Advertisement

Working in France For Members

France extends work-from-home tax breaks

The Local France
The Local France - [email protected]
France extends work-from-home tax breaks
Photo: Paico Oficial / Unsplash

The French government has renewed several measures aimed at people who have been working from home over the past two years.

Advertisement

In 2020 and 2021, many people who hadn't previously worked from home began to do so, as for large parts of those two years it was either compulsory or recommended. 

And if you incurred extra expenses during this time, there are a number of tax breaks and allowances that can be claimed when you come to do your tax declaration in April.

READ ALSO Who has to make a tax declaration in France?

Measures were introduced last year to help cover certain costs - such as:

Advertisement

  • communication costs (internet subscriptions etc.);
  • supplies and printed matter (ink cartridges, paper etc);
  • costs related to the use of private premises (electricity, water, heating etc);
  • travel expenses between home and place of work, with justification of the need for travel between home and place of work;
  • mobile phone costs (subscription, communication and mobile phone acquisition costs);
  • purchase of furniture and computer equipment for the needs of the professional activity.

These allowances have been rolled over for employees who worked from home in 2021, and who will soon declare their 2021 income for tax purposes.

The allowances paid by the employer to cover the costs of working from home, which may take the form of lump-sum reimbursements or even reimbursement of actual expenses, are exempt from income tax, up to a maximum of €2.50 per day, €55 per month and €580 per year.

The deduction of professional work-from-home expenses is different, depending on whether an employee opts for the actual costs and whether an allowance covering the costs of teleworking is already paid by the employer.

For those who have incurred such costs but who have not received any allowance from their employer, a fixed 10 percent abatement is calculated on salaries listed on income tax declarations.

If you choose to deduct actual expenses, you can deduct all professional expenses (related to home-working or not) from your income tax, but you must be able to justify them.

Those who work from home part of the week can also benefit from the allowance up to a maximum of €10 a month for one day a week’s teleworking, and €20 per month for two days.

When you receive an allowance for remote-work expenses, it is presumed to be used in accordance with its purpose up to €10 per month for an employee performing one day of remote-work from home per week. This flat-rate allowance increases to €20 per month for an employee remote-working two days per week.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also