (compte de libre passage) for as long as you are compulsorily insured for old age in France (Swiss Vested Benefits Act, LFLP, articles 5 and 25f).
Only the statutory minimum LPP balance is blocked. If you are married or in a registered partnership, any cash payment needs your spouse’s written consent. For France, the LPP Guarantee Fund (Fonds de garantie LPP) supplies a form whose second part is completed by your French health insurance fund (CPAM), no earlier than 90 days after you leave Switzerland. If you are not compulsorily insured in France, for example because you do not work there, the whole balance can be paid out.
What stays on the vested benefits account is paid at the earliest five years before the reference age, so from 60, and at the latest at 65 unless you prove you are still working (Vested Benefits Ordinance, OLP, article 16).
- Extra-mandatory part: cash payment possible when you leave Switzerland for good
- Mandatory part: vested benefits account if you are insured in France
- Departures before 1 June 2007: the restriction does not apply
Loi sur le libre passage (LFLP), Vested Benefits Act: article 5Loi sur le libre passage (LFLP), Vested Benefits Act: article 25fCash payment when leaving for abroad (in French)Ordonnance sur le libre passage (OLP), Vested Benefits Ordinance: article 16
How do you claim your Swiss AVS pension while living in France?
Your Swiss state pension (AVS, called AHV in German) is paid to you in France with no Swiss residence condition: EU Regulation 883/2004, which applies between Switzerland and the EU, forbids reducing or suspending a benefit because you live in another state (article 7).
You claim through the pension body of your country of residence, which fills in the European forms and sends them to the Swiss Compensation Office (Caisse suisse de compensation) in Geneva. If you never paid into the French system and Switzerland was your last country of contribution, you fill in the Swiss form for people not resident in Switzerland yourself.
The reference age is 65 and the pension starts on the first day of the following month (Swiss AVS Act, LAVS, article 21). You can draw it early from 63, in full or for 20 to 80 %, at a reduced rate (article 40). According to the Federal Social Insurance Office (OFAS, 2026 amounts), a full pension ranges from CHF 1,260 to 2,520 a month; with missing years it is a partial pension. According to OFAS (2 October 2026), these amounts rise by 1.59 % on 1 January 2027.
Loi sur l’assurance-vieillesse et survivants (LAVS), AVS Act: articles 21 and 40AVS pensions: Swiss, EU or EFTA nationals living outside Switzerland (in French)Regulation (EC) 883/2004: articles 6, 7 and 52OFAS: amounts valid from 1 January 2026 (in French)OFAS: AVS/AI pension adjustment on 1 January 2027, press release of 2 October 2026 (in French)
What can you draw, when, and how is it taxed?
Enter your situation and the amounts on your statement: the worksheet sorts each pillar (when it is paid, whether you can withdraw it, how France taxes it) under the Swiss LFLP and LAVS and the French Tax Code. It does not compute your pension or your tax.
Fictional example · What you can draw, and when
You are compulsorily insured in France: the mandatory part stays on a vested benefits account until 60 at the earliest (LFLP, article 25f; OLP, article 16). The extra-mandatory part can be paid to you in cash (LFLP, article 5). Ask the LPP Guarantee Fund for its France form.
- Second-pillar balance entered
- CHF 125,000.00
- Extra-mandatory part, payable when you leave
- CHF 40000
- Mandatory part, blocked if insured in France
- CHF 85000
- Vested benefits payable from
- 2028-05-14
- Early AVS pension possible (63)
- 2031-05-14
- AVS reference age (65), pension from the next month
- 2033-05-14
- Ask your pension fund or vested benefits foundation for a statement that splits the mandatory and extra-mandatory parts.
- Ask the LPP Guarantee Fund for its France form and have the CPAM complete part two, no earlier than 90 days after you leave.
- Get your spouse’s written consent before any cash payment or home withdrawal.
- For the AVS pension, file your claim with your French pension fund a few months before 2033-05-14.
Dates follow the statutory reference age of 65; your fund’s rules may set another age. The worksheet sorts your assets under the law; it does not compute a pension or a tax.
