Vincent Berthier De Bortoli, TEP

French Tax Attorney for U.S. Nationals & Cross-Border Estate Planning Specialist for Americans in France

My academic path spans two countries and three institutions. I hold a Bachelor's from the Université de Savoie, a Master's degree from Osgoode Hall Law School, and a Master's in Tax Law from the Université d'Auvergne Clermont-Ferrand, complemented by the STEP Certificate in trust and international taxation.

I have been at the French Bar for over ten years, working exclusively with U.S. nationals who have moved to France or are seriously thinking about it. French tax law is technical. Cross-border estate planning is specific. Very few lawyers handle both with any depth. I do. And after a decade working with internationally mobile U.S. clients, I also understand both the situation and the legal questions they are asking.

What that looks like in practice: I take cross-border situations that have become messy, or are heading that way, and sort them out properly. That involves a fair amount of French tax law, occasional diplomacy with the French tax administration, and sometimes telling clients things that were not in their relocation plan. I work regularly with U.S. attorneys, CPAs, and trustees, and I try to handle the French side without making the wider coordination more complicated than it already is.

About VBDB Tax Attorney

VBDB Tax Attorney is a law practice based in Chambéry, in the French Alps. The work is French tax and estate planning for U.S. nationals, and most clients arrive at one of a few recognizable moments.

Some come before they move, or just after, once the questions start piling up. Others come a few years in, when something has surfaced: a trust that was never declared, a will that no longer reflects the situation, a letter from the tax authorities. A fair number come when they are buying property in France and want to understand what they are getting into before the purchase is done.

For clients arriving in France, the firm handles the full picture as one engagement: residence qualification, trust review, will drafting, first-year income tax return. The pieces connect, and the order in which they are addressed matters. For clients already settled, the work is largely annual: French income tax returns covering U.S.-source income, trust reporting, IFI where it applies, foreign account declarations. The firm also works with clients whose French filing history has gaps in it. Getting that resolved with the French tax authorities is not purely a paperwork problem, it requires judgment about how to present the facts and make the case for leniency in a way the administration is likely to receive well. That is advocacy as much as compliance.

Every file has the same lawyer throughout. Based in the French Alps. Working across all of France. In English.

Outside the Office

When I'm not navigating the French tax administration, I'm navigating the Alps; ski touring and mountaineering are where I spend most of my time outside of work.