French Viager Sales: Capital Gains Tax Calculation

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Follow this guide on capital gains tax for viager sales and discover the exemption rules that apply.

What is a viager capital gain?

A capital gain (plus-value) is the positive difference between the purchase price and the resale price of the same property. A negative difference is a capital loss. Treated as income, real estate capital gains in France are typically subject to income tax (IR, impôt sur le revenu) and social contributions (prélèvements sociaux).

The case of a viager sale is specific because the viager contract involves the buyer (débirentier) paying a regular annuity to the seller (crédirentier) until the seller’s death. Several scenarios apply, including the seller selling their own property under a viager contract and the buyer reselling the property before the seller’s death.

The rule that governs every calculation

A single rule governs the calculation, and it is the one that most articles on the subject get wrong. Whether the viager sits on the selling side or the buying side, the amount recognised by the tax authorities is the bouquet plus the capital value of the annuity as stated in the deed, excluding interest.

It is therefore never the sum of the annuity payments actually made. The calculation is fixed on the day the deed is signed, whatever the annuity’s actual duration turns out to be. If you buy under a viager contract and the crédirentier lives 20 years longer than the mortality tables predicted, you will have paid far more than the capital amount stated in the deed, without that changing your acquisition price in the eyes of the tax authorities. The reverse situation has the mirror effect, which is what makes a viager a wager, one whose tax treatment never moves.

How is a viager capital gain calculated?

Calculating a viager capital gain always requires knowing the property value used in the viager sale deed, and comparing it with the original acquisition price. Here is a closer look at three resale situations that can produce a viager capital gain.

Resale after the seller’s death

This is the simplest case. After the death of the crédirentier, the débirentier becomes full owner and can resell. Their acquisition cost remains the one set when they bought under the viager contract, namely the bouquet plus the capital value of the annuity as stated in the deed. A capital gain is realised if the resale price exceeds that amount.

Capital gain at the time of the viager sale

When a person sells their property under a viager contract, they may realise a capital gain. It is calculated at the time of the transaction, by comparing the property’s original acquisition price with the price set in the sale deed, that is the bouquet plus the capital value of the annuity. Whatever the actual duration of the annuity payments turns out to be, the capital gain is calculated on this initial value.

Resale during the viager period

If you bought under a viager contract and decide to resell before the crédirentier’s death, the reasoning does not change. Your acquisition cost remains the bouquet plus the capital value of the annuity stated in the deed, not the total of the payments you have actually made by the date of the resale. This same amount is also what your transfer duties were based on when you bought.

How is a viager capital gain taxed?

The viager capital gain follows the general rules of French real estate capital gains tax, meaning it is subject to income tax in the year of resale, and to social contributions. The rates are the standard ones, 19% in income tax and 17.2% in social contributions. The CSG increase that took effect in 2026 on investment income does not apply to real estate capital gains. Several conditions can nonetheless grant a partial allowance, or a full exemption.

Available exemptions on a viager capital gain

As with any real estate capital gain, the viager capital gain is exempt from tax when the property is the seller’s primary residence at the date of the sale. This is the most common case in an occupied viager, and the exemption also applies where the seller transfers only the bare ownership (nue-propriété) and keeps the usufruct (usufruit) of the home.

Where the property is the seller’s secondary residence, the holding period takes over instead, with a nuance many people miss. 22 years of ownership exempt the gain from income tax, but not from social contributions, which remain due until 30 years. Between the two, the social contributions allowance rises by 9% a year, so a seller who has held the property for 25 years no longer owes income tax but still owes a share of the 17.2%.

Another exemption applies to the first sale of a home other than the primary residence, and it rests on two different time periods that should not be confused. The seller must not have owned their primary residence at any point in the 4 years preceding the sale, and must reinvest the proceeds into buying or building a primary residence within 24 months. In a viager sale, the question of how much can be reinvested does arise, since the price is not paid as a lump sum. Have your notary settle the point before committing, as no published tax doctrine addresses it explicitly.

Other available exemptions include:

• The sale of a property at a price of €15,000 or less, a threshold that applies to the sale price, not the gain, and that is assessed per share where the property is co-owned
• The situation of a seller who holds an old-age pension or a disability card, subject to a means test. For a sale in 2026, the 2024 reference taxable income must stay under €12,679 for the first part of the household, plus €3,386 per additional half-part, and the seller must not have been liable for the real estate wealth tax (IFI)
• The case of a non-resident seller, who benefits from a specific exemption on their former primary residence in France, capped at €150,000 of net capital gain and limited to a single property. Note that this exemption is reserved for nationals of the European Union or the European Economic Area, and therefore does not apply to a French national settled outside that area

If the property you are selling under a viager contract is a plot of land, the regime differs on several points, notably the deductible flat-rate allowances and the taxes specific to land that has become buildable. We cover them in detail in our article on capital gains tax on land sales.

Do not overlook the tax on the annuity itself

The capital gain is only part of the equation. Once the sale is completed, the annuity you receive every month is also taxable, but only for a fraction of its amount, and that fraction depends on your age when you start receiving it.

• Under 50, 70% of the annuity is taxable

• From 50 to 59, 50%

• From 60 to 69, 40%

• 70 and over, 30%

This fraction is fixed once and for all at the first payment and never changes afterwards, even after 20 years of receiving the annuity. It is therefore often worth not rushing the sale. Turning 70 before signing takes your taxable share from 40% to 30%, for the entire life of the contract. This fraction is added to your other income and is also subject to social contributions.

Winter Immobilier guides your viager sale in Nice

A viager is negotiated starting from the property’s free market value, from which an occupancy discount is then deducted. Everything therefore starts with the market price, which an estimate of your property helps establish, and our page on selling a property in Nice describes how the process unfolds.

Looking for more advice on viager sales or the Nice property market? Get in touch with our estate agency in Nice Gambetta or reach one of our advisors directly by phone.