I hear the groans and the grimaces even as you start to read this, writes TRACY LEONETTI FROM LBS. Yes, it’s already tax preparation time in France and that means it’s time to start planning for your declaration.
Whether you are a first-time declarer, or this is your tenth time, the onus is still on you to make your declaration.
Note that even if you are not a fiscal resident of France but you are renting out your property here or earning revenue here, you should make a tax declaration in France.
The word TAX often brings a lot of worry to people and even more so when you are moving, living or having a business in another country other than that of your country of origin. Let’s face it, no one particularly likes or wants to pay income tax but it’s a fact of life. You earn your money; you pay your taxes.
In France, the tax year runs from January to December of the calendar year. So you would make your declaration by the deadline below, for the previous calendar year.
Before looking at how you can prepare, let’s put the timelines in place so that you know how much of it you have:
Tax Declaration Deadlines for Departments in France
Departments 1 – 19: 22nd May
Departments 20 – 54: 28th May
Departments 55 – 976: 5th June
Non-residents & first time declarations: 22nd May
Like everything we do here at LBS, we take a step-by-step approach to paperwork and that includes taxes (of which there are many).
French Tax Declarations Made Easy: A Step-by-Step Guide
Like everything with paperwork, it’s about the planning, so don’t wait til the night before and start panicking! Just start now. The website for declarations opened mid-April. You now have ten days to start putting your numbers together.
Start preparing your file: take out last year’s declaration and look at any changes:
- Address changes
- Marital changes
- Children to add
If you are new to tax start by setting up your online account with the tax office. This should be done now.
- Check out my video here on contacting your tax office for an appointment or get your fiscal number online
- If you are technology challenged, try and pop in anyway to your local tax office to see someone, they are usually very friendly.
If salaried,
look on December’s pay slip to see what your NET fiscal is to declare.
If a business (other than Auto Entrepreneur),
speak with your accountant who will no doubt do this declaration for you or at least give you the net profit to declare on your form.
If you are an auto entrepreneur,
log onto your URSSAF space and download your attestation fiscal which tells you how much you need to declare on your tax form. This also tells you if you are BIC or BNC.
Good to know…
Note that after the declaration is finalised, from mid-August through til December, you can go back into your declaration and modify the majority of the information, should you realise you have made an error.
Useful links and numbers
Residents of France
Number to call with general questions: 0809 401 401 all day Monday to Friday
Non-residents of France
Number to call with general questions: 01 72 95 20 42
Tax website for your declaration and for more information here
HMRC in the UK (for non-UK residents) with questions: 0044 135 535 9022
If you are completely new to France and really have no idea where to start, then reach out to the team at LBS. If we can’t help you, we may know someone who can. Start by completing our background information sheet here.
