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Why is money due for French pensions alimentaires?
We are paying a monthly payment to the tax office headed “Pensions alimentaires, Revenus de source étrangère (taxés comme les salaires)” , which we have never paid before (we have paid our usual income tax). Is this new? L.A.
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A pension alimentaire is an alimony payment or a maintenance payment of some kind, and the other income mentioned is foreign income that is taxed as a salary.
Accordingly, it seems you are paying tax on income from one of these two sources of income, if not both, although this could either be due to having inserted income in the incorrect box on the 2042 form, or a tax authority error.
It is possible that even though the labelling may not be correct, the principle behind levying the payment could be correct, as could the amount.
We suggest you first check the tax declarations submitted to ensure there is no error, then contact the local tax office to see why they are doing this.
Reader's query answered by Hugh MacDonald
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