Useful vocabulary to help understand your French income declaration
These 25 words and phrases are likely to crop up
Tax declarations can be complex with lots of jargon involved
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Income tax declaration season is well underway in France, with the online space to complete the return opening last week and all paper forms being sent out before Easter.
Completing the declaration can be complicated, not least because of the technical language. Even people who speak French may struggle with some of the technical jargon used.
To help, we have compiled a list of 25 words and phrases you are likely to see when completing your declaration.
We provide the French term and an English explanation, and for certain phrases share a link to an article that explains the concept in more detail.
1: Abattement forfaitaire
A fixed allowance, such as set expenses sums which may be deducted from the work income of certain professions.
2: Avis d’impôt
A tax statement sent in late summer after declaration, showing taxable income and tax payable, and by when; also for social charges.
3: Avis de situation déclarative à l’impôt (ASDIR)
Estimate of tax liability received after making an online declaration. For those with no tax payable it replaces the avis d’impôt (see above).
4: Célibataire/veuf/pacsé/marié/divorcé
Single, widowed, in a French civil partnership (UK ones are recognised as equivalent), married, divorced. You must inform the tax authorities if your situation in this regard changes.
5: Crédit d’impôt
Tax credit, a lessening in tax which can include money paid back to you if the benefit of the credit is more than your tax due; a réduction d’impôt is similar but no excess amount can be paid back.
6: Charges
Expenses that can be claimed as deductions from taxable income.
7: Déclarant
Person declaring income.
8: DINR
Central body in charge of tax for non-residents, the Direction des impôts des non résidents. Its tax office is called the Service des impôts des particuliers non résidents (particulier means a member of the public, eg. as opposed to a company).
9: Don/donation
Un don is the ordinary word for a gift (eg. to charities); donation refers to more formal, usually larger, gifts, which may involve a notaire to draw up paperwork, especially if real estate is involved.
10: Fisc
Everyday term referring to the French tax authorities. Note that the official name of the central tax authority is the DGFiP (Direction générale des Finances publiques).
11: Foyer fiscal
Your household for tax, who make a joint income declaration
12: Immobilier
A term meaning relating to land and property; literally, things you own that cannot be moved.
The opposite terms are mobilier or meuble, relating to assets that can be moved in some sense.
13: Numéro fiscal
Your tax number, which is found on the avis d’impôt and in your personal space at the tax website. It is also used to sign into the site
14: Numéro d’accès en ligne
Number identifying you for purposes of internet declarations. You can read more about it here.
15: Parts
A figure related to the number of people in your tax household.
16: Pension alimentaire
Money that you give to someone to help with their expenses because they are a close relative in need or because a court has ordered it, for example, in the case of an ex-spouse
17: Personne à charge
A dependant.
18: Plus-value
A capital gain.
19: Prélèvement à la source (PAS)
France’s tax-at-source system. Strictly speaking it mainly concerns French pensions and salaries. Tax on other types of income is paid ‘on-account’ and then checked and adjusted later after the income has been declared.
20: Prélèvements sociaux
Social charges applied to many kinds of income including investments and some pensions. They go towards funding the social security system. For workers, these are levied along.
with the cotisations that go towards their healthcare, pension etc. which together are referred to as cotisastions sociales.
21: Quotient familial (family quotient)
System which divides household income by a number of parts so as to reduce tax for larger families.
22: Quotient system
A way to declare large one-off incomes that can help people avoid rising sharply into a new tax band.
23: Rattachement
‘Attaching’ people to your household who are financially dependent on you, such as adult students, so they do not need to make their own declaration and you benefit from an extra part or parts.
24: Revenu imposable
Income assessable, and possibly taxable, by France.
25: Valeurs mobilières
Securities/stocks and shares.
