You must file a tax return if:

• you live in France more than 6 months a year
• your main professional activity is in France
• you turned 18 last year and you are no longer on your parents' tax return
• your economic activities are in France (investments or company headquarters)
• you live abroad, but your income comes from France.

The tax office (also called the "tax administration" or "fisc") needs to calculate whether you owe taxes, and if so, how much you will pay. To do this, you must "declare" all the money you receive on an official document.

• If you are married or in a civil partnership and/or if you have dependent children, all the money received must be in the same declaration: you must file only one income tax return per tax household.
• If you are cohabiting (you live together without being married or in a civil partnership) , you must each declare your status in two separate declarations.

Every year the calendar is the same:

• In spring, between April and June, you declare your income for the previous year (the year just ended). This declaration allows you to calculate the taxes you will pay.
• In summer, between July and August, you receive your "tax notice" on your income. This is the "regularization": the calculation between what you have already paid (deducted at source) and what you still have to pay, or what will be refunded if you have overpaid.

You will receive the document by mail in April if you opted for the paper return. You must then complete the return online.

If this is the first time you are filing your tax return on paper:

If you have not received a paper declaration by mail, you can download the form for the 2025 income tax return or pick it up at the public finance center (individual tax service) near you.

• Check the box “you are filing a return for the first time”
• Complete your details on page 1
• Specify your family situation and, if you have children, their year of birth along with their full names on page 2.
• If you had any income in 2025 (salary, benefits, etc.), write the amount on page 3. If you received nothing, write "0".

To verify your address, you must send supporting documents depending on your situation:

• If you are a tenant, send a copy of the lease agreement and a rent receipt (to be requested from the landlord) for the months of December 2025 and January 2026.
• If you have a postal address, send a certificate of residence that covers the year 2025 to today.
• If you are staying with someone, you must ask them to complete the accommodation certificate and give you a copy of their identity card and a copy of their rental agreement (to prove that they are a tenant in their apartment or house) or their title deed (to prove that they own their apartment or house).

To verify your administrative and family situation, you must send a copy of your residence permit , that of your spouse and a copy of the family record book if you have one.

If this is the first time you are declaring your income online:

You must first request a " tax number " at the counter of your Public Finance Center .
This tax number is a personal, unique number that you keep for your entire life.

• You must provide this information:
  - Name, surname, address, email address
  - Copy of your identity document ( receipt or residence permit )
• The tax office will send you an email as soon as your identity is verified. You can create your personal account on impots.gouv.fr using your tax identification number and date of birth.
• Next, you need to enter your email address and choose a password. You will receive an email with a link. Click on it within 8 hours to activate your personal account.

Log in to your personal account on impots.gouv.fr and click on “Declare my income” :

• Check the box “you are filing a return for the first time”
• Complete your details on page 1
• Specify your family situation and, if you have children, their year of birth along with their full names on page 2.
• If you had any income in 2025 (salary, benefits, etc.), write the amount on page 3. If you received nothing, write "0".

To verify your address, you must send supporting documents depending on your situation:

• If you are a tenant, send a copy of the lease agreement and a rent receipt (to be requested from the landlord) for the months of December 2026 and January 2026.
• If you have a postal address, send a certificate of residence that covers the year 2025 to today.
• If you are staying with someone, you must ask them to complete the accommodation certificate and give you a copy of their identity card and a copy of their rental agreement (to prove that they are a tenant in their apartment or house) or their title deed (to prove that they own their apartment or house).

To verify your administrative and family situation, you must send a copy of your residence permit, that of your spouse and a copy of the family record book if you have one.

If you have already declared your income:

You can log in to impots.gouv.fr using your tax number or your France Connect account and fill in the required information.

The declaration is already pre-filled, meaning that companies, temporary employment agencies, France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi)... have already sent the information directly to the tax authorities.

• Check the marital status information and dependent children.
• If you are an employee or temporary worker: check the net taxable amount at the bottom of your December 2025 payslip.
• If you earned money through self-employment: you must also complete income tax return form no. 2042-C PRO ("micro-entrepreneur who has opted for the flat-rate withholding tax on income" OR "professional industrial and commercial income / micro BIC regime" OR "professional non-commercial income / micro BNC regime" depending on your situation). Declare the amount shown on the 2025 tax certificate available on your autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr account.
  > Read: How to download a certificate and the Refugees.info fact sheet Becoming a self-employed person (section “Paying taxes” at the bottom of the page).
• If you use personal services (childcare, home cleaning , etc.): you must indicate the name of the organization or company that provided the services on form RICI 2042 in order to claim a tax credit.
• If information is missing or there are errors, complete the document.

When everything is correct, you have two options:
Complete and submit your tax return, and at the end, you can download your tax assessment notice. During the filing period, you can amend your tax return online multiple times, even after signing it.
- Do nothing and wait to receive the declaration status notice in the summer.

The deadline differs depending on whether you file your return on paper or online:

• The deadline for sending your declaration is written on the document, usually between the end of May and the beginning of June.
• You have more time if you complete the declaration online.

At the end of your 2025 income tax return, you can find out the withholding tax rate that will apply to your income from September 2026: that is, the percentage of your salary that will be deducted.

You will receive a very important document called a "tax notice":

• by mail if you sent the paper return and do not have a dedicated space on impots.gouv.fr
• to be downloaded from your personal account if you made the declaration online.

You need this document to complete the necessary procedures (CAF benefits, bank account, social housing, etc.) and to apply for a loan from the bank.

If you do not pay taxes (you are non-taxable), you may receive a notice of non-taxation which allows you to apply for social assistance.

Throughout the year, every month, taxes are deducted directly from your salary before the money arrives in your bank account. The exact amount is shown on your payslip.

If you have to pay more, the tax notice will specify how much you owe and by what date.

The self-employed workers (for example, micro-entrepreneurs ) have several options for paying their taxes:

• If you have chosen the simplified tax payment option, you pay taxes and social security contributions at the same time on your autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr account.   
• If you have not opted for the simplified tax payment scheme, you pay your taxes in installments deducted from your bank account. If you combine this activity with salaried employment, the tax on your wages will still be deducted directly from your payslip.
  
  > Read: the Refugees.info fact sheet " Becoming a self-employed person " (see the section "Paying taxes" at the bottom of the page).

You must check your tax return each year and report any changes in:

• contact details (address, email, telephone number, bank details)
• family situation (marriage or civil partnership, divorce or breakdown of civil partnership, death of wife or husband or civil partnership partner, birth of a child, etc.).

These changes may modify withholding taxes.

Log in to your personal space on impots.gouv , under “Manage my withholding tax” and “Report a change”.

The withholding tax rate is the percentage (%) of your income taken directly from your salary.
It is calculated by the tax service based on your situation and appears in your personal space on impots.gouv.fr , under the heading "Manage my withholding tax".

You have the possibility to change it with 2 options:

• If there is a large difference in income between the two people in a tax household, the tax rate can be individualized (each person has a different rate) instead of the single rate (same rate for both people). The rates are calculated by the tax service.
• If you are an employee and do not want to disclose your individual tax rate to your employer, you can choose a "neutral" (non-personalized) rate. The tax service will then calculate the difference during the adjustment process.

If you have any questions, you can contact the tax information service:

• by phone at 0809 401 401 (free) from Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. or by calling your local tax office directly (phone number on your tax notice)
• by message on your personal space on the impots.gouv.fr website: in the top right corner, click on " Secure Messaging ", on the subject of your request and write your message.