- Securities losses can be carried forward for up to 10 years and offset against future securities gains — but nothing else
- Property losses on a personal sale are not deductible against other income and cannot be carried forward at all — under Article 150 VD, they're simply lost
- Crypto losses can only offset crypto gains made in the same tax year — no carry-forward, no cross-offsetting with anything else
- That 10-year window only opens if you declare the loss in the year it happens — skip that and it's gone for good
Capital losses in France don't all work the same way, and the difference between the three asset types is stark enough to catch people out.
- Lose money on shares, and you get a genuine 10-year window to use it against future gains.
- Lose money on a property sale, and that loss simply disappears — it can't offset anything, ever.
- Lose money on crypto, and you get one single tax year to use it before it's gone.
So make sure you're accounting for your losses the right way — and taking advantage of what you can.
Securities Losses: The 10-Year Carry-Forward
If your total securities sales for the year come out as a net loss rather than a gain, you report it in Box 3VH instead of 3VG. From there, it can be offset against securities gains — and only securities gains — made in any of the following 10 years.
The key here is "same nature." A securities loss can only offset a future securities gain. It cannot touch a property gain, a crypto gain, or any other income category, no matter how large the loss or how badly you'd like the relief.
For background on how French taxation of dividends and investment income works alongside this, see our guide to UK dividends and interest on your French tax return.
The Catch: No Automatic Tracking for Foreign Brokers
If you hold shares through a French broker, your annual IFU (imprimé fiscal unique) tracks your carried-forward losses for you and pre-fills them onto your return automatically. If you hold shares through a UK broker there is no IFU, and nothing gets tracked for you.
That means two things fall entirely on you:
- keeping your own running record of losses year by year
- actively declaring each loss on your return for the year it happened
Miss that declaration in the year the loss occurred, and you don't get a second chance to claim it later — the right to carry it forward is tied to having reported it at the time, not to the loss having genuinely happened. A loss you never declared effectively doesn't exist for tax purposes, however real it was.
Property Losses: Not Deductible — French or UK Property Alike
This is the one that surprises people most, because it runs against the logic of how securities losses work — and it applies equally to a UK property sale and a French one. Since France taxes residents on worldwide gains, a loss on selling your UK home runs through the exact same French rules as a loss on a French property.
Under Article 150 VD of the French tax code, a loss on the sale of a personal property cannot be offset against your other income, and cannot be carried forward against a future property gain. Whether the property was in France or in the UK, the loss is simply absorbed with no tax benefit whatsoever.
There's one narrow exception: if a property was acquired in successive fractions under the same deed and sold as a whole, a loss on one fraction can offset a gain on another within that same transaction. Outside that specific scenario, a property loss provides no tax advantage.
Crypto Losses: Same-Year Only, No Exceptions
Crypto losses are the strictest of the three. They can only be offset against crypto gains realised in the same tax year — no carry-forward to next year and not usable against securities or property gains either. If you don't have a crypto gain to offset a crypto loss against within that same year, the loss is gone.
This is calculated on Form 2086, with the net result transferred to Box 3AN (gain) or 3BN (loss) on your main return. For the full picture on how crypto is taxed in France, see our guide to cryptocurrency and French tax for UK expats.
A Quick Note on PEA Accounts
If you hold a PEA (Plan d'Épargne en Actions) — available to French tax residents — losses realised inside it follow their own rule, separate from ordinary securities: they can be offset against gains made outside the PEA in the same year, or carried forward up to 10 years, similar in spirit to the standard securities rule but calculated on its own schedule.
How Carried-Forward Losses Interact with the Flat Tax
Whether you're using the PFU flat tax or the progressive scale affects how carried-forward losses interact with your overall position. See our guide to PFU vs progressive tax on investment income for how the two routes compare, and why the choice matters for someone with significant carried-forward losses.
Loss harvesting — deliberately realising losses in years where you'd otherwise face a large securities gain — is one of the more straightforward strategies available for reducing your French tax bill. For a broader look at planning options, see how to reduce your French tax bill.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming a securities loss can offset a property or crypto gain. It can't — each asset type is a closed silo, and losses only offset gains of the same nature.
- Not declaring a loss in the year it happened, because there's no gain to offset it against yet. The 10-year carry-forward window only opens if the loss is declared at the time — skip that step and the right to use it later is gone.
- Assuming a property loss provides some tax benefit. Under Article 150 VD, it doesn't — no deduction against income, no carry-forward, no offset, outside one narrow exception.
- Relying on a UK broker's paperwork to track carried-forward losses. Without a French IFU, nothing is tracked automatically — it's on you to keep your own year-by-year record.
- Forgetting the crypto same-year rule and holding out for a better year to use a loss. By the time a crypto gain arrives, an unused prior-year crypto loss is already gone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I offset a share loss against a property gain in France?
No. Securities, property, and crypto are three separate categories for capital gains and losses — a loss in one category can only offset a gain in that same category, never a different one.
How long can I carry forward a securities loss?
Up to 10 years. A loss declared in Box 3VH can be offset against securities gains made in any of the following 10 tax years, though it can only be used against gains of the same nature.
Do I lose a carried-forward loss if I forget to declare it in the year it happened?
Yes, in practice. The right to carry a loss forward depends on having reported it on your return for the year it occurred — there's no mechanism to retroactively claim a loss you never declared at the time.
Is a loss on selling my French property tax-deductible?
No. Under Article 150 VD of the French tax code, a loss on a personal property sale cannot be deducted from your other income and cannot be carried forward against a future property gain — it provides no tax benefit at all, aside from one narrow exception involving property acquired in successive fractions under the same deed.
Can I carry forward a crypto loss to next year?
No. Crypto losses can only be offset against crypto gains made in the same tax year. If you don't have a crypto gain to use it against within that year, the loss cannot be carried forward or used in any later year.
Does my UK broker report my carried-forward losses to the French tax authorities?
No. Automatic loss-tracking only happens through a French broker's annual IFU statement. With a UK broker, there's no equivalent — you're responsible for keeping your own records and actively declaring each loss on your return the year it happens.