French income tax declaration season opened on Thursday April 9th. Here are the deadlines you need to know.
Springtime in France means tax declarations – plus a few more fun things – and tax season opens in April.
The French tax authorities announced in March that this year declarations will open on Thursday, April 9th.
For most people this will involve doing the declaration online via the impots.gouv.fr website, but new arrivals or people without internet access can still file on paper.
The deadline for filing depends on where you live;
- May 19th if you are declaring on paper
- May 21st at 11.59pm if you are declaring online and you live in départements numbered 1 to 19, or you live outside of France
- May 27th at 11.59pm if you are declaring online and you live in départements numbered 20 to 54
- June 4th at 11.59pm if you are declaring online and you live in départements numbered 55 to 96, or in one of France’s overseas départements.
READ ALSO: The important 2026 tax dates in France you really don’t want to miss✎
Who has to do the declaration?
Everyone who lives in France – even if their income comes from overseas eg people living on a foreign pension. The only exception is some salaried workers whose circumstances have not changed – if this is the case you will have done declarations previously and will have been specifically told by the tax office that you do not need to do a declaration this year.
Most employees will have to do the declaration – even if their income tax is deducted at source.
Non-residents may also have to do the declaration if they have income in France, including from renting out a holiday home.
Full details HERE.
It’s my first time declaring, what do I do?
The 2026 declaration concerns the 2025 tax year – which runs from January 1st to December 31st 2025.
If you move to France after January 1st 2026, you will not have to make a declaration in 2026. You get to hold off that pleasure until 2027.
The first step is to get a numéro fiscale (tax number) – find the guide on how to do that HERE.
Once you have your tax number you can begin your tax declaration – find the guide on how to use that HERE.
What do I have to declare?
In short, everything.
The declaration covers all your worldwide income and assets – you likely won’t have to pay tax on income/assets outside of France (depending on the tax treaty between your country and France), but you must still declare them.
One that catches foreigners out every year is that you must also declare all non-French bank accounts – even if they are dormant or only have a few pennies in them.
Find the full guide on what to declare HERE.
How big will my bill be?
It might be €0, or the tax man might give you money back.
Employees whose income tax is deducted at source will likely have nothing to pay, and if you qualify for one of France’s numerous tax breaks (which cover everything from charitable giving to saving for a pension to employing a nanny), you might end up getting money back.
READ ALSO: 10 tax breaks you could benefit from in France✎
Small business owners, freelancers and self-employed people will likely be sent a bill – you can use this tool to calculate how much that is likely to be.
Is this the only tax-related thing I have to do?
Hahaha, this is France we’re talking about…
If you have income in France, you don’t only pay income tax (impôts), you will also pay social charges, which are usually higher than income tax. The declaration covers only impôts – social charges are either deducted from your wages (for employees) or handled via URSSAF (for self-employed).
If you own property in France, you will also have to pay property taxes, for which bills arrive in the autumn.
And there are various other one-off taxes that might apply, such as capital gains tax, inheritance tax or wealth tax.
For more information, head to our Tax Guides section.
