by Isabelle Want
Oh no! It is that time of the year again when you have to fill in your income tax form. It’s all in French and there are lots of pages and boxes to fill in!! And they may have changed it again!!!
Well, worry not, help is at hand. I will try to explain it to you and make it simple. However, I will only cover the most common revenues; for more technical information, contact me directly.
Changes
I noticed only 1 change this year: on the 2047, it is easier to enter interest, just fill box 2TR (in section 260).
Important dates
You declare your revenue for the tax-year 2020 (1st January - 31st December). However, the tax office accepts that you use the revenue corresponding to the UK tax year.
You can start filling the forms online (only if it is not the first time) from the 08th of April. Depending on where you live, you must complete your declaration by:
- 26th of May 2021 for Departments 1 to 19 (Charente is 16)
- 1st of June 2021 for Departments 20 to 49
- 8th of June 2021 for Departments 50 and above (Deux Sevres is 79 and Vienne 86).
The deadline for paper forms is much earlier: you must send or deposit your paper tax form before 20th of May 2021.
The result (your tax bill!! - called Avis d’imposition) is sent to you from mid-August.
Then
in September 2021, the French government will adjust the monthly amount
that they take out of your current account according to your
declaration or, if you are an employee, adjust the % tax deduction from
your salary.
What forms and how do you fill them in?
2042
The 2042 is the blue form that everybody has to fill in and it is on this form that you report what you have summarise what you filled in on other forms. But there are different versions of the 2042:
2042:
This is the normal blue 2042 form that everyone has to fill in - no exceptions.
- Check or fill in the information on page 1 (name, address, etc).
- On page 2, check or fill in the information asked for (marital status, etc) and make sure it is correct as they can give you allowances or discount (invalidity, number of children living with you, etc).
2042RICI:
This is the form on which you report things that give you tax credits such as having kids at college, lycee, etc or doing some work on your house related to saving energy and ecology.
Note that this year, the boxes for employing a gardener or a cleaner, and giving to charity is on the normal 2042.
2042C:
This is the form to complete if you are under the French health system via an S1 (you are receiving a state pension).
- You need to tick box 8SH (declarant 1) and/or 8SI (declarant 2) to avoid paying Social charges on your interest.
- Box 8TK which was on the last page on the normal 2042 before is now on this form. This is the box that people with government pension or UK rental need to tick.
- You can also find box 8VL which is the 17.7% tax credit on your dividends. Those boxes are on the last page of form 2042-C.
2042C Pro
If you are self-employed in France, this is where you fill in your professional revenue.
This is also the form used to declare revenues from Gites or chambre d’hôtes as a non-professional.
From 2044
This is the form to fill in if your rental income is more than €15000 per year.
Form 2047
This is the purple form (or pink) on which you enter your revenue from abroad. It is better if you start with this one and then report the result on the other forms. Here is how to do it:
2047 Section 1
- Enter all your pension revenues (even those from civil servant that are taxed in the UK) on page 1, section 1 in the box called "Pensions, retraites, rentes”.
- Be careful, you now must tick the box stating if the pension is public (ex-civil servant) or Privé (private and state pension/old age). So, if you have both, tick both boxes.
- You then have to report pensions to the pension section on the 2042, page 3, section 1,
- line 1AM (or 1BM for declarant 2) for pensions taxed in France (state pension and private pensions)
- and line 1AL (or 1BL for declarant 2) for pensions from UK government employees such as teachers, civil servant, military, NHS, etc).
2047 Section 2
Section
2, on page 2 is where you put the interest you earned on savings in the
UK. And yes, ISAs and Premium bonds are taxable in France as you are
French resident! So, you have to fill them in at the bottom of page 2 in
the box 260 “intérêts”. Enter the country of origin, then you write the amount on line 2TR.
Then you report the amount in line 2TR, page 3, section 2 of the 2042.
You also need to tick box 2OP on form 2042, page 3 if you want the interest to be taxed according to the rest of your income and not at 12.8% flat tax.
2047 Section 4
In section 4, you enter the revenues from house rental abroad.
- then report on section 6 to get the tax credit (because it is taxed in the UK)
- and report on line4BE and 4BK, section 4 of the 2042
If revenues from rental are more than €15,000, you have to fill in the 2044 form.
2047 Section 6
In section 6, you put the revenue from government employee pensions (military, police, NHS, civil servant, etc) and rental income from property in the UK (those will always be taxed in the UK whether you are French resident or not).
Then you report the amount in line 8TK, last page of the 2042C.
This is because those revenues/income get a tax credit in France equivalent to what the tax would be on it in France as they are taxed in the UK. You must enter the gross amount (before tax for pensions or expenses for rental).
3916:
If you have a bank account outside France, then you have to declare it on this form (section 1 and 4). One form per account, or if you have a lot, on a blank A4 paper.
Complete the Form
Don’t forget to date and sign the forms!! If it is your first, add an RIB statement and copy of your passport.
The
official exchange rate for 2020 is 1.13 (that is the average of last
year). You can get another rate from your local tax office; use theirs
if it is lower than 1.13. If you you ask the official Paris tax office,
they will tell you to use the rate from the “banque de France” on the day you got paid or you can use the average for the year.
If your pension has been directly transferred to your French bank account, just add up all the figures for last year as long as it is a gross amount (not taxed at source).
More Help
A complete guide (in English) on how to fill in your tax form online is on our web site.
If you are one of my customers, you are entitled to free help in either of our offices (no appointments, just turn up)
- Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure on Tuesday 4th May (all day apart from lunchtime, 12-2pm)
- Ruffec on Thursday 6th May (all day apart from lunchtime, 12-2pm)
Please make sure you have all the figures ready and the relevant forms (you can get them from your local tax office or online) when you come to see me, otherwise I get very grumpy!
And remember to check out our web site for all my previous articles and register to receive our monthly Newsletter. You can also follow us on Facebook.
