We are just days away from the French income tax declaration deadline. And if you missed this deadline, it’s best to send it late, than not at all. You are unlikely to get a penalty fee. Here are my last-minute French income tax declaration SOS tips.
1 - French income tax 101
French income tax season goes from 1st January to 31 December. If you arrived in France halfway through the year and started a business or working here, then you will have to file a declaration both in France and your home country.
Don’t worry, there is a double tax agreement, so you won’t get taxed again in France. But, you need to declare your income earned and taxed abroad, so the French tax office can assess your overall household income called “revenu fiscal”. This number is very important and you don’t want to undermine it by forgetting to declare your home country's income. Simply because it will be used by banks, the prefecture of the family child support services Caisse d’Allocation Familiale (CAF), to assess whether you can afford to buy a property (mortgage, level of debts), stay in France (in the event of a carte de sejour or visa renewal) or if you are entitled to any benefits (child support, school, flat).
Let’s take an example: Anne and Mark moved to France in May 2022, after resigning from their employee position in the UK in February. They started a micro-entrepreneur each in France in June, after securing their carte de sejour entrepreneur. In 2023, they will file taxes in the UK (until April) and in France. For France, they will declare their micro-entrepreneur turnover from 1st June 2022 to 31 December 2022. For their French income tax, they will also declare their income earned and taxed abroad, i.e. their salary for January and February in form 2047.
2 - French income tax deadlines for 2022 income
No need to stress too much about this, if you’ve missed the deadline, the French tax office will always take your declaration. If you show that you made the mistake in good faith "de bonne foi" (not aware of it), they won’t charge you a penalty fee. Just add a cover letter explaining why you are sending it late and ask not to get a penalty fee.
- Department 01 to 19 = Zone 1 - 25th May 2023 at 23h59.
- Non-residents 01 to 19 - 25th May 2023 at 23h59.
- Department 20 to 54 = Zone 2 - 1st June 2023 at 23h59.
- Department 55 to 976 = Zone 3 - 8th June 2023 at 23h59.
- Paper declaration - 22nd May!!
- You missed the deadline: Better late than sorry…
3 - Where do I get the 2022 French income tax forms
Chances are that if you arrived in France in 2022, the tax office may not have your full details and they are very unlikely to send you a copy of the forms by post. It is unfortunately your job to go and find them online.
Here are the links to the most common forms needed by expatriates living in France
Download a copy of your French income tax forms:
- Form 2042 is the basic form that mentions all the information the tax authorities are aware of (or not at all, if you are new to France!). Check if the information is correct and make corrections if necessary. If this is your first paper declaration, add your personal details (name, DOB, address, single/married or PACsed (civil union)/widowed, number of children). If you moved houses in 2021, make sure you update the address.
- Form 2042-C is the form that mentions your income (salary, pension, etc.). If you declared in the past, this income from French origin will be automatically added. Check it and correct it if necessary.
- Form 2042-C-PRO is used to declare your micro entrepreneur turnover. Enter the total sales declared to URSSAF (you can check this on your attestation fiscale from URSSAF). Don’t apply any rebate, the tax office will do this.
- Form 2042 RICI is for tax reductions or tax credits with details of your dependents, home employment, donations to non-profit associations, etc.
- Form 2047 is for your income earned and taxed abroad. For instance, rental income abroad, dividends paid abroad, etc. This will not be taxed again, but it will be taken into account to assess your overall household income.
- Form 3916 and 3916 bis to declare your accounts held abroad. This form includes your personal or business accounts, as well as your payment gateways (Paypal, Stripe, Payoneer) or neo-banks (N26, Revolut, Bunk). Complete one form per account or gateway.
- Form 2042 DSI is new and doesn’t apply for micro entrepreneurs. It is for entreprise individuelle au réel simplifié or EURL/SARL, SAS/SASU. The Declaration Sociale des Independants (DSI) will be used both by URSSAF and Impots to assess the entrepreneur’s social charge and income tax. If this is you, your accountant will fill in this form for you.
What do you do with these forms:
- Print them and start filling them out as best as you can.
- Go and see your local tax office for help.
- Or hire an accountant to do it for you.
4 - Declaring your Income as a Micro Entrepreneur
Your first job is to get a copy of your URSSAF attestation fiscale URSSAF. You can watch my YouTube video to see how to do this.
Your second job is to check whether you opted for the income tax at source “impot liberatoire”. This is the most important task to ensure that you don’t make any mistake in your declaration.
Finally, remember that you cannot apply any rebate or deduction as a Micro Entrepreneur. You will enter the amount found on your Attestation Fiscale URSSAF without making any change. Impots will be the ones applying a standard rebate, based on your activity type.
Where to add your turnover as Micro Entrepreneur?
1 - You have opted for versement libératoire (impôt libératoire) :
- 5TA = Sale of goods, shops, food trucks, ecommerce.
- 5TB = Manual services, artisans and gites. E.g conciergerie services, carpenter, gîtes.
- 5TE = Professions liberales relating to URSSAF. E.g consultant, coach, programmer.
2 - You opted for regime micro (haven’t opted for impot liberatoire)
REVENUS INDUSTRIELS ET COMMERCIAUX PROFESSIONNELS — Régime micro BIC - Page 3 :
- 5KO for the sale of goods. E.G shop, food truck.
- 5KP for manual services, artisans and gites. E.g conciergerie services, carpenter, gîtes.
REVENUS NON COMMERCIAUX PROFESSIONNELS — micro BNC - Page 6 :
- 5 HQ of form 2042 C Pro, for professions liberales relating to URSSAF. E.g consultant, coach, programmer.
5 - Don’t forget to declare these
It’s easy to forget some elements. Make sure that you also declare:
- Rental income earned in France for non-residents. Yep, AirBnB income has to be declared in France and not at home.
- Bank accounts owned abroad personal or professional. These also include online banks such as Revolut, Bunk, N26 or payment gateways (Paypal, Wise, Payoneer).
6 - Where do I post my first French income tax declaration
You can find the address of your local tax office by typing “SIP + name of your town/village in France” in Google. You are likely to get a result from this website www.demarchesadministratives.fr . SIP stands for Service Impots Particuliers
For non-French residents, send your forms to SIP in Noisy-le-Grand.
SIP Non-residents
10 rue du Centre
TSA 10010
93 465 Noisy-Le-Grand Cedex
Phone +33 1 72 95 20 42- Monday to Friday 9 am to 4 pm French time.
Et voilà... Bonne chance!
