How you are assessed by France

Taxable income

French accounting vocabulary does not have two clearly different words for assessable income and taxable income and the term imposable is often used for both. 

One translation of ‘assessable’ income would be revenu global imposable (global having the sense of ‘overall’).

Once certain standard allowances such as the 10% for work-related expenses, are taken off, this gives a figure called the revenu brut global (gross overall income).

Deduction of certain permitted expenses (support payments to children or elderly relatives, for example) then gives the revenu net global (net overall income).

Finally, deduction of ‘special allowances’, notably ones related to old age and/or disability as well as low income, results in the net taxable income: revenu net imposable.

Out of the total assessable income, it is only the revenu net imposable that the authorities can in fact tax according to the income tax bands.

If you are a French resident, your worldwide income must be declared but some foreign income may lead to a tax credit (depending on treaties, this is usually equivalent to the French tax that would have been payable if it was from a French source).

Assessable income

In English tax language ‘assessable’ income refers to all income that is potentially liable to tax and which you must disclose to the tax authorities, even if not all of it ends up being taxed.

You will need to tell France about most forms of worldwide income received, with limited exceptions such as interest from a French regulated tax-free livret A bank account and some French benefits such as RSA income support, family allowance, prime d’activité, housing benefit and disability benefits.

Strictly speaking, assessable income for 2025 is income actually received in 2025, i.e. the French tax year.

However, when it comes to income from the UK, which has a tax year from April 6 to April 5, for practical purposes French tax offices generally accept income figures taken from official UK documents relating to the UK tax year ending in the relevant French tax year.

This is because, year on year, amounts of income declared are the same.

P60s, annual certificates of interest paid, UK rental accounts and UK tax assessments are examples of this.

Revenu fiscal de référence

This is an income figure for the year which is found on your avis d’impôt (income tax statement) that is made available in the summer after your declaration.

It is used for official procedures such as checking entitlement to income-related benefits or exemptions or reductions on local property tax.

It roughly corresponds to net taxable income, but also includes a few non-taxable types of income that need nonetheless to be declared to the authorities.These include, for example, bank interest that has been taxed at source and tax-exempt tips. It may be higher than your revenu net imposable, which corresponds to income that is actually taxed.