French Financial Update May 2026

Life is never dull in France and when it comes to taxes, the French tax authorities like to keep things interesting by making changes to the online tax system every year.

If you haven’t already, now is the time to make a start on your tax return or check with your tax adviser that they have all the documents and information that they need to complete your return for you. The deadlines for submitting the returns are as follows:

The returns must be submitted before midnight on these dates, if not a 10% late penalty payment could be added to your tax bill. The paper returns must be put in the post box by midnight on 19th May.Whilst you can download our free Spectrum guide on your tax returns HERE, here are some tips that I have about doing the tax return given the recent changes to the system:

1. Have all your figures ready and written down before you start (from bank statements, December 2025 payslips, UK tax statements etc). Stating the obvious here but this is a bit like baking a cake and realising that you don’t have the necessary ingredients. It is also a good idea to look at the boxes that you put your income in last year.
2. If you have foreign income, do the 2047 form first. You need to go into “Annexes” and tick the 2047 box since it won’t be ticked from last year, then when you are in the 2047 form tick the boxes for your income. UK rental income and government pensions need to be put into Section 6 to be carried into box 8TK on the 2042. Other boxes will not be carried over automatically so you need to re-enter these amounts on the main tax form.
3. Your bank accounts are already listed and the good news is that this year you don’t have to find the separate 3916 form. However, if you have an assurance vie, the figure given as the amount as at 1st January 2025 will not be correct and will be the figure entered last year, so you need to update this. The other information regarding your other accounts, should be the same so there is nothing to do there.
4. This year you can choose whether your investment income is to be taxed at your marginal rate or at the flat tax rate. If you are either not taxable or only taxable in the 11% rate, then you should choose to have your investment income taxed at your marginal rate. However, if you are a higher tax payer, the flat tax may be more beneficial.
5. Don’t forget your tax credits. If you have home help (gardeners, cleaners etc) you get a tax credit of 50% of the amount even if you have no tax to pay. This may have been taken at source through CESU for example but if not, you need to declare the amounts on the tax certificates you received from these organisations. There are extra boxes this year where you need to state the name of the organisation, type of organisation, type of service provided etc as well as the amount.
6. Did you make any charitable donations in 2025? If so, you need to find the amounts and proof of these donations for your files. Charitable donations only give you a tax reduction, not a tax credit so if you are under the tax threshold you can declare the donations but it won’t affect your tax liability.
7. If you have paid into a PER in 2025 the figure will appear on the form but you need to reenter it in the box below.
8. If you have children in high school, sixth form or university you need to put the number of children in each category to get a small tax deduction. Cost of care for children under 6 can give rise to a tax credit of half of the amount.

Every year in France people either engage a tax specialist to do their taxes or they attempt to do the form themselves. In the latter case it can cause some stress and worry but also a rewarding feeling once it is done. There are many things that can stress me out but taxes isn’t one of them. So if you have any questions or concerns about your French taxes or financial matters, please do get in touch.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.