Recruiting a foreign employee: cost for the employer

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Date of update

01/05/2023

The employer is required to pay a tax to the “Direction Générale des Finances Publiques” (DGFiP) when foreign talent comes to France for the first time or upon their admission to stay as an employee. The employer must also be able to provide a summary document of the recruitment of foreign employees.

This tax should be declared and paid annually. The first steps for hirings in 2023 will be required in February 2024. A declaration will only be required in 2023 for companies that cease operations.

Fees

The amount varies depending on the duration of the employment contract:

for a period of 12 months or more: 55% of the salary paid to the foreign worker, up to a limit of 2.5 times the monthly amount of the SMIC (i.e., €4,368 as of May 1, 2023). If the gross monthly salary is greater than €4,368, the tax is limited to €2,402.40 as of May 1, 2023.

for a period of more than 3 months and less than 12 months: the amount of the tax ranges from €74 to €300 depending on the gross monthly salary of the relevant employee.
for seasonal employment: the amount of the tax is €50 per full or incomplete month of salaried activity.
for a young professional recruited under a bilateral agreement for the exchange of young professionals: the amount of the tax is between €50 and €300 depending on the gross monthly salary of the person concerned.

Exemption

The following structures are exempt from paying this tax:

Public research organizations and foundations recognized as serving the public interest.
Higher education institutions.
Public foundations and institutions of scientific cooperation.

The employer is also exempted from paying this tax in the following cases:

Employees coming to work in France for less than 3 months.
Employees employed by individuals in their private homes to carry out family or household work.
Employees in a private non-profit home to satisfy needs about personal life.

How to pay and declare ?

The first steps for hirings in 2023 will be required in February 2024. A declaration will only be required in 2023 for companies that cease operations.

Good to know: Employers who recruit foreign talent are required to pay this tax at the same time as their VAT (value-added tax) and other taxes listed in the VAT declaration annex..

To help calculate the amount of employer tax to report on the VAT form, a calculation aid sheet will be provided by the “Direction Générale des Finances Publiques” (DGFiP)

Find more information

The procedures for declaring and paying this tax follow the VAT taxation rules businesses :

Companies subject to simplified VAT tax regime, which requires annual declaration (i.e. declaring less than 15,000 euros of VAT per year) must declare online this tax in the year of recruitment of the talent by completing the form n°3517-S-SD
Companies subject to the normal real tax regime, which requires monthly declaration (ie. declaring more than 15,000 euros of VAT per year) must declare this tax in the first month, or quarter, following the year of recruitment of the talent by completing the form n°3310-A-SD.

Employers who do not owe VAT must declare this tax by February 25th of the year following the recruitment of the talent by completing the form n°3310-A-SD.

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