What does article 163 bis of the French General Tax Code say?
II.-Les prestations de retraite versées sous forme de capital imposables conformément au b quinquies du 5 de l'article 158 peuvent, sur demande expresse et irrévocable du bénéficiaire, être soumises à un prélèvement au taux de 7,5 % qui libère les revenus auxquels il s'applique de l'impôt sur le revenu. Ce prélèvement est assis sur le montant du capital diminué d'un abattement de 10 %.
Ce prélèvement est applicable lorsque le versement n'est pas fractionné et que le bénéficiaire justifie que les cotisations versées durant la phase de constitution des droits, y compris le cas échéant par l'employeur, étaient déductibles de son revenu imposable ou étaient afférentes à un revenu exonéré dans l'Etat auquel était attribué le droit d'imposer celui-ci.
In plain English: A Swiss retirement lump sum paid in one go can, if you ask, be taxed in France at 7.5 % on 90 % of its amount instead of the progressive scale. The contributions must have been deductible or linked to exempt income, and the choice cannot be undone.
You choose on the tax return for the year of payment: compare with the scale before ticking the option.
Can you use your Swiss pension to buy your main home in France?
Yes: you can use your Swiss second pillar to buy your main home in France, because the home only has to be where you live or usually stay, with no condition on the country (Swiss Home Ownership Ordinance, OEPL, article 4).
This early withdrawal for a home (versement anticipé, EPL) is one of the exceptions to the block on the mandatory part: the LPP Guarantee Fund does not check your French insurance in this case. The minimum is CHF 20,000 and you can ask only once every five years (OEPL, article 5). You must apply at the latest three years before your old-age benefits start, and after 50 the amount is capped (Swiss Occupational Pensions Act, LPP, article 30c).
If you are married, your spouse must consent in writing. The withdrawal reduces your future benefits by the same amount, so ask your fund for the pension after withdrawal before you sign the preliminary sale contract (compromis de vente).
- A flat or a family house, owned outright or jointly
- Buying, building or repaying a mortgage
- Only one home financed at a time
Ordonnance sur l’encouragement à la propriété du logement (OEPL), Home Ownership Ordinance: articles 4 and 5Cash payment when leaving for abroad (in French)Loi sur la prévoyance professionnelle (LPP), Occupational Pensions Act: article 30c
AVS, second pillar, vested benefits, pillar 3a: what happens from France?
| Pillar | When it is paid | Cash withdrawal | Tax in France | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVS state pension (1st pillar) | At 65, early from 63; 13th pension each December | No: monthly pension paid in France | Progressive scale, 10 % pension allowance | LAVS, art. 21 and 40; CGI, art. 79 and 158 |
| Second pillar, mandatory part | At the age set by the fund’s rules; vested benefits from 60 | Blocked on leaving if you are insured in France, except for a home | Pension on the scale; lump sum on the scale or 7.5 % after a 10 % allowance | LFLP, art. 25f; CGI, art. 163 bis |
| Second pillar, extra-mandatory part | On leaving Switzerland for good, or at retirement | Yes, with your spouse’s written consent | Lump sum on the scale or 7.5 % after a 10 % allowance | LFLP, art. 5; CGI, art. 163 bis |
| Vested benefits account | From 60 to 65, up to 70 if you still work | Yes, when due | Lump sum on the scale or 7.5 % if paid in one go | OLP, art. 16; treaty, art. 20 |
| Pillar 3a | From 60, or earlier when you leave Switzerland for good | Yes | Taxable income in France | OPP 3, art. 3; CGI, art. 79 |
Swiss tax withheld at source on a lump sum (LIFD, article 96) is settled with the fund and its canton, since the treaty gives the taxing right to France.
