As you may or may not have learnt from our previous blog ‘Get Help With Your French Income Tax Return’, April to June marks the annual French income tax return season. If you’ve been living in France for any period of time, whether or not you’ve actually earnt any income, filling in an income tax return is mandatory.
In our previous blog, we provided comprehensive answers to questions that we get all the time regarding tax returns. We also covered circumstances in which filling in your tax return form may be a little more complicated than others… What we didn’t cover specifically, was exactly how to complete your tax return.
In this blog, we’ll be providing a comprehensive guide on how to fill in a basic tax return form which will be relevant for you if you fit under the following categories:
You’re a single individual living in France;
You’re an employed individual living in France;
You only receive a French salaried income, or you don’t have any other streams of income;
You hold a CDS pluriannuelle for seasonal workers; and,
You’re declaring your income tax for the first time.
Please see below for our comprehensive guide, filled in for your convenience:
Whilst the tax return form itself is important, there are also other factors to consider when declaring your taxes.
As we are in France - for your first declaration only, it’s a requirement to physically post your documents. In order to find the correct address to post the form to, you can search using your location here. If you have a Seasonnire Visa or Carte de séjour Pluriannuelle then you are a non-resident, and you need to post your form to this address; 10 rue du Centre, TSA 10010, 93465 Noisy-Le-Grand Cedex
Please note that the first time you do your tax return, you’re obliged to send copies of your passport and CDS. The requirements will appear in the ‘documents to send’ part of your tax return.
As aforementioned, first-time declarations must be done physically on paper. After this, your tax bill (your Avis D’Imposition, otherwise known as your tax bill), will be sent to you between August and October. Once you’ve received this, you can create an Espace Particulier account. Once your account is set up it becomes much easier to manage your online account for future declarations. All information on how to proceed can be found here.
As all declarations are made based on the calendar year our next point is an important one for first-time seasonal workers. As most seasonal workers arrive in December (ish) - you’ll be declaring for your December payslip only. This means that any income earned from January - April (and any other months post the winter season) will need to be declared the following year.
We hope this has been helpful for you, and that you feel a growing sense of confidence with regard to your tax returns. Remember, at Aster, we’re a resource to be used, so if you or someone you know is struggling with tax returns, if they/you perhaps don’t tick all the obvious boxes and aren’t sure what to do – please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Speak soon,
The Aster Team