Who has to declare?

Everyone who lives in France should declare their worldwide income unless they have simple France-based income types and can benefit from the tacit declaration system (see chapter 1,  'French income tax: an overview'). Non-residents also have to declare if they have relevant French-sourced income.

Note, however, that it is also possible to be a French tax resident (and thus need to declare worldwide income to France) even if you do not spend most of the time in the country but you, for example, have strong links with France related to family, work etc. See chapter 3, ‘When are you a fiscal resident of France?’. 

Income to be declared is income to which the taxpayer has a right, not only income actually received into a bank account – for example, should you receive shares in lieu of a dividend, the value of the shares received should be declared.

Declaration in France is made by foyer fiscal (tax household). This may be the same as the literal household, or there can be more than one foyer fiscal under the same roof.

A foyer fiscal could be made up of, for example, a single person or a couple who are married or pacsed or in another recognised civil partnership.

It can also include dependent children who live with them (including some students) and other people who live with them free of charge and who have a disabled person’s card such as elderly relatives. 

President Macron stated prior to his re-election in 2022 that he would allow cohabiting couples to declare jointly but so far they cannot. 

Even if you have already paid tax on some revenue, or the revenue comes from another country, you need to declare it. However, due to rules in double tax treaties, this does not mean that you necessarily have to pay income tax on it in France. France collects a higher proportion of its revenue from social security charges than the UK or US but many people on lower incomes pay no, or little, actual income tax. 

You will receive an avis d’impôt (income tax and social charges assessment) in summer – usually August – after your declaration of last year’s income this spring. It can also be found in your online space (most people have one of these). It is also sent by post for those who have not opted out of paper documents. People who have opted out will receive an email notification when their online avis is available. A provisional avis called Avis de situation déclarative à l’impôt sur le revenu (ASDIR) is issued immediately after declaring online.

In the case of people with no income tax to pay due to low income the latter is their only avis and it is a copy of this that is sent out if you receive paper documents. You will need your avis d’impôt or ASDIR for administrative procedures such as applying for benefits linked to income.

It will contain your revenu fiscal de référence (net taxable annual income), required for various formalities, as well as information such as your number of ‘family quotient parts’ (see chapter 5), your highest income tax band, your averaged out income tax rate, and tax office details.