Three Tests, Any One of Them, and Not a Single Day Counted
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Chile on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
147 exceptions recorded across 54 countries · none match Chile to France · When you become a tax resident
French income tax residence has no day count in it. Article 4 B offers three tests - your home or your principal place of stay, a professional activity in France that is not accessory, the centre of your economic interests - and meeting one of them is enough; the code says so in the words "l'un au moins". What follows from meeting one is in article 4 A: income tax on everything you earn anywhere. Fail all three and France taxes only what has a French source. The code then writes its own escape into the same paragraph: a person who satisfies one or more of the three is still not domiciled in France if a double-taxation convention does not regard them as a resident of France. That sentence sits inside the test rather than beside it, which is unusual - in most of this corpus the treaty override is somewhere else entirely, or nowhere. A non-resident with French-source income is not left to the ordinary scale either: article 197 A sets a floor under the tax, 20 % and then 30 %, which can only be lifted by proving that the French rate on worldwide income would be lower.
At a glance
- What makes you tax resident
- Any one of three tests in article 4 B
They are alternatives, not conditions to be met together. The code's own phrase for them is "l'un au moins des critères fixés aux a à c".
- The three tests
- Your foyer or principal place of stay in France; a professional activity in France that is not accessory; the centre of your economic interests in France
- How many days
- None - the residence test counts no days at all
The only mention of 183 days in the whole code is in article 81 A, an exemption for employees whose French employer sends them abroad. It decides nothing about who is resident.
- What residence costs
- Income tax on worldwide income; a non-resident is taxed on French-source income only
Article 4 A, which is one sentence each way.
- Whether a treaty can undo all three
- Yes, and the code says so itself
The last paragraph of article 4 B 1. A convention that does not treat you as resident in France takes you out of the test even though you meet it.
- Minimum tax on a non-resident
- 20 % to the top of the second band of the scale and 30 % above it
14,4 % and 20 % for income sourced in the overseas departments. The floor lifts only if the taxpayer shows the French rate on worldwide income would be lower.
- Running a large French company
- Directors of companies headquartered in France with turnover above 250 million euros are deemed to work mainly in France
Rebuttable - "à moins qu'ils ne rapportent la preuve contraire" - and turnover is counted across the group where one company controls others.
- French public servants posted abroad
- Domiciled in France unless the host country taxes their worldwide income
Article 4 B 2, which reaches state, local-authority and hospital service alike.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Chile
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«Les personnes qui ont en France leur domicile fiscal sont passibles de l'impôt sur le revenu en raison de l'ensemble de leurs revenus. Celles dont le domicile fiscal est situé hors de France sont passibles de cet impôt en raison de leurs seuls revenus de source française.»Our translation - not official
Persons whose tax domicile is in France are liable to income tax on the whole of their income. Those whose tax domicile is outside France are liable to that tax on their French-source income alone.
The consequence, printed before the test. It is why the question of domicile is worth the page.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«1. Sont considérées comme ayant leur domicile fiscal en France au sens de l'article 4 A : a. Les personnes qui ont en France leur foyer ou le lieu de leur séjour principal ; b. Celles qui exercent en France une activité professionnelle, salariée ou non, à moins qu'elles ne justifient que cette activité y est exercée à titre accessoire ;»Our translation - not official
1. The following are regarded as having their tax domicile in France for the purposes of article 4 A: a. Persons who have in France their home or their principal place of stay; b. Those who carry on a professional activity in France, employed or not, unless they show that it is carried on there as an accessory activity;
Two of the three tests. Neither mentions a length of time; "séjour principal" is a comparison between places, not a counted period.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Les dirigeants des entreprises dont le siège est situé en France et qui y réalisent un chiffre d'affaires annuel supérieur à 250 millions d'euros sont considérés comme exerçant en France leur activité professionnelle à titre principal, à moins qu'ils ne rapportent la preuve contraire.»Our translation - not official
Directors of companies whose registered office is situated in France and which achieve there an annual turnover above 250 million euros are regarded as carrying on their professional activity mainly in France, unless they bring proof to the contrary.
About this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«c. Celles qui ont en France le centre de leurs intérêts économiques. Les personnes qui satisfont à l'un au moins des critères fixés aux a à c du présent 1 ne peuvent toutefois pas être considérées comme ayant leur domicile fiscal en France lorsque, par application des conventions internationales relatives aux doubles impositions, elles ne sont pas regardées comme résidentes de France.»Our translation - not official
c. Those who have in France the centre of their economic interests. Persons satisfying at least one of the criteria set out in a to c of this 1 may nevertheless not be regarded as having their tax domicile in France where, by application of the international conventions on double taxation, they are not regarded as residents of France.
