Millions of taxpayers in France will soon need to supply extra information

People in France who hire home help such as childcare or a gardener will soon need to make a new tax return declaration to benefit from tax credit for these services.

The 2025 budget law, adopted by parliament on February 6, states that people will need to include additional information about the services on their tax return from this spring. 

Tax returns made this year will relate to 2024 income and expenditure. 

The return will need to stipulate “the nature of the organisation and the business or person to which payment has been made, as well as the nature of the services rendered”, the law states.

‘Demand for information stepped up’

The aim of the new tax return section is to “improve the information provided to parliament concerning the use of tax credits for personal services (crédits d’impôt relatifs aux services à la personne), the cost of which amounted to €6.1 billion in 2024 for approximately 4.7 million households,” said MP Daniel Labaronne, who proposed this addition to France’s tax laws.

This new declaration section is aimed at improving reporting for personal at-home services. 

Those who regularly employ home help will, however, already be familiar with the need for reporting these expenses, and the information requested had already been expanded in the 2023 loi des finances (finance act) which required that people should itemise their tax credit expenditure by category of activity (childcare, IT help etc). 

Despite this, the previous data collected “did not allow a full assessment of the impact and effectiveness of this tax scheme”, said Mr Labaronne, when explaining why “the demand for information has been stepped up”. 

The new section will facilitate “more rigorous monitoring” of the use of this tax credit and “respond to the need for increased transparency in public finances”, he added.

The credit, which aims at helping people to afford the cost of home-help, is one of the greatest demands on the state with regard to income tax. 

What does the scheme allow people to claim?

Those who qualify for tax credits for personal services can claim up to 50% of the expenses incurred during the year, up to a maximum of €12,000 per year.

In some cases, this maximum can be increased to €15,000 or €20,000.

Which activities are considered to be personal services?

There are 26 activities that qualify as personal services that may be eligible for the scheme. These include:

• Personal training

• Housekeeping

• DIY or ‘handyman’ jobs

• Gardening jobs

• Computer assistance

• Home meal preparation, including time spent shopping

• Home meal delivery

• Home collection and delivery of ironed linen

• Home shopping delivery

• Childcare

• Tutoring

• Home beauty treatments for dependent people

• Pet care and walking, except veterinary care and grooming, for dependent persons

• Sign language interpreter, written language technician and cued speech interpreter

• Driving service for the personal vehicle of dependent persons

• At-home elderly care assistance

For the full list, you can check the government’s online directory of registered personal services organisations here. 

Read also: State can reimburse 50% cost of a personal trainer in France: How it works
Read also: How do tax credits work for hiring a gardener in France?
Read more: How to get help to stay living at your home in France in older age 

The people and the companies providing the services must be eligible for the tax credit scheme to qualify. This means they must have service à la personne accreditation. There are also specific criteria to which they must adhere.

For example, someone offering tutoring or personal training at home must:

• Offer the training full-time and exclusively (which means they cannot also give group lessons or lessons at a public centre)

• Give lessons exclusively in the customer's home

• Register with the government to obtain a ‘personal services’ number

• Provide the employer with an invoice

The package they offer you must also be eligible for the scheme (not all packages are). They must also accept payment methods that can be proven for invoice purposes (e.g. bank transfer or cheque).

Read more: A guide to how to arrange home help in France