The complete French tax calendar for 2022
If you live in France or own property here, you may be liable for taxes, or to complete the annual tax declaration - here are the key deadlines to watch out for.
France has among the highest tax-GDP ratio of any EU state. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - this money helps pay for a world class health service, education system and welfare net, and if you are a French taxpayer there is also a lot of help available for you from the government, from free French classes to books and concert tickets for the kids and subsidised holidays.
But it does mean that at various points of the year, you may find yourself presented with a tax bill.
The penalties for not paying tax can be steep, so it is important to stay on top of the deadlines.
We have broken the main ones down for you here, as well as explaining what all these taxes are.
April 7th
The online platform to make the déclaration des revenues (income declaration) opens. You will need to declare your earnings from 2021. If you did not move to France until after January 1st 2022, you don't need to declare until next year.
Almost everyone who lives in France has to do this, as do some second-home owners with earnings here, and the deadline for doing so depends on how you declare and where you live.
READ ALSO Who has to make a tax declaration in France?
May 25th
If you live in départements 1-19 or outside France, this is the deadline to declare your annual income if you are doing so online. Over the summer, you will receive an email telling you how much you need to pay and when.
May 31st
If you live in départements 20-54, this is the deadline to declare your annual income if you are doing so online. Over the summer, you will receive an email telling you how much you need to pay and when. This is now also the date for filing by the post (the previous date was listed as May 19th, but those filing with paper forms now have an extension to the 31st).
June 7th
If you live in départements 50-101 or a French overseas territory, this is the deadline to declare your annual income if you are doing so online. Over the summer, you will receive an email telling you how much you need to pay and when.
June 30th
This is the deadline to register for monthly tax payments, rather than lump sum bills once-per-year.
This option is only available for the taxe d'habitation, the contribution à l´audiovisuel public and taxe foncière (see below for details on these).
August 22nd
Property owners in France will receive notice of how much they must pay as a taxe foncière online. Some people will receive this notice via post, from August 31st onward.
October 1st
If you are required to pay the taxe d'habitation - as second-home owners and 20 percent of French households are - you will receive a notice informing you of how much money you will be required to pay from this date onward.
October 17th
You have until this date to pay your taxe foncière if doing so by an offline procedure.
October 22nd
For individuals, you have until midnight on October 22 to pay your property taxes (tax foncière) online.
November 15th
The deadline to pay the taxe d'habitation through the offline procedure.
November 21st
The deadline to pay the taxe d'habitation for people paying online.
Mid-December
If you made a mistake in your déclaration des revenues, the deadline to amend your filing generally falls in mid-December. The actual date has not yet been communicated but in 2021, it was December 15th.
December 15th
If you are subject to a TLV or THLV tax as the owner of a vacant property, the deadline is December 15th for non-electronic payments.
December 20th
This is the deadline for people to pay the TLV or THLV tax online.
So what are these taxes?
- Déclaration des revenues
This is the biggie.
Almost everyone who lives in France has to fill in the annual declaration of their income (déclaration des revenues) and non-residents may also have to if they have any earnings in the country (including income from renting out property). Second-home owners usually won’t have to do the annual declaration but they are liable for property taxes.
READ ALSO What exactly do I need to tell the French taxman about?
If you are still confused by the dates we have listed, there is an online simulator that allows you to find out the deadline for paying tax where you live.
Find out HERE who has to make the declaration, how to do it and some handy vocab to use.
Many people assume that if their income all comes from another country then they don’t need to file a tax return but this is not the case.
France has double taxation agreements with most countries, so if you have already paid tax on – for example – income from a rental property in the UK you will not be liable for more tax in France on the same income, but you must still tell the French taxman about it.
All income must be declared, as well as all bank accounts in other countries even if they are dormant.
- Taxe d'habitation
The housing tax paid by those living in a property, not the owner, is in the process of being phased out - only 20 percent of French households will pay the taxe d’habitation in 2022.
However second-home owners are excluded from the phasing out and still have to pay it, bar a few exceptions.
- Taxe foncière
This is the tax for property owners. Second home owners pay both this and the taxe d’habitation. The tax on property owners has risen in many areas over the past couple of years.
READ ALSO What is taxe foncière and do I have to pay it?
- TLV and THLV
In certain communes, you must pay a tax if you own a property that has been unoccupied for an extended period of time. The deadline to pay this tax is December 15th.
If your property is in a zone tendue (a commune with more than 50,000 residents that has a housing shortage), you must pay the taxe sur logements vacants (TLV). You can find a list of the relevant communes HERE. The tax applies if the property has been unoccupied for a year or more.
If your property is not in a zone tendue, you might have to pay the taxe d’habitation sur les logements vacants (THLV). This only applies to you if your commune has voted to enact this tax. It concerns properties that have been vacant for two years or more.
As with the TLV, you do not need to pay this tax if you have stayed in the accommodation for more than 90 consecutive days in a year; have put it on the rental market; or are doing building work worth at least 25 percent of the property value. If you are already paying the taxe d’habitation, you do not need to pay the THLV.