Loi sur l’assurance-vieillesse et survivants (LAVS), AVS Act: articles 21 and 40Loi sur le libre passage (LFLP), Vested Benefits Act: article 25fLoi sur le libre passage (LFLP), Vested Benefits Act: article 5Ordonnance sur le libre passage (OLP), Vested Benefits Ordinance: article 16Ordonnance sur les formes reconnues de prévoyance (OPP 3), pillar 3a: article 3Code général des impôts (French General Tax Code): article 79Code général des impôts (French General Tax Code): article 163 bisFrance-Switzerland double taxation treaty of 9 September 1966: articles 20 and 21
Which figures matter for your Swiss pension in 2026 and 2027?
Official amounts, up to date on 30 October 2026.
- Optional flat final tax on a retirement lump sum paid in one go, after a 10 % allowance
- 7.5 %
- since 11 March 2023 · French General Tax Code (CGI), article 163 bis, II
- Minimum and maximum AVS old-age pension, per month
- CHF 1,260 to 2,520
- 2026 · OFAS, amounts valid from 1 January 2026
- AVS pension increase on 1 January 2027 (minimum CHF 1,280, maximum CHF 2,560 a month)
- +1.59 %
- 2027 · OFAS, press release of 2 October 2026
- Minimum early withdrawal from the second pillar for a home
- CHF 20,000
- since 1 October 2017 · Swiss Home Ownership Ordinance (OEPL), article 5
How does France tax a Swiss pension or lump sum?
France taxes the Swiss retirement pensions of a French resident, because the France-Switzerland tax treaty gives private pensions to the state of residence (article 20): a pension counts in your overall taxable income, and so does a lump sum (French General Tax Code, CGI, article 79).
A pension is taxed at the progressive income tax scale after the 10 % pension allowance, capped at €4,439 per household (CGI, article 158). A lump sum paid in one go can, at your express and irrevocable request, be taxed at a 7.5 % flat final rate (prélèvement libératoire) after a 10 % allowance, if the contributions were deductible or linked to exempt income (CGI, article 163 bis, II). Otherwise it goes on the scale.
Switzerland withholds tax at source on benefits paid to people living abroad (Swiss Direct Federal Tax Act, LIFD, article 96). As the treaty gives the taxing right to France, ask your fund and the canton where it is based how to reclaim it. Income received abroad is declared on French form 2047, attached to your tax return.
France-Switzerland double taxation treaty of 9 September 1966: articles 20 and 21Code général des impôts (French General Tax Code): article 79Code général des impôts (French General Tax Code): article 158Code général des impôts (French General Tax Code): article 163 bisLoi sur l’impôt fédéral direct (LIFD), Direct Federal Tax Act: article 96Form 2047: return of income received abroad (in French)
Do your Swiss years count towards your French pension?
Yes, your Swiss years count towards your French pension rights: EU Regulation 883/2004 requires each pension body to take into account periods completed in other states as if they had been completed under its own law (article 6).
They are not paid twice. Each country pays its own pension: the body works out a theoretical pension as if your whole career had been spent under its system, then pays only the share matching your years there (article 52, pro rata pension). You receive the higher of this pro rata amount and the pension worked out under national law alone.
In practice you get a French pension for your quarters in France and a partial AVS pension for your Swiss contribution years, plus your second pillar. File one claim with your French pension fund, which passes the file to the Swiss Compensation Office.
Regulation (EC) 883/2004: articles 6, 7 and 52AVS pensions: Swiss, EU or EFTA nationals living outside Switzerland (in French)
What do former Swiss cross-border workers most often ask about their pension?
Does the 7.5 % flat tax apply if you take your lump sum in instalments?
No, France’s 7.5 % flat tax on a retirement lump sum applies only if the payment is not split (CGI, article 163 bis, II). A Swiss second-pillar lump sum received in instalments is taxed on the progressive scale. Withdrawing the extra-mandatory part when you leave, then the vested benefits at retirement, are two separate payments: check the condition for each.
Code général des impôts (French General Tax Code): article 163 bis
Which French tax form do you use to declare a Swiss pension?
A Swiss AVS pension received by a French resident is declared as income received abroad on form 2047, attached to the French tax return. France taxes it on the progressive scale with your other pensions (CGI, article 79), after the 10 % allowance capped at €4,439 per household (article 158).
