Team — Partner · Paris Office

François Ouairy

Tax attorney at the Paris Bar · Partner

Partner in charge of the Paris office, François Ouairy advises investors, family-owned businesses, real-estate groups and investment funds on the full spectrum of real-estate VAT, real-estate taxation, fiducie and international taxation. He acts both in advisory and litigation, before the tax administration and the administrative courts, and — in partnership with an Avocat au Conseil d'État (specialised counsel admitted before the French Supreme Administrative Court) — on matters brought before the Council of State.

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François <span class="accent">Ouairy</span>

— Biography

A highly technical tax practice

François Ouairy is a tax attorney at the Paris Bar, partner in charge of BENSAID Avocats' Paris office. His practice covers all of his clients' strategic tax issues: real-estate VAT, transfer taxes, security fiducie in structured financings, tax residence, tax treaties.

He assists clients both in advisory work (audits, structuring of transactions, due diligence) and in litigation, before the tax administration and the administrative courts. For matters brought before the Council of State, he acts in partnership with an Avocat au Conseil d'État et à la Cour de cassation. He is regularly consulted on SIIC, OPPCI, SCPI, SCI transactions and on real-estate development programmes, as well as on operations backed by a real-estate fiducie.

Author of articles published in leading reviews (Defrénois, Lextenso, Village Notaires & Patrimoine, Le Moniteur), he also lectures (Business Immo, Immo Formation) and has contributed to institutional work (Fondation Concorde).

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Areas of practice

VAT & real-estate taxation

Real-estate VAT, transfer taxes, property dealers, para-hotel regime.

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Financial taxation

Financial VAT, payroll tax, withholding taxes, TCA.

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Real-estate fiducie

Security fiducie over buildings and SCI shares, structured financings.

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Corporate taxation & VAT

VAT group, litigation, tax audits, tax consolidation.

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Non-resident taxation

Tax treaties, withholding tax, capital gains 244 bis A.

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3% tax

Holding chains, 990 E exemptions, judicial litigation.

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— Detailed profile

Practice, method and engagements

An in-depth view of François Ouairy's areas of practice and working method.

Financial taxation & fiducie

François Ouairy advises on the full range of financial taxation issues: financial VAT, payroll tax, withholding taxes, insurance contract tax, optimisation of input/output VAT for financial institutions.

He assists banks, asset managers and payment institutions in the tax structuring of their activities, audit follow-up and litigation. He also advises on operations backed by security fiducie and management fiducie, particularly in structured financings and holding operations.

Real-estate taxation

Core area: real-estate VAT (deliveries, para-hotel, property dealers, works), transfer taxes, SIIC, OPPCI, SCPI, SCI, the 3% tax and non-resident real-estate capital gains (FTC art. 244 bis A).

He advises real-estate funds, developers, property dealers and investment funds on tax structuring of transactions, audits and litigation before the administrative courts, in partnership with an Avocat au Conseil d'État for matters brought before the Council of State.

International taxation

Advice and litigation on tax residence, tax treaties, withholding taxes, permanent establishments for VAT and corporate tax, and the taxation of cross-border investments (real-estate and financial).

He advises in particular on Franco-European operations and structures involving jurisdictions with specific tax regimes (Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland).

Strategic approach

His practice combines tax technicality with operational vision. Each matter receives a cost/benefit analysis, a risk mapping and a graduated defence strategy, from administrative dialogue to court litigation.

He favours secure, documented and defensible solutions over aggressive optimisation — in the service of a long-term relationship with his clients.

The best tax optimisation is the one that withstands an audit.
— François Ouairy

Distinctions & engagements

Cited by Best Lawyers® 2026 in Tax Law and by Leaders League® in Real-estate Tax & Wealth (France 2025). Member of the IACF (Institute of Tax Advisory Lawyers).

Author of articles in Defrénois, Lextenso, Village Notaires & Patrimoine, Le Moniteur, Village Justice. Contributions to the Fondation Concorde. Trainer for Business Immo and Immo Formation.

