Income tax in France for newcomers: withholding, tax number and the yearly return

Withholding applies to salaries, pensions, unemployment and sickness benefits, self-employed profits, rental income, maintenance payments and some foreign income. Your employer or the paying body deducts it and passes it on to the tax office; you see the rate and amount on your pay slip.

• Personalised rate: calculated by the tax office from your last return and updated each September.
• Individualised rate for couples: married or PACS partners can each have a rate reflecting their own income.
• Default rate (taux non personnalisé): if you have never filed a French return, your employer applies a default rate from a legal scale, between 0 % and 43 % depending on your monthly pay. It does not take your family situation into account, so it can be too high or too low.

Before your first return, you can ask for a rate based on your real situation by contacting the tax office on 0809 401 401 or at your local public finance centre. Once you have an online account, you can adjust your rate and create or change instalments yourself in the "Gérer mon prélèvement à la source" service.

Your tax number (numéro fiscal) identifies you personally with the tax office. It is printed on every tax notice and is needed to create your personal space (espace particulier) on impots.gouv.fr.

Most newcomers receive their number after their first return is processed. Until then you cannot create the online account, which is why the first return is usually on paper. If you need a number earlier, impots.gouv.fr explains how people without one can request it.

You must report changes such as marriage, PACS, a birth or a divorce within 60 days in your online account, so that your withholding rate can be adjusted.

In the year after your arrival, you declare all income received from the date you arrived to 31 December. Income received before your arrival is generally not declared in France unless it came from French sources.

First-time filers usually file on paper: impots.gouv.fr states that you do not have access to the online return if you are declaring your income or assets in France for the first time. Download form 2042 (the main return) from impots.gouv.fr, or ask for it at a public finance centre, and send or hand it to the tax office for individuals (service des impôts des particuliers, SIP) of your new home. Add the annex forms that apply, for example 2047 for foreign income and 3916 for foreign accounts. Take the taxable amounts from your pay slips and other income statements.

From the second year, filing online is compulsory for households with internet access, and many people receive a pre-filled return. Some households qualify for automatic declaration: if everything shown is correct, they do not need to do anything.

For 2025 income declared in 2026, the online service opened on 9 April 2026. Deadlines were:

• Paper returns: 19 May 2026 (all départements).
• Online returns: 21 May 2026 for départements 01 to 19 and non-residents; 28 May 2026 for départements 20 to 54; 4 June 2026 for départements 55 to 976, which includes Paris (75).

After filing, the tax notice (avis d'impôt) is published in your online account in the summer; online notices are now the rule. If you paid too little through withholding, the balance is usually taken from your bank account: amounts over €300 are spread over four monthly debits from September to December. If you paid too much, the refund is transferred to your bank account.

Dates change each year; check the official calendar for 2027 in early spring.

Income tax is calculated per tax household (foyer fiscal). Married couples and PACS partners file jointly. The household's taxable income is divided into shares (parts) under the family quotient (quotient familial): one share per adult, with additional shares or half-shares for dependent children. The scale is applied to the income per share and the result multiplied back.

The 2026 scale (for 2025 income, set by the budget law of 19 February 2026), per share:

• up to €11,600: 0 %
• €11,601 to €29,579: 11 %
• €29,580 to €84,577: 30 %
• €84,578 to €181,917: 41 %
• above €181,917: 45 %

These are marginal rates: each rate applies only to the slice of income within that bracket. The official simulator on impots.gouv.fr gives an estimate.

As a French tax resident you must declare every bank account, life insurance contract and digital asset account opened, held, used or closed abroad during the year, using form 3916 / 3916-bis with your return. This includes accounts you keep in your home country. A narrow exception applies to small online payment accounts used for purchases.

The penalty for an undeclared account is €1,500 per account, rising to €10,000 where the account is in a state without a tax information agreement with France. Foreign income is declared too; tax treaties then decide where it is taxed and how double taxation is avoided.

• Housing tax (taxe d'habitation) on main homes was abolished on 1 January 2023. It still applies to second homes, based on your situation on 1 January.
• If you are self-employed under the micro regime, see the self-employment guide for the flat-rate tax option.