Form 2047: return of income received abroad (in French)Code général des impôts (French General Tax Code): article 79Code général des impôts (French General Tax Code): article 158
Will you get the 13th AVS pension if you live in France?
Yes, the 13th AVS pension is paid each December, for the first time in December 2026, to everyone entitled to an old-age pension that month. It equals one twelfth of the old-age pensions received in the year. EU Regulation 883/2004 forbids reducing it because you live in France.
13th AVS pension (in French)Regulation (EC) 883/2004: articles 6, 7 and 52
How do you find a forgotten Swiss pension fund balance?
A forgotten Swiss second-pillar balance can be traced through a written request to the Central Office for the second pillar (Centrale du 2e pilier), run by the LPP Guarantee Fund, online or by post to Bern. It matches your details with what pension funds and vested benefits foundations report and tells you where the money is.
Search for occupational pension assets, Central Office for the second pillar (in French)
Is a Swiss public-sector pension taxed in France?
A pension paid by a Swiss public body is taxed only in Switzerland if you hold Swiss nationality (France-Switzerland tax treaty, article 21). If you are not Swiss, or if the public employer ran an industrial or commercial activity, the private pension rule applies and France, your state of residence, taxes it (article 20).
France-Switzerland double taxation treaty of 9 September 1966: articles 20 and 21
Which Swiss and French texts are these rules based on?
- Loi sur le libre passage (LFLP), Vested Benefits Act: article 5Swiss Confederation: Fedlex (in French)
- Loi sur le libre passage (LFLP), Vested Benefits Act: article 25fSwiss Confederation: Fedlex (in French)
- Cash payment when leaving for abroad (in French)LPP Guarantee Fund (Fonds de garantie LPP)
- Ordonnance sur le libre passage (OLP), Vested Benefits Ordinance: article 16Swiss Confederation: Fedlex (in French)
- Loi sur l’assurance-vieillesse et survivants (LAVS), AVS Act: articles 21 and 40Swiss Confederation: Fedlex (in French)
- AVS pensions: Swiss, EU or EFTA nationals living outside Switzerland (in French)Central Compensation Office (CdC), Swiss Compensation Office
- Regulation (EC) 883/2004: articles 6, 7 and 52Swiss Confederation: Fedlex (SR 0.831.109.268.1, in French)
- OFAS: amounts valid from 1 January 2026 (in French)Federal Social Insurance Office (OFAS)
- OFAS: AVS/AI pension adjustment on 1 January 2027, press release of 2 October 2026 (in French)Federal Social Insurance Office (OFAS)
- Ordonnance sur l’encouragement à la propriété du logement (OEPL), Home Ownership Ordinance: articles 4 and 5Swiss Confederation: Fedlex (in French)
- Loi sur la prévoyance professionnelle (LPP), Occupational Pensions Act: article 30cSwiss Confederation: Fedlex (in French)
- Ordonnance sur les formes reconnues de prévoyance (OPP 3), pillar 3a: article 3Swiss Confederation: Fedlex (in French)
- Code général des impôts (French General Tax Code): article 79French Republic / DILA: Légifrance
- Code général des impôts (French General Tax Code): article 163 bisFrench Republic / DILA: Légifrance
- France-Switzerland double taxation treaty of 9 September 1966: articles 20 and 21Swiss Confederation: Fedlex (SR 0.672.934.91, in French)
- Code général des impôts (French General Tax Code): article 158French Republic / DILA: Légifrance
- Loi sur l’impôt fédéral direct (LIFD), Direct Federal Tax Act: article 96Swiss Confederation: Fedlex (in French)
- Form 2047: return of income received abroad (in French)French tax administration (DGFiP): impots.gouv.fr
- 13th AVS pension (in French)AVS/AI Information Centre
- Search for occupational pension assets, Central Office for the second pillar (in French)LPP Guarantee Fund (Fonds de garantie LPP)
Texts cited last checked: 30 October 2026