Reader question: How do I convert income into euros for my French tax declaration?
If you're a foreigner in France, you may be declaring income from another country - here's how to do your currency conversions.
Question: On the French tax declaration I'm required to declare my non-French income, which is mostly in dollars - what method should I use for converting the amounts into euro?
If you're living in France you will almost certainly have to complete the annual income tax declaration, even if you have no income in France - eg retirees living on a UK or US pension.
READ ALSO What you need to know about the 2023 French tax declaration
You are also required to declare all your worldwide income - if you have already paid tax on it in another country you probably won't have to pay more tax in France, if your country has a tax treaty with France, but you have to declare it all the same.
All of which means that foreigners living in France are likely to be declaring at least some income - earnings, pensions, rental income or share dividends - that is not in euros.
So how do you do the conversion?
The first thing to note is that all income on the French tax form must be declared in euros, there is no facility to declare in another currency, which means that you need to convert your income into euros before you start.
In terms of how you do the conversion, there is no fixed formula, and most people use online currency converters such as XE or Google for the sake of simplicity, but you can also look up the exchange rate and do your own calculations.
It is advised that you take a note of which method you used, and the date you did the conversion, just in case any of your working is challenged by the tax office.
Accountants report that it is very rare that the French tax office would challenge your return based on how you convert foreign currency into euros, but it is wise to keep a note of your method just in case.
Chartered accountant Faten Amamou, who specialises in international clients, told The Local: “Before you start to fill out your tax declaration, if you have any income that isn’t in euros, you’ll need to convert it to euros. There is no set method for doing this, but keep a note of the method, logic and currency conversion you have used in case you are questioned about it."
READ ALSO Ask the expert: How to fill out your 2023 tax declaration
You can find more details about the 2023 tax declaration, tax deadlines and the property tax declaration in our tax section HERE.
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Question: On the French tax declaration I'm required to declare my non-French income, which is mostly in dollars - what method should I use for converting the amounts into euro?
If you're living in France you will almost certainly have to complete the annual income tax declaration, even if you have no income in France - eg retirees living on a UK or US pension.
READ ALSO What you need to know about the 2023 French tax declaration
You are also required to declare all your worldwide income - if you have already paid tax on it in another country you probably won't have to pay more tax in France, if your country has a tax treaty with France, but you have to declare it all the same.
All of which means that foreigners living in France are likely to be declaring at least some income - earnings, pensions, rental income or share dividends - that is not in euros.
So how do you do the conversion?
The first thing to note is that all income on the French tax form must be declared in euros, there is no facility to declare in another currency, which means that you need to convert your income into euros before you start.
In terms of how you do the conversion, there is no fixed formula, and most people use online currency converters such as XE or Google for the sake of simplicity, but you can also look up the exchange rate and do your own calculations.
It is advised that you take a note of which method you used, and the date you did the conversion, just in case any of your working is challenged by the tax office.
Accountants report that it is very rare that the French tax office would challenge your return based on how you convert foreign currency into euros, but it is wise to keep a note of your method just in case.
Chartered accountant Faten Amamou, who specialises in international clients, told The Local: “Before you start to fill out your tax declaration, if you have any income that isn’t in euros, you’ll need to convert it to euros. There is no set method for doing this, but keep a note of the method, logic and currency conversion you have used in case you are questioned about it."
READ ALSO Ask the expert: How to fill out your 2023 tax declaration
You can find more details about the 2023 tax declaration, tax deadlines and the property tax declaration in our tax section HERE.
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