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Taxes in France

This article gives you information about tax residency and income tax in France.

Valentin Le Louer avatar
Written by Valentin Le Louer
Updated over a week ago

To be considered as a "resident of France for tax purposes", you must first meet the criteria that allow you to be considered as having your tax domicile in France under French law.

When am I considered to have my "tax domicile" in France?

You have your tax domicile in France if one of the following criteria is met:

  • You have your home in France or, in the absence of a home, the place where you mainly live: you have your home in France if you live there habitually and permanently with your spouse (or civil union partner and possibly your children) or alone. If you do not have a home, the place of your main stay will be determined based on your actual presence in France.

  • You have a professional activity in France, whether salaried or not, unless this activity is incidental: you have a professional activity in France on a principal basis if you devote the most effective time to it.

  • You have the center of your economic interests in France: A person who has income from French sources greater than his or her income from foreign sources has the center of his or her economic interests in France.

If you meet one of these criteria, you are domiciled for tax purposes in France.

However, a country other than France may, on the basis of its own domestic law, consider that you also meet the criteria to be a tax resident in that country.

What if I am considered a tax resident in France and in another country (résidence fiscale) ?

In this case, you should look at the tax treaty between this country and France.

In most cases, you will be considered to be resident in France for tax purposes if one of the following criteria is met (4 criteria to be analyzed successively):

  • Your permanent place of residence is in France, i.e. your habitual place of residence or that of your family (spouse and children).

  • If you have dual permanent residence, the center of your financial and personal interests is in France.

  • If your center of interests cannot be determined, your primary place of residence is in France (residence in France for more than 183 days in the same year).

  • In the absence of any other deciding criteria among the above (primary place of residence or no place of residence in either country), your tax residence will be in France if you hold French nationality.

Failing which, the tax authorities in the two countries may be asked to decide upon your tax residency.

Residents of France are taxed on the entirety of their income earned from French sources or from foreign sources.

Get your tax identification number (NIF)

The French tax authorities automatically assign a unique identifier consisting of 13 digits, always beginning with 0, 1, 2 or 3, to any individual with a tax liability in France, as soon as the first tax return is filed or the first payment obligation is issued.

This tax number identifies each taxpayer and their tax obligations and is the unique identifier for all tax procedures.

To obtain your tax number, I suggest you go the counter of your local tax office.

Once you have your tax number, create your account on the impots.gouv.fr website to deal with all the tax-related tasks and communicate with the tax authorities.

How is the income tax calculated?

Tax is calculated on the basis of the combined incomes of the household.

Income to be declared may come from various sources (wages, salaries and allowances, pension annuities, property income, etc.).

The effective tax rate on total household income is determined on the basis of the size of the household.

In France the income tax is subject to a progressive rate.

More information here.

Tax simulator

Check the official tax simulators in order to check how much taxes you might need to pay.

Select "Calcul de l'impôt 2023 sur les revenus 2022" to know how much taxes you have to pay in 2023 on your 2022 incomes.

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