The first hurdle about French income tax is knowing what is the deadline to return your declaration and finding the right forms to complete. The countdown to declare your income has started if you were a resident in France in 2025. Yes, even if you were on a long stay visitor visa (it’s actually very important to renew your visa) or if you earned no income via your French business.
Declaring your Impot sur le Revenu is part of being a French resident and you will see that you will be asked for your “avis d’imposition” time and time again. Whether you are looking for a long term rental, buying a home, sending kids to Uni or renewing a visa.
It’s therefore time to book some time in your diary and follow these 5 steps:
- Gather your proofs of income (pension, salary, entrepreneur’s income, dividends, investments).
- Gather your international bank accounts and payment gateway details
- Download the relevant income tax forms.
- Book 2 hours to file your taxes on paper on online.
- I’m covering step 1 to 3 in today’s article and will cover step 4 for Micro Entrepreneurs in my next article (within 2 weeks).
Who needs to file French income tax
You need to file a 2025 French income tax declaration if:
- You’ve earned some income in France in 2025 (salary, business, dividends, pension, gite, rental LMNP).
- You are a resident in France with a long stay visitor visa, profession liberale, visa talent, RECE visa, artist visa, spouse of a European/French/Visa talent owner.
Even Micro Entrepreneurs who have opted to pay their income tax at source - impot liberatoire. Don’t worry, you won’t pay again, it’s to confirm your overall income and to ge your avis d'imposition attestation.
2025 Income Tax Declaration Deadline France
The French income tax deadlines vary based on where you live.
- 1st declaration on paper: 21st May at midnight.
- Department 01 to 19: 21st May at midnight.
- Department 20 to 54: 28th May at midnight.
- Department 55 to 974/976: 4th June at midnight.
- Non-residents: 21st May at midnight.
Non-residents are for French people living abroad, but also those of you with a holiday home in France rented on Airbnb. Yes, you need to declare the rental income IN france and NOT back home!
Who declares online or by post?
I’m afraid that you won’t be able to declare online, until you have filed your first ever paper declaration. So anyone who moved to France in 2025, has to go and download the forms, print them and post them to their local tax office. Yep, fill up with ink and get that printer going!
Don’t worry I’ve got these forms below for you!
I recommend getting help from an accountant or the tax office “Service Impôts particuliers (SIP)”: Contact me if you want an introduction to an English-speaking accountant (describe your situation and list the type of income to declare).
If you have already declared in 2024, you get your TIN number and fiscal income reference from last year: Dig out your “2024 avis d’impôts” to find both numbers, then head over to http://www.impots.gouv.fr and click on Connexion ou création de votre Espace Finances publiques
Prepare your 2025 income tax declaration
Most people undermine the preparation work, i.e. the time required to gather your different proofs of income in order to declare the right number.
Remember that if you`ve arrived in France half-way through the year, you will have to file in both countries: back home and France. And that for Americans, you will always have to file in the US.
Most countries have a double taxation agreement, meaning that you declare your income in both countries. You won’t get taxed twice, as this usually opens a tax credit. Still, you have to declare the income taxed and earned abroad. For instance, if you have a rental income in the UK, it will be declared in form 3916 in France (but not taxed gain).
Here’s what you need to look for:
- Proofs of all your sources of income received in 2025, including: rent, salary, pension, dividends, business income.
- Listing of your foreign bank accounts and foreign payment gateways.
- Attestations for expenses generating a tax credit, such as home-based services/ services à la personnen (cleaner, school support, child minder), donations to charities, investments in French pension schemes PER/ Plan Epargne Retraite.
- Income earned and taxed abroad, such as rental, dividends, salary, etc.
Understanding French income tax
French income tax can be tricky to explain and most people don’t really know how it works. I suggest watching this video to understand the basics and key words such as parts fiscales, revenu, barème fiscal, avis d’impôts. Get ready to feel a Aha! moment:
French Income tax brackets 2025
Make sure you’ve watched this video before looking at the tax brackets! Most people give themselves a heart attack, simply because they start applying the tax rate to their income, before taking into account their fiscal shares. Remember, we start by dividing your income by the number of fiscal shares (number of people in the household: 1 share per adult = 0,5 per child) before applying the tax brackets: Phew!!
2025 Income Tax Rates - Bareme Fiscal 2025
- Up to €11,600: 0%
- From €11,601 to €29,579: 11%
- From €29,580 to €84,577: 30%
- From €84,578 to €181,917: 41%
- Over €181,917: 45%
French Income tax Forms 2025
Here are the forms that you will need to file your 2025 French income tax. I have selected the most to cover most situations. Select the appropriate ones based on your personal situation.
Download the 2025 French income tax declaration:
- Form 2042 - Main form to be used by ALL. Personal details, dependents, change of address, salary, pension tax deductions.
- Form 2042-C - Additional income: foreign salary, pension, capital gain.
- Form 2042-C-PRO - Micro entrepreneur turnover.
- Form 2042 RICI - Tax reductions or tax credits: donations to non-profit associations, services à domiciles.
- Form 2047 - Income earned and taxed abroad: rental income abroad, dividends paid abroad, etc. Double-taxation agreement = tax credit.
- Form 3916 to declare your accounts held abroad - Bank accounts owned abroad: personal or business accounts, payment gateways (PayPal, Stripe, Payoneer)or neo-banks (N26, Revolut). File one form per account or gateway.
In the next article, I’ll cover how to file in your 2042 C Pro form as a Micro Entrepreneur.
