You land in Pointe-à-Pitre, the air is warm even at night, and the street signs are in French, the currency is the euro and the post office is La Poste. This is France, an ocean away from Paris. The French overseas departments, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion and Mayotte, share the national laws and many of the services of the mainland. They also have their own rules in a handful of areas that affect your budget.
What are the French overseas departments?
They are Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion and Mayotte: departments and regions of France. Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthélemy, French Polynesia and New Caledonia are not departments but communities and territories with their own status and their own tax systems. The rules below do not apply to them, so check locally if you are looking there.
For daily life you use the same administration as in the mainland: the same tax authority, the same driving licence procedure and the same school system, with local differences described below.
Do you pay less income tax in the French overseas departments?
Yes, and it is one of the main reasons people look at them. The income tax computed from the scale is reduced by 30% in Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion and by 40% in French Guiana and Mayotte. The reduction is capped: €2,450 for the 30% rate and €4,050 for the 40% rate, according to the 2026 scale on 2025 income (income tax brochure, article 197-I-3 of the General Tax Code).
The tax comes after the family quotient cap and before the decline and tax reductions. The rate is set by your address on 31 December of the year of the income. The withholding grid also differs from the mainland. For how your first return works, see the French tax number guide.
What changes with VAT and prices?
In Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion the standard rate of VAT is 8.5% and the reduced rate is 2.1%. In French Guiana and Mayotte VAT is not applicable for the moment, according to impots.gouv.fr (page updated 13 October 2026). It does not mean that everything is cheaper: imported goods and transport weigh on prices. Compare the real cost with the cost of living in France before drawing conclusions.
How does health insurance work in the overseas departments?
There is no CPAM. Each territory has a single fund bringing together all the branches of social security: the CGSS in Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Réunion, and the CSS in Mayotte. Care is reimbursed at the same rates as in mainland France (70% of the base rate for a GP visit, for example) and the médecin traitant system applies.
Mayotte is a special case. Its fund, the CSSM, requires residence in Mayotte and, for a foreigner, a regular stay. Its scheme is progressively converging with the mainland, but some amounts remain specific, such as sick-pay ceilings. For anything precise, the local fund is the authority. The main principles are in healthcare in France for expats.
What are the rules for work and business?
The labour law and the Smic are the same as in the mainland, except in Mayotte, where the 2026 Smic is €9.56 per hour and €1,449.93 per month (against €12.31 and €1,867.02 elsewhere). For micro-entrepreneurs, social contributions are reduced at the start: outside Mayotte, one sixth of the mainland rates until the end of the seventh calendar quarter after the start, half until the end of the third calendar year, then two thirds. Mayotte has specific rates. Check the local rates on autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr, and read working in France for the employee side.
What about housing, school and driving?
The tenancy law is the same, but some mentions of the lease do not apply (tax identifier, energy class) and bailiff tariffs differ. A 2025 law opened a five-year rent-control experiment in tight zones overseas, and energy class F and G homes cannot have their rent raised, in the overseas departments since 1 July 2024. Property transfer duties follow the departmental rate: 5% in Guadeloupe, French Guiana and Réunion on 1 February 2026, with Martinique and Mayotte to be confirmed with a notary. See renting in France.
Schools have their own calendar for the 2026-2027 year: the start of the year is 18 August 2026 in Réunion, 24 August 2026 in Mayotte and 1 September 2026 in Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana. The licence exchange stamp is €20 in French Guiana, against €40 elsewhere (see driving in France).
What should you check before you move?
- Your right to stay. EU citizens: confirm with the prefecture of the department. Third-country nationals: rules differ in part, so ask before you buy a ticket.
- Your tax address. The reduction depends on where you live at the end of the year.
- Healthcare. The local fund, the distance to hospitals, and a plan for serious care.
- Climate and local holidays. Each department commemorates the abolition of slavery on its own date, for example 27 May in Guadeloupe and 20 December in Réunion.
Start with the moving to France checklist, then add the local steps above.
How do the five French overseas departments differ from each other?
They share the same legal framework but not the same geography. Guadeloupe and Martinique are island groups in the Caribbean. French Guiana lies on the north-east coast of South America, with the forest and the space centre as its landmarks. Réunion and Mayotte are in the Indian Ocean: Réunion is a volcanic island in the Mascarene archipelago, while Mayotte belongs to the Comoros archipelago. The tax rate, the VAT regime and the social security fund can be different from one department to the next, as the figures above show.
For a newcomer this matters in practice. The 40% income tax reduction applies in French Guiana and Mayotte, the 30% one in Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion, and VAT is not applicable for the moment in French Guiana and Mayotte. Mayotte also has the lowest Smic and its own fund. So "living in the French overseas departments" is really five different plans, and you should price each one separately.
What about moving to the French overseas departments from another EU country?
You travel as you would within the EU, but the paperwork afterwards follows French rules. Register your health cover with the local fund, open a bank account, and file your first tax return. In the spring after your arrival, you file the return as usual, and the reduction is applied according to your address on 31 December. Keep proof of your address, because the tax reduction depends on it.
Remember that the right to stay, for EU citizens, is the same principle as in the mainland: work, study or resources and health insurance. If you are not an EU citizen, ask the prefecture of the department before you buy a ticket, because the rules for third-country nationals differ in part. The general principles are in residence card in France for EU citizens.
Is it easier or harder to get things done in the French overseas departments?
The administration is the same, and most of the procedures are online, so the steps are familiar. The differences are the names (CGSS, CSS), some bailiff tariffs for leases, and a few local calendars. Distances can be a factor for specialist medical care, and shipping costs weigh on the price of goods. Before you commit, spend a few weeks in the territory you have in mind and talk to residents, the town hall and the local fund.
Finally, check your budget against local reality. The tax cut is capped, VAT is lower in some departments and absent in others, but the cost of goods and housing is set locally. Use the cost of living in France as a starting point, then add the local price of rent and transport.