Training

François Ouairy regularly acts as a trainer for real-estate and finance professionals (Business Immo, Immo Formation), as well as for notaries and wealth advisors, on the latest developments in real-estate VAT, fiducie and international taxation.

— Press & legal reviews

Press appearances & published articles

Opinion pieces, interviews and articles published in the national business press and leading French legal reviews (Defrénois, Lexbase, Le Moniteur, Village Notaires & Patrimoine, Village Justice).

Les Échos

"Tackling public spending as a matter of urgency"

Opinion piece on the French budget trajectory and policy levers to control public expenditure.

Op-ed Lire →

Le Figaro

Retiring abroad: the most tax-friendly countries (July 2025)

Interview on the interaction of bilateral tax treaties, French tax residence (FTC art. 4 B) and the taxation of pensions for expatriate retirees.

Interview Lire →

L'Opinion

Business succession: a plan to unlock the generational handover

Op-ed on the taxation of family business succession — Dutreil pact (FTC art. 787 B), gifts and contribution-cession (FTC art. 150-0 B ter).

Op-ed Lire →

Defrénois (2024, no. 18)

Engagement to resell: a shorter deadline with major practical consequences

Doctrinal analysis of the reform of the resale-undertaking deadline for property dealers (FTC art. 1115) and its litigation impact.

Doctrinal article Lire →

Defrénois (2023, nos. 38-39)

Patrimonial disposals and VAT: rethinking the boundary between private dealings and economic activity

Doctrinal study on the VAT qualification of patrimonial disposals — interplay of FTC art. 256 and 257 with CJEU case law.

Doctrinal article Lire →

Defrénois (2023, no. 23)

Active land marketing efforts: when does an individual become a VAT taxable person?

Reading of the bundle-of-indicia test used by case law to qualify a private individual conducting land transactions as a VAT taxable person (FTC art. 256 A, CJEU Słaby).

Doctrinal article Lire →

Lexbase Fiscal (no. 1011, 23 April 2026)

Taxation of foreign trusts: the impact of Council of State, 13 March 2026, no. 500318

Case note — analysis of the consequences of the Council of State's decision of 13 March 2026 on the French tax regime applicable to foreign trusts (FTC art. 792-0 bis, 990 J).

Case note Lire →

Le Moniteur

Margin VAT in real-estate development: what CJEU case law changes

Analysis for construction and real-estate developers — interplay of FTC art. 268 with CJEU rulings (Icade, Promo 54) on margin VAT.

Article Lire →

Village Notaires & Patrimoine

Exiting the property-dealer regime: conditions, consequences and strategy

Practical study on exiting the French property-dealer regime — failure of the resale undertaking, requalification, transfer taxes payable (FTC art. 1115, 1840 G ter).

Article Lire →

Village Notaires & Patrimoine

Council of State clarifications on real-estate-rich companies (SPI)

Reading of recent case law on the qualification of property-rich companies — impact on capital gains, transfer taxes and taxation of share disposals (FTC art. 726, 150 UB).

Article Lire →

Village Justice

Furnished sub-letting: what tax consequences?

Analysis of the tax regime applicable to furnished sub-letting — BIC qualification, articulation with the LMNP/LMP status and VAT consequences (FTC art. 35-1-5° bis).

Article Lire →

— Education

Academic & professional background

Member of the Paris Bar
Specialisation in tax law and real-estate taxation
Member of the IACF (Institute of Tax Advisory Lawyers)
Continuous training: VAT, fiducie, international taxation

— Distinctions

Distinctions & recognition

Best Lawyers® 2026 — Tax Law
Leaders League® — Real-estate Tax & Wealth (France 2025)
Member of the IACF
Author in Defrénois, Lextenso, Le Moniteur, Village Notaires & Patrimoine
Contributions to Fondation Concorde
Trainings: Business Immo · Immo Formation