There is an online simulator that tells you whether or not your property is situated in a zone tendue. There are various exemptions to these taxes available on the service-public.fr website.
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France has among the highest tax-GDP ratio of any EU state. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - this money helps pay for a world class health service, education system and welfare net, and if you are a French taxpayer there is also a lot of help available for you from the government, from free French classes to books and concert tickets for the kids and subsidised holidays.
But it does mean that at various points of the year, you may find yourself presented with a tax bill.
The penalties for not paying tax can be steep, so it is important to stay on top of the deadlines.
We have broken the main ones down for you here, as well as explaining what all these taxes are.
April 7th
The online platform to make the déclaration des revenues (income declaration) opens. You will need to declare your earnings from 2021. If you did not move to France until after January 1st 2022, you don't need to declare until next year.
Almost everyone who lives in France has to do this, as do some second-home owners with earnings here, and the deadline for doing so depends on how you declare and where you live.
READ ALSO Who has to make a tax declaration in France?
May 25th
If you live in départements 1-19 or outside France, this is the deadline to declare your annual income if you are doing so online. Over the summer, you will receive an email telling you how much you need to pay and when.
May 31st
If you live in départements 20-54, this is the deadline to declare your annual income if you are doing so online. Over the summer, you will receive an email telling you how much you need to pay and when. This is now also the date for filing by the post (the previous date was listed as May 19th, but those filing with paper forms now have an extension to the 31st).
June 7th
If you live in départements 50-101 or a French overseas territory, this is the deadline to declare your annual income if you are doing so online. Over the summer, you will receive an email telling you how much you need to pay and when.
June 30th
This is the deadline to register for monthly tax payments, rather than lump sum bills once-per-year.
This option is only available for the taxe d'habitation, the contribution à l´audiovisuel public and taxe foncière (see below for details on these).
August 22nd
Property owners in France will receive notice of how much they must pay as a taxe foncière online. Some people will receive this notice via post, from August 31st onward.
October 1st
If you are required to pay the taxe d'habitation - as second-home owners and 20 percent of French households are - you will receive a notice informing you of how much money you will be required to pay from this date onward.
October 17th
You have until this date to pay your taxe foncière if doing so by an offline procedure.
October 22nd
For individuals, you have until midnight on October 22 to pay your property taxes (tax foncière) online.
November 15th
The deadline to pay the taxe d'habitation through the offline procedure.
November 21st
The deadline to pay the taxe d'habitation for people paying online.
Mid-December
If you made a mistake in your déclaration des revenues, the deadline to amend your filing generally falls in mid-December. The actual date has not yet been communicated but in 2021, it was December 15th.
December 15th
If you are subject to a TLV or THLV tax as the owner of a vacant property, the deadline is December 15th for non-electronic payments.
December 20th
This is the deadline for people to pay the TLV or THLV tax online.
So what are these taxes?
- Déclaration des revenues
This is the biggie.
Almost everyone who lives in France has to fill in the annual declaration of their income (déclaration des revenues) and non-residents may also have to if they have any earnings in the country (including income from renting out property). Second-home owners usually won’t have to do the annual declaration but they are liable for property taxes.
READ ALSO What exactly do I need to tell the French taxman about?
If you are still confused by the dates we have listed, there is an online simulator that allows you to find out the deadline for paying tax where you live.
Find out HERE who has to make the declaration, how to do it and some handy vocab to use.
Many people assume that if their income all comes from another country then they don’t need to file a tax return but this is not the case.
France has double taxation agreements with most countries, so if you have already paid tax on – for example – income from a rental property in the UK you will not be liable for more tax in France on the same income, but you must still tell the French taxman about it.
All income must be declared, as well as all bank accounts in other countries even if they are dormant.
- Taxe d'habitation
The housing tax paid by those living in a property, not the owner, is in the process of being phased out - only 20 percent of French households will pay the taxe d’habitation in 2022.
However second-home owners are excluded from the phasing out and still have to pay it, bar a few exceptions.
- Taxe foncière
This is the tax for property owners. Second home owners pay both this and the taxe d’habitation. The tax on property owners has risen in many areas over the past couple of years.
READ ALSO What is taxe foncière and do I have to pay it?
- TLV and THLV
In certain communes, you must pay a tax if you own a property that has been unoccupied for an extended period of time. The deadline to pay this tax is December 15th.
If your property is in a zone tendue (a commune with more than 50,000 residents that has a housing shortage), you must pay the taxe sur logements vacants (TLV). You can find a list of the relevant communes HERE. The tax applies if the property has been unoccupied for a year or more.
If your property is not in a zone tendue, you might have to pay the taxe d’habitation sur les logements vacants (THLV). This only applies to you if your commune has voted to enact this tax. It concerns properties that have been vacant for two years or more.
As with the TLV, you do not need to pay this tax if you have stayed in the accommodation for more than 90 consecutive days in a year; have put it on the rental market; or are doing building work worth at least 25 percent of the property value. If you are already paying the taxe d’habitation, you do not need to pay the THLV.
There is an online simulator that tells you whether or not your property is situated in a zone tendue. There are various exemptions to these taxes available on the service-public.fr website.
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