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 in April by mail if you chose the paper declaration. You must then make the declaration online.

If this is the first time you declare your income on paper:

If you have not received a paper declaration by mail, you can download the form for the 2023 income tax return or take it from the Public Finance Center (personal tax service) near you.

• Check the “you are filing a declaration for the first time” box
• Fill in your details on page 1
• Specify your family situation and, if you have children, the year of birth with their first and last names on page 2
• If you had income in 2023 (salary, allowances, etc.), write the amount on page 3. If you received nothing, write "0".

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

• If you are a tenant, send a copy of the rental contract and a rent receipt (to be requested from the owner) for the months of December 2023 and January 2024.
• If you have a domiciliation address, send a domiciliation certificate which covers the year 2023 to today.
  > Read: the Réfugiés.info sheet “ Having a postal address ”
• If you are staying with someone, you must ask that person to complete the certificate on page 5 and give you a copy of their identity card and a copy of their rental contract or their title deed.

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

> To read: the Réfugiés.info sheet “ Having a family record book ”

If this is the first time you declare 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 the rest of your life.

• You must communicate this information:
  - Name, first name, postal address, email address
  - Copy of your identity document (receipt or valid residence permit)
• Once your identity has been verified, the administration will send you an email telling you that you can create your own space with your tax number and your date of birth on impots.gouv.fr
• You must then write your email address and choose a password. You then receive an email containing a link which you must click, within 8 hours, to activate your particular space.

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

• Check “you are filing a declaration for the first time”
• Fill in your details on page 1
• Specify your family situation and, if you have children, the year of birth with their first and last names on page 2
• If you had income in 2023 (salary, allowances, etc.), write the amount on page 3. If you received nothing, write "0".

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

• If you are a tenant, send a copy of the rental contract and a rent receipt (to be requested from the owner) for the months of December 2023 and January 2024.
• If you have a domiciliation address, send a domiciliation certificate which covers the year 2023 to today.
• If you are staying with someone, you must ask that person to complete the certificate on page 5 and give you a copy of their identity card and a copy of their rental contract or their title deed.

To check your administrative and family situation, you must attach 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 requested information.

> To read: the Réfugiés.info sheet “ Log in to a site with France Connect ”

The declaration is generally already pre-filled, meaning that companies, temp agencies, France Travail (formerly Pôle Emploi), etc. have already sent the information directly to the tax service.

• Check if everything is correct: for employees and temporary workers, look at the “net taxable amount” at the bottom of the pay slip for December of the previous year (the year ended).
• Also check marital status information and dependent children.
• Add missing information if the administration has forgotten elements or if there are errors.
• Please note: if you have earned money from a self-employed activity, you must also complete income tax declaration no. 2042-C Pro ("micro-entrepreneur having opted for the withholding tax on the income” OR “professional industrial and commercial income / BIC micro regime” OR “professional non-commercial income / BNC micro regime” depending on your situation). Declare the amount written on the 2023 tax certificate available on your autoentrepreneur.urssaf account. Fr.
  
  > Read: the Réfugiés.info sheet “ Becoming self-employed ”, particularly the “Pay taxes” section at the bottom of the page.
• If everything is ok, you have two options:
  - Do nothing and wait to receive the declaratory situation notice in summer.
  - Complete and validate your declaration and at the end, you can download your declaration situation notice. During the reporting period, you can correct your tax return online as many times as you want, even after signing.

The deadline is different depending on whether you file your declaration on paper or online:

• The deadline for submitting your declaration is written on the document, generally 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 2024 income tax return, you can find out the withholding tax rate that will apply to your income from September 2025: that is, the percentage of your salary that will be withheld.

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

• by mail if you sent the declaration on paper and do not have a specific space on impots.gouv.fr
• to download to your personal space if you made the declaration online.

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

If you do not pay taxes (you are not liable for tax), you can 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 reaches your bank account. The exact amount is shown on your pay slip.

If you have to pay more, the tax notice specifies how much you have to pay and by when.

Self-employed people (for example, auto-entrepreneurs ) have several solutions for paying their taxes:

• If you have chosen the income tax withholding payment, you pay taxes and social security contributions at the same time to your autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr account.   
• If you have not chosen the income tax withholding payment, and if you are an employee and self-employed at the same time, you pay your taxes by direct debit from your bank account.

> Read: the Réfugiés.info fact sheet “ Becoming a self-employed entrepreneur ” (see the “Paying taxes” section 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 on 0809 401 401 (free) from Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. or by calling your public finance center directly (phone number on the tax notice)
• by message in your personal space on the impots.gouv.fr website : at the top right, click on " Secure messaging ", on the subject of your request and write your message.