ARTICLE 24
Relief From Double Taxation
1. (a) In accordance with the provisions and subject to the limitations of the law of
the United States (as it may be amended from time to time without changing the general
principle hereof), the United States shall allow to a citizen or a resident of the United
States as a credit against the United States income tax:
(i) the French income tax paid by or on behalf of such citizen or resident;
and
(ii) in the case of a United States company owning at least 10 percent of
the voting power of a company that is a resident of France and from which the
United States company receives dividends, the French income tax paid by or on
behalf of the distributing corporation with respect to the profits out of which the
dividends are paid.
(b) In the case of an individual who is both a resident of France and a citizen of
the United States:
(i) the United States shall allow as a credit against the United States
income tax the French income tax paid after the credit referred to in subparagraph
(a) (iii) of paragraph 2. However, the credit so allowed against United States
income tax shall not reduce that portion of the United States income tax that is
creditable against French income tax in accordance with subparagraph (a) (iii) of
paragraph 2;
(ii) income referred to in paragraph 2 and income that, but for the
citizenship of the taxpayer, would be exempt from United States income tax under
the Convention, shall be considered income from sources within France to the
extent necessary to give effect to the provisions of subparagraph (b) (i). The
provisions of this subparagraph (b) (ii) shall apply only to the extent that an item
of income is included in gross income for purposes of determining French tax. No
provision of this subparagraph (b) relating to source of income shall apply in
determining credits against United States income tax for foreign taxes other than
French income tax as defined in subparagraph (e) ; and
(c) In the case of an individual who is both a resident and citizen of the United
States and a national of France, the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 29
(Miscellaneous Provisions) shall apply to remuneration and pensions described in
paragraph 1 or 2 of Article 19 (Public Remuneration) , but such remuneration and
pensions shall be treated by the United States as income from sources within France.
(d) If, for any taxable period, a partnership of which an individual member is a
resident of France so elects, for United States tax purposes, any income which solely by
reason of paragraph 4 of Article 14 is not exempt from French tax under this Article shall
be considered income from sources within France. The amount of such income shall
reduce (but not below zero) the amount of partnership earned income from sources
outside the United States that would otherwise be allocated to partners who are not
residents of France. For this purpose, the reduction shall apply first to income from
sources within France and then to other income from sources outside the United States. If
the individual member of the partnership is both a resident of France and a citizen of the
United States, this provision shall not result in a reduction of United States tax below that
which the taxpayer would have incurred without the benefit of deductions or exclusions
available solely by reason of his presence or residence outside the United States.
(e) For the purposes of this Article, the term "French income tax" means the taxes
referred to in subparagraph (b) (i) or (ii) of paragraph 1 of Article 2 (Taxes Covered), and
any identical or substantially similar taxes that are imposed after the date of signature of
the Convention in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes.
2. In the case of France, double taxation shall be avoided in the following manner.
(a) Income arising in the United States that may be taxed or shall be taxable only
in the United States in accordance with the provision of this Convention shall be taken
into account for the computation of the French tax where the beneficiary of such income
is a resident of France and where such income is not exempted from company tax
according to French domestic law. In that case, the United States tax shall not be
deductible from such income, but the beneficiary shall be entitled to a tax credit against
the French tax. Such credit shall be equal:
(i) in the case of income other than that referred to in subparagraphs (ii)
and (iii), to the amount of French tax attributable to such income;
(ii) in the case of income referred to in Article 14 (Independent Personal
Services), to the amount of French tax attributable to such income; however, in
the case referred to in paragraph 4 of Article 14 (Independent Personal Services),
such credit shall not give rise to an exemption that exceeds the limit specified in
that paragraph;
(iii) in the case of income referred to in Article 10 (Dividends), Article 11
(Interest), Article 12 (Royalties), paragraph 1 of Article 13 (Capital Gains),
Article 16 (Directors’ Fees), and Article 17 (Artistes and Sportsmen), to the
amount of tax paid in the United States in accordance with the provisions of the
Convention; however, such credit shall not exceed the amount of French tax
attributable to such income.
