Declaring online

Most people should declare their income online rather than using paper forms, except for first-time declarers. The official rules on this are vague, stating that you may declare on paper if you have no home internet connection or if you are “not able to” declare online. 

Essentially the latter refers to being incapable, for example, due to age or disability.

In theory, a €15 fine can be levied per paper form sent in when you should have declared online, but only from the second offence. However, we have never heard of this being applied, and so far there is no specific way to declare that you are incapable of declaring online.

First-time declarers can still apply on paper if they so wish, but they are encouraged to get set up to apply online. 

Most tax offices provide public computers, and staff may offer assistance. You may also visit a branch of France Services, which offer free help with administrative tasks. 

The network has expanded in recent years and now includes ‘itinerant’ services, often on board buses, in more rural areas (find one near you at this government link).

In some towns there are also tax office partnerships with computer centres called espaces publics numériques that can help people understand online services (search this term and your department’s name, or try also lieux d’inclusion numérique). 

Many tax offices also offer the chance to book ‘personalised’ help (service d’accueil personnalisé). You can request this via your personal space by clicking Contact et RDV. If you call your tax office, or the general tax helpline (see chapter 5, 'How to pay and the deadlines') it is also possible for an adviser to help using a screen-sharing tool.

Online declaration benefits the tax authorities by reducing paperwork, saving postage costs, and helping the environment. For taxpayers, it is more convenient, offers later deadlines, and makes corrections easier if you realise you made a mistake or forgot something.

Online declaration is available for residents and non-residents and opens on April 9 this year (2026). 

Your online declaration is accessible through your personal space on the tax website.

Young people aged 20 or above who were attached to their parents’ homes last year (usually students) are also sent letters with identification details so they can open a space to declare for the first time independently. 

Their known income, if any, will already have been placed on their online application form. 

It is possible for people who have never declared income to France to do so online.

They must first obtain a French tax number and other required information to sign in. You will then be able to access your online space even though you do not yet have the full details for declaring online.

Alongside a push for online declaration, the government is also keen for more users to stop receiving a paper avis d’impôt and to receive only the identical online avis in their personal space. 

This year instead of an 'opt out' of paper system, you will have to 'opt in' if you want to receive a paper avis. 

Users receive an email notification when their online avis is available - everyone with an online space receives an online avis.

An impots.gouv app can be downloaded from the Play Store and Apple Store for people with relatively simple tax returns that do not require annexes such as the foreign income form.  

Most years some improvements are made to it. This year, this includes the possibility for people to send messages to their tax office via the app, as is already possible to do via the personal space at impots.gouv.fr. You can use your phone’s photos and screenshots and stored documents etc in your communications via this. The phone’s geolocalisation also allows the app to show you tax help contact points local to you.

From this year, another addition is the possibility of declaring the existence of foreign bank accounts you hold via the app. However, declarants who have declared such accounts in the past and want to carry the details over from a previous declaration should declare via the website rather than the app.

The app is also now able to allow for declarations by auto-entrepreneurs who opted for the prélèvement libératoire ongoing income tax method.