The third test and the escape from all three, in one block of the code.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«2. Sont également considérés comme ayant leur domicile fiscal en France les agents de l'Etat, des collectivités territoriales et de la fonction publique hospitalière qui exercent leurs fonctions ou sont chargés de mission dans un pays étranger et qui ne sont pas soumis dans ce pays à un impôt personnel sur l'ensemble de leurs revenus.»Our translation - not official
2. Agents of the State, of local authorities and of the hospital public service who carry out their duties or are on assignment in a foreign country and who are not subject there to a personal tax on the whole of their income are also regarded as having their tax domicile in France.
About this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Les règles du 1 et du 2 du I de l'article 197 sont applicables pour le calcul de l'impôt sur le revenu dû par les personnes qui, n'ayant pas leur domicile fiscal en France : a. Perçoivent des revenus de source française ; l'impôt ne peut, en ce cas, être inférieur à un montant calculé en appliquant un taux de 20 % à la fraction du revenu net imposable inférieure ou égale à la limite supérieure de la deuxième tranche du barème de l'impôt sur le revenu et un taux de 30 % à la fraction supérieure à cette limite ; ces taux de 20 % et 30 % sont ramenés respectivement à 14,4 % et 20 % pour les revenus ayant leur source dans les départements d'outre-mer»Our translation - not official
The rules of 1 and 2 of I of article 197 apply to the calculation of the income tax due by persons who, not having their tax domicile in France: a. Receive French-source income; the tax may not, in that case, be less than an amount calculated by applying a rate of 20 % to the part of the net taxable income less than or equal to the upper limit of the second band of the income tax scale and a rate of 30 % to the part above that limit; those rates of 20 % and 30 % are reduced to 14,4 % and 20 % respectively for income sourced in the overseas departments
The floor under a non-resident's tax. It is a minimum, not a rate: the ordinary scale applies above it.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«toutefois, lorsque le contribuable justifie que le taux de l'impôt français sur l'ensemble de ses revenus de source française ou étrangère serait inférieur à ces minima, ce taux est applicable à ses revenus de source française.»Our translation - not official
however, where the taxpayer shows that the rate of French tax on the whole of their French-source or foreign income would be lower than those minima, that rate applies to their French-source income.
The way out of the floor, and the reason a non-resident may end up declaring income France does not tax.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«soit pendant une durée supérieure à cent quatre-vingt-trois jours au cours d'une période de douze mois consécutifs»Our translation - not official
or for a period longer than one hundred and eighty-three days in the course of twelve consecutive months
The only 183 days in the code. It is a condition of an exemption for an employee sent abroad by an employer established in France or the EEA, and it has nothing to do with the residence test.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The code defines domicile fiscal, not résidence. The word résidente occurs once in article 4 B and only in the treaty sentence, where it describes what a convention does rather than what French law tests. A reader translating the French test into the vocabulary of a tax treaty is doing the conversion the last paragraph of article 4 B already anticipates.
The immigration code decides none of this. The CESEDA names the code général des impôts several times and never for a residence test: article 44 sexies-0 A for the definition of a young innovative company borrowed by the talent card, and article 953 IV for how long a travel document is valid.
Three of the four tests - foyer, séjour principal, centre des intérêts économiques - are words the code does not define. What fills them is case law of the Conseil d'État, which is not in this code and is not quoted here.
- consolidatesCode général des impôts, consolidated text last modified 1 September 2026
Legifrance, Direction de l'information legale et administrative · consolidated to 2026-09-01
Known to be out of date. The address cited is the code's plan: it lists article numbers without their text, so a reader following it will not find the quoted words on that page and has to take the whole-code PDF offered under "Telecharger le code". Legifrance answers 403 to every request this project can make, including to that PDF, so the reading behind these quotations was downloaded by a person in a browser and cannot be refreshed by running a command. The PDF repeats a running footer carrying its own two dates at the foot of every page, and that footer falls inside articles, between one paragraph and the next - article 4 B is cut in two by it. The cut-off recorded here is the first of the two dates, the last modification.
About this source
The official consolidated text of French codes and statutes. Each code has a stable address built from a LEGITEXT identifier, and the page offers the whole code as a PDF under 'Telecharger le code', which is the only form that carries the text of the articles.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The domain is behind a bot challenge and answers 403 to every request this project makes, including to the PDF endpoint its own page links to - so every reading here was downloaded by a person in a browser and stored as `manual-read`, and cannot be refreshed by running a command. A browser is not reliable either: one page saved by hand came back as the challenge itself, 5,883 bytes titled 'Just a moment...'. The code page at /codes/texte_lc/ carries only the plan, article numbers in a list with no text, so a reader following a citation to it will not find the quoted words there and has to take the PDF. The PDF states its own two dates on the last line, the last modification and the day it was generated, and the cut-off recorded against a quotation is the first of those. What is not here at all is practice: French immigration decisions rest heavily on circulaires and on prefectural discretion, and neither is published in the code.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source