When must a person begin declaring information to French tax authorities?
Income declarations are completed and returned annually in spring
Declarations are usually made online, but the first one must be done via a physical form
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Reader Question: I have been living in France for some years and was retired when I arrived, with no income from France. I live on UK state and teacher’s pensions, both paid into UK accounts. I pay taxe d’habitation. Should I also be registered for income tax here now? Is there any official ruling?
If someone is fiscally resident in France, they should make an annual declaration by dates in May to June (depending on the area of France) and this is stated in the Code général des impôts (French tax law) at article 170, which says “in order to draw up income tax, any person subject to this tax has to make and send in a detailed declaration of their income”. It is also stated on a government site under ‘Qui doit déclarer ses revenus’.
This is regardless of whether or not, after various tax bands and allowances, you have an actual bill to pay. A teacher’s pension is only taxable in the UK whereas a state pension is taxable in France, but the teacher’s pension still has to be declared so as to be taken into account.
Read more: What documents do I need to start my French income tax declaration?
Fiscal residency in France
There are several tests of fiscal residency, but anyone with their main home in France and who spends most of the year in the country is almost certainly a French fiscal resident, even if their income comes from abroad.
A first declaration can be on paper forms, sent to the local tax office. In subsequent years, people are asked to do it online at impots.gouv.fr, via the personal space, clicking Déclarer.
The only exception is people who have been declaring previously, whose French (eg. work or pension) incomes are already known to the tax office (and do not come from abroad) and are simple, with nothing to change compared to items that come prefilled in the forms. In this case, in the following year they will be sent a form to check, but there is nothing for them to do if they have nothing to add.
