My parents wish to make a gift of real property to me, subject to the condition that I enroll in and am admitted to an engineering school. Do I have to pay gift tax when the deed is signed or when the condition is fulfilled?

When the deed is signed, only the fixed registration duty of €125 applicable to unspecified instruments (actes innommés) is payable, as the transfer has not yet taken place. Transfer duties become payable on the date the condition is fulfilled, and the taxable value is determined as at that date (Article 676, paragraph 1, of the French General Tax Code). The fixed duty initially paid cannot be credited against those duties (French Court of cassation, First Civil Chamber, 7 October 2020, No. 19-18.543).