Income Tax Returns 2023

Yep, its that time of the year again when we have to fill in our income tax form. It’s all in French and there is lots of pages and boxes to fill in! And they may have changed it again!

Lets try and explain it all, covering the most common items (always seek professional advice if you are not sure).

Changes for 2023

 They have put box 8TK back on the 2042 so no need to also complete the 2042-C

 Important dates

You have to declare your revenue for the year 2022 (from 1st January until 31st December).  However, the tax office will accept reporting income for the corresponding UK tax year.

You can start filling the forms online from the 13th of April and they must be completed & submitted by:

• 23rd May 2023 for Departments 1 to 19 (inc. Charente & Charente Maritime)
• 30th May 2023 for Departments 20 to 49 (inc. Dordogne)
• 7th June 2023 for Departments 50 and above (inc. Deux-Sevres, Vienne and Haute-Vienne)

If this is your first time making a return in France you should complete paper forms; the deadline to send or deposit your paper tax form is the 18th of May 2023.

Your tax bill (called Avis d’ imposition) will be sent to you during August and in September, the government will begin debiting an monthly amount from your current account or, if you are an employee, change the tax deduction from on your salary

What forms and how do you fill them in

2042

The 2042 is the blue form that everybody has to fill in (no exceptions) and it is on this form that you also summarise what you have filled in on other forms.

• 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, school, etc or if you have done work on your house related to saving energy or ecology credits.  

Note that this year, the box for employing a gardener or cleaner, giving to charity is on the normal 2042

2042C

This is the form to use if you entered the French health system via an S1 (and 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.  

Also on this form is box 8VL which is the 17.7% tax credit on your dividends. 

All these boxes are on the last page of form 2042-C.
 

2042CPro

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.
 

2044

This is the form to fill in if your gross rental income is more than €15,000 per year.

2047

This is the purple or pink form on which you enter income 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:

1. Enter all your pension revenues (even those from the Civil Service that are taxed in the UK) on page 1, section 1 in the box called « Pensions, retraites, rentes”. Note: you now must tick the box stating if the pension is Public (i.e. ex-civil servant) or Privé (private and state pension/old age). So, if you have both, tick both boxes.  
2. You then have to report these pensions on the pension section on the 2042 (page 3, section 1)
   
• 1AM (or 1BM for declarant 2) for pensions taxed in France (state pension and private pensions
• 1AL (or 1BL for declarant 2) for pensions from UK government employees such as teachers, civil servant, military, NHS, etc).
3. In section 2, on page 2 is where you put the interest you earned on savings in the UK. This includes ISAs and Premium bonds which are taxable in France. Fill them in at the bottom of page 2 in the box 230 “intérêts”. Enter the country of origin, then you write the amount on line 2TR, line 252. 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.
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 lines 4BE and 4BK (section 4) of the 2042.  
5. If revenues from gross rental are > €15,000, you have to fill in the 2044 form and report the figures on line 4BA and 4BL on form 2042.
6. In section 6, you put the revenue from government employee pensions (military, police, NHS, civil service, 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 2042. This is because this income get a tax credit in France equivalent to what the tax would be in France. You must enter the gross amount (before tax for pensions or expenses for rental).

3916

If you have any bank accounts outside France, then you have to declare them on form 3916 (sections 1 and 4) -  one form per account. Failing to declare them brings a fine of €1,500 per account not declared. €10,000 if the account is in Jersey, Panama or other countries the French tax office doesn't like!
You will also need to tick box 8UU on the last page of the 2042 stating you have bank account outside of France or 8TT if you have an Assurance Vie investment account.
 

And finally, don’t forget to date and sign the forms!!  

If this is your first return, add your bank account's RIB and attach a copy of your passport.

Exchange Rate

The exchange rate for 2022 is 1.17 (that is the average of last year). You can get another rate from your local tax office, use theirs if it is lower than 1.17!  

If 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 use the average of the year.
 If your pension has been directly transferred to your French bank account, just add up all the figures of last year as long as it is a gross amount (not taxed at source)

Further Help

There are plenty of online guides to help you fill in tax form; for example, the guide by Isabelle Want. In fact, if you are one of her customers at Allianz, BH Assurances, she will help you personally - visit her office in Chasseneuil-sur-Bonniere (9th May) or Ruffec (11th May) but do make sure all your financial amounts are in Euros.

If you are making your first declaration on paper forms, you can ask at the office in Confolens for someone to check them for you (in English) before submitting them. Ask at the counter.