People who live in France or own property here generally have to pay at least some tax as – in return for its robust welfare state – France is among the most highly taxed countries in Europe.
The big one is the annual income statementwhich this year open on Thursday, April 13th.
Almost everyone who lives in France has to fill in the annual declaration and non-residents may have to if they have an income in France. Second-home owners usually won’t have to do the annual declaration but they are liable for property taxes, and this year have to fill in the one-off property tax declaration – full details on that HERE.
Find out HERE who has to make the declaration, how to do it and some handy vocab to use.
EXPLAINED: Who has to make a tax declaration in France?
These are the key dates to keep in mind;
READ ALSO: How to file your French tax declaration
April 13th – opening of the property tax declaration, you have between 6-8 weeks to file the declaration.
May 25th, 11.59pm – closing date for online tax declarations for inhabitants of départements 1 to 19, as well as people who live outside France
June 1st, 11.59pm – closing date for online tax declarations for inhabitants of départements 20 to 54
June 8th, 11.59pm – closing date for online tax declarations for inhabitants of départements 55 to 96, and France’s overseas départements
Over the summer you will then receive by mail or email (depending on how you filed the return) a bill telling you how much tax you owe. This bill could be €0 or the government could even give you money.
June 30th – deadline for the property tax declaration. This applies to anyone who owns property in France (including second-home owners resident in another country), tenants can ignore it. This is entirely separate to the income tax declaration, it’s a new requirement for 2023 and only has to be completed once – full details here.
READ ALSO What the French government doesn’t tell you about filing taxes
People who own property in France also pay property taxes. Bills for the property tax (property owners’ tax) and housing tax usually arrive in autumn, although exact dates are still TBC.
Mid October – deadline to pay property tax – this is paid by everyone who owns property in France, whether it is used as a main residence, a second home or rented out
Mid November – deadline to pay housing tax. This paid by the occupier of the property, but is gradually being phased out for everyone apart from high earners and second-home owners. The TV licence, which used to be billed at the same time as the housing taxhas been scrapped for everyone this year.
Mid December – the deadline to correct errors in your online income tax declaration. Thinking back to that declaration you made in April/May – if you have forgotten to add something or made a mistake in your calculations in your declaration you can go online and correct it without attracting a penalty.