What you require to make first online declaration
Plus, how to open a tax website account
Typically, you need the following elements to make your first online declaration.
Your numéro fiscal (tax number). This is found on previous avis d’impôt, whether in paper or online form (if you have already done at least one paper declaration you would have received this in the summer afterwards).
Your numéro d’accès en ligne (online access number). This appears at the top of the main paper declaration form if one has been sent to you and changes every year. You can also ask your local tax office for it.
Your revenu fiscal de référence. This is found on the previous year’s income tax assessment. Young people declaring on their own for the first time should enter “0”.
On the first occasion that you declare online, you are asked to set up a simple way of signing into your account on the website. This involves using your numéro fiscal, which does not change from year to year, and creating a password.
Access to your online account will then in future use these two elements.
On each page of the online declaration, the Aide (help) section allows you to access the Q&A section, which includes advice videos.
Open a tax website account
It is important to have an online account on impots.gouv.fr so as to have your own espace particulier – personal space – on the site. You declare online here and it is where you manage tax-at-source (PAS).
Its secure messaging service is also a good way to get a quick response to specific queries.
New residents often wait to create an account in the second year of declaring but can create an account so as to declare online in the first declaration year.
One option is to use FranceConnect, with a user ID and pass word from an online account with a partner body, such as Ameli, La Poste or Mutualité Sociale Agricole. Other options include Yris or trustmeid.io (for the latter two you just need to own a smartphone).
Click Votre espace particulier then S’identifier avec FranceConnect for further steps. However, this is only possible if you have worked in France or been in its health system and have been allocated a definitive (not temporary) social security number. If you obtain an error message you may instead need to follow the instructions below.
If you have a French numéro fiscal tax number, eg. because you pay local property taxes, you already have part of the information required to create a space but need further permissions.
Residents should contact their tax office with proof of address, such as a recent utility bill, and ID. They will be sent an email to connect to their space with their fiscal number and birth date. This is also the process if you do not have a fiscal number and want to obtain one.
If you are a non-resident and have – or someone in your tax household has – a tax number (eg. because you pay local property tax or you have income that France taxes at source) you can use a form at tinyurl.com/part-non-res.
In the unusual case where you do not have a number, you must declare on paper the first time. You must provide your foreign address and a copy of an identity document.
You will be sent an email to create your space using your date of birth and fiscal number. You will then have to visit a link to give your email and a password. Finally, you click on a confirmation email.