Millions to receive French tax reimbursement this week

Local France

3 days ago

If you live in France you may receive either a tax bill or a reimbursement over the next fortnight.
The French tax office
has announced
that this year reimbursements for people who have overpaid will be paid between Friday, July 25th and Friday, August 1st.
Conversely, people who owe tax will receive their bills during this period.
This covers the 2024 tax year.
Overpaid
Everyone who lives in France - plus those who do not live here but have French income, for example second-home owners who rent out their property to tourists - is required to complete an annual tax declaration.
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The deadline for these was
May or June
, depending on where you live.
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The tax office then calculates how much tax you owe, and sends out bills over the summer - usually in late July/early August.
However, a good chunk of the population will instead be getting money back from the tax authorities if they are judged to have overpaid.
"You are eligible for a refund if the amount deducted in 2024 as part of salary taxation-at-source (PAYE) is higher than the final amount of your tax, or if you are entitled to tax reductions or credits", explains the tax office.
The most common scenario for this is employees whose income is taxed at source, but who also qualify for tax credits for things like childcare or domestic costs or who benefit from a profession-specific tax rebate.
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There are, however, a range of reasons why people might have overpaid, including if your family situation has changed recently (eg you got married or divorced or had a child).
In an average year, between 10 and 15 million households qualify for a reimbursement.
These people therefore get money back at tax time - if you have set up an online tax account and provided your bank details then the money will be deposited in your account some time between July 25th and August 1st.
You can also find details of your tax notice (
avis de situation
) in your personal space at impots.gouv.fr
Underpaid
Conversely, some people may owe money at tax time.
The most common scenarios in this case are people who are self-employed and pay their income tax annually, or employees who have income in addition to their salary - for example renting out a property (including
renting out your own home on Airbnb
) or doing
extra work as a side hustle
.
Overseas income - including income from property rentals - is also usually billed separately, so you will likely get a bill. Bills also arrive between July 25th and August 1st.
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If you have already provided your bank details to the tax office, the money will be taken directly from your account according to the following timetable;
If you owe less than €300, the money will be taken all in one go on September 25th.
If it is more than €300, the amount will be divided into four equal payments which will be taken on September 25th, October 27th, November 27th and December 29th.
You can update your bank account details up to September 14th.
Querying or challenging your tax bill
If your bill is significantly more or less than you were expecting, it is worth checking to ensure there is no mistake.
In your personal space at the impots.gouv.fr you will find the detailed breakdown (
avis de situation
) which explains what you are being charged. Remember that this is only
impôts
(income tax) - social security payments (
prélèvements sociaux
) are deducted separately, taken directly from your salary if you are an employee, or via URSSAF if you are self employed.
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The summer bill concerns only income tax, if you own property in France then you will get a separate set of property tax bills in the autumn.
If you think your bill is wrong, the first thing to work out is whether you made a mistake or the tax office did - you can find some common errors for foreigners in France
HERE
.
If you realise that you made a mistake on your declaration you can correct it online before December, and then request a recalculation.
If you can't work out where the error is, or you're pretty sure that it's the tax office at fault, you can visit and ask for help - even quite small French towns have a tax office that is open to the public.
The first step is to find your local tax office - Google '
Centre des Finances Publique
' plus the name of your commune, and up should come the address of your local office.
It's best to check in advance, because officials can only help those in the area covered by a particular office, so they will just have to send you elsewhere if you turn up at the wrong centre. Also check the opening hours as many smaller tax offices are only open on certain days of the week.
Most centres don't require an appointment, so just go in and ask for help - it's a good idea to take all relevant documentation with you, and certainly a printout of the tax bill you received and your most recent tax declaration.
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