(b) In the case where the beneficial owner of the income arising in the United
States is an individual who is both a resident of France and a citizen of the United States,
the credit provided in paragraph 2 (a) (i) shall also be granted in the case of:
(i) income consisting of dividends paid by a company that is a resident of
the United States, interest arising in the United States, as described in paragraph 5
of Article 11 (Interest), or royalties arising in the United States, as described in
paragraph 6 of Article 12 (Royalties), that is derived and beneficially owned by
such individual and that is paid by:
(aa) the United States or any political subdivision or local authority
thereof; or
(bb) a person created or organized under the laws of a state of the
United States or the District of Columbia, the principal class of shares of
or interests in which is substantially and regularly traded on a recognized
stock exchange as defined in subparagraph (e) of paragraph 6 of Article 30
(Limitation on Benefits of the Convention) or
(cc) a company that is a resident of the United States, provided that
less than 10 percent of the outstanding shares of the voting power in such
company was owned (directly or indirectly) by the resident of France at all
times during the part of such company’s taxable period preceding the date
of payment of the income to the owner of the income and during the prior
taxable period (if any) of such company, and provided that less than 50
percent of such voting power was owned (either directly or indirectly) by
residents of France during the same period; or
(dd) a resident of the United States, not more than 25 percent of the
gross income of which for the prior taxable period (if any) consisted
directly or indirectly of income derived from sources outside the United
States;
(ii) capital gains derived from the alienation of capital assets generating
income described in subparagraph (i); however, such alienation shall be taken into
account for the determination of the threshold of taxation applicable in France to
capital gains on movable property;
(iii) profits or gains derived from transactions on a public United States
options or futures market;
(iv) income dealt with in subparagraph (a) of paragraph 1 of Article 18
(Pensions) to the extent attributable to services performed by the beneficiary of
such income while his principal place of employment was in the United States;
(v) income that would be exempt from United States tax under Articles 20
(Teachers and Researchers) or 21 (Students and Trainees) if the individual were
not a citizen of the United States; and
(vi) U.S. source alimony and annuities. The provisions of this
subparagraph (b) shall apply only if the citizen of the United States who is a
resident of France demonstrates that he has complied with his United States
income tax obligations, and subject to receipt by the French tax administration of
such certification as may be prescribed by the competent authority of France, or
upon request to the French tax administration for refund of tax withheld together
with the presentation of any certification required by the competent authority of
France.
(c) A resident of France who owns capital that may be taxed in the United States
according to the provisions of paragraph 1, 2, or 3 of Article 23 (Capital) may also be
taxed in France in respect of such capital. The French tax shall be computed by allowing
a tax credit equal to the amount of tax paid in the United States on such capital. That tax credit
shall not exceed the amount of the French tax attributable to such capital.
(d) (i) For purposes of this paragraph, the term "resident of France" includes a
"société de personnes," a "groupement d’intérêt économique" (economic interest group),
or a "groupement européen d’intérêt économique" (European economic interest group}
that is constituted in France and has its place of effective management in France.
(ii) The term “amount of French tax attributable to such income" as used
in subparagraph (a) means:
(aa) where the tax on such income is computed by applying a
proportional rate, the amount of the net income concerned multiplied by
the rate which actually applies to that income;
(bb) where the tax on such income is computed by applying a
progressive scale, the amount of the net income concerned multiplied by
the rate resulting from the ratio of the French income tax actually payable
on the total net income in accordance with French law to the amount of
that total net income.
(iii) The term "amount of tax paid in the United States" as used in
subparagraph (a) means the amount of the United States income tax effectively
and definitively borne in respect of the items of income concerned, in accordance
with the provisions of the Convention, by the beneficial owner thereof who is a
resident of France. But this term shall not include the amount of tax that the
United States may levy under the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 29
(Miscellaneous Provisions).
(iv) The interpretation of subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) shall apply, by
analogy, to the terms "amount of the French tax attributable to such capital" and
"amount of tax paid in the United States," as used in subparagraph (c).
(e) (i) Where French domestic law allows companies that are residents of
France to determine their taxable profits on a consolidation basis, including the
profits or losses of subsidiaries that are residents of the United States or of
permanent establishments situated in the United States, the provisions of the
Convention shall not prevent the application of that law.
(ii) Where in accordance with its domestic law, France, in determining the
taxable profits of residents, permits the deduction of the losses of subsidiaries that
are residents of the United States or of permanent establishments situated in the
United States and includes the profits of those subsidiaries or of those permanent
establishments up to the amount of the losses so deducted, the provisions of the
Convention shall not prevent the application of that law.
(iii) Nothing in the Convention shall prevent France from applying the
provisions of Article 209B of its tax code (code général des impôts) or any
substantially similar provisions which may amend or replace the provisions of that
Article.