Who must complete a return?
You have an obligation to report your income if you are taxable to income tax. The location of your tax domicile and the composition of your tax home are used to determine your taxation on income. However, below a certain threshold, you are exempt from income tax .
If you are domiciled in France , you are taxable on all your income. Taxation concerns all your income , whether from French or foreign sources, subject to international conventions concluded by France.
Taxation applies to all your household income . This means that the income and expenses of all members of your household are taken into account. This makes it possible to establish a single taxation in your name.
A tax household is defined as the group of persons whose resources are the subject of a single income tax return. For example, spouse, wife and dependent children.
You are exempt from income tax if your income does not exceed € 9,710
2) How to report your income?
The declaration internet is required if you meet the following 2 conditions:
- Your main residence is equipped with internet access and you are able to make your online statement,
- The reference tax income of your household in 2015 is more than € 28,000.
You can report your earnings on paper if you meet one of the following conditions:
- Your main residence is not equipped with internet access,
- It is equipped with internet access and the tax reference income of your household in 2015 does not exceed € 28,000,
- It is equipped with internet access but you are not able to make your statement online.
3) When to report income?
For paper returns , the filing deadline was May 17, 2017 . You must send your tax return to your public finance center. The address is shown on page 1 of the pre-filled return received at your home between mid-April and early May.
For online declarations , the deadlines differ depending on the department in which your tax domicile is located. Indeed, for departments from 01 to 19 and non-residents in France, the date is May 23, 2017 . For those from 20 to 49, the date is May 30, 2017 . For all other departments, the deadline is June 6, 2017 .
If you are taxable, your tax notice will be available between July 31 and August 21, 2017. For non-taxable persons or recipients of a refund, you will receive your tax notice between July 24 and August 7 August 2017.
4) How do I correct my income tax return?
If you have declared online: You can correct your return as many times as you wish during the opening of the reporting service. If, however, you notice an error after receiving your tax return, you will need to use the online tax reporting service.
The correction service for your online return is available until December 19, 2017.
You can modify almost all information relating to your expenses and income. The section on contribution to public broadcasting can also be corrected.
If you declared on paper , to correct your previously filed income tax return, you can:
- Either send a letter to your personal tax department;
- Either file a new tax return on paper with your personal income tax department.
5) Pay your income tax
The payment deadline is indicated on the tax notice. It is fixed at 15 September 2017 in the case of payment by post. An additional 5 days is allowed for online payments. These are made directly on the tax site. The deadline is 20 September 2017.
In 2017, the law obliges the payment by dematerialized way of any amount of tax higher than 2 000 €. This is also the case for installments. The threshold for compulsory payment of tax by a dematerialized means will then be gradually lowered to 1 000 € in 2018 and then 300 € in 2019.
Payment by installment :
The payment of the IR by installments consists in paying the tax in installments (by third parties) and in part before the tax is collected. For example, when you are notified of your IR 2017 (on 2016 revenues) by receipt of the tax notice (between August and September 2017), you have already paid your IR in part through the payment of 2 installments in February and May 2017. The amount of each installment is equal to one third of the tax of the previous year.