What are the changes to the 2024 French tax declaration?
A new section has been added to the 2024 French tax declaration, the finance ministry has announced, with declarations now open.
The annual task of completing the French tax declaration will be slightly different this year, with a new section added to the form.
The annual déclaration des revenus (income tax declaration) must be completed by almost everyone living in France - even those who have no income here - as well as some other groups including people living outside France who have some source of French income.
Explained: Who has to do a tax declaration in France
Declarations are now open and the deadline for filing is May or June, depending on where you live - full details HERE.
Once you have done your first online declaration the form remembers your previous answers, so for most people the annual task is a case of verifying that previous details are correct, and adding in anything that has changed over the past year.
READ ALSO The bumper 2024 tax guide
However this year there is a slight change of format, with an extra questionnaire added.
The tax office explained: "To remind property owners of their obligation to declare changes to the occupancy status of their property, a compulsory questionnaire has been inserted at the end of the online declaration process.
"Users who are property owners will be asked to indicate whether there have been any changes to the occupancy of their property. If so, they will automatically be directed to Gérer mes biens immobiliers (manage my properties)."
What does this mean?
This refers to a new requirement that was added last year - a form called the déclaration d'occupation that must be completed by everyone who owns property in France.
The declaration required people to update details of their property so that the tax office had the most up to date information, and then state whether their property was used as a main residence, a second home or rented out. This information was then used to calculate property tax bills.
The déclaration d'occupation is a separate process to the annual income tax declaration, and it seems that the new questionnaire has been added to the income tax declaration to 'remind' any property owners who have not done their declaration, or not updated it.
The questionnaire refers only to property that you own in France, property owned in another country does not need to be declared in France (although if it brings in any income such as rental income you do need to declare that).
READ ALSO How to complete the French property tax declaration
In a slight change of format to the online declaration, the form begins by flagging up which sections you may need to fill in - based on your previous answers.
Tick boxes include having income in France, having income from overseas, having foreign bank accounts and owning property in France - if you have declared online before these will be already ticked based on last year's declaration, so you only need to alter them if something has changed.
If you don't own property in France - if you are living in rented accommodation in France, last year's property tax declaration probably passed you by. The good news is that you still don't need to worry about it - just make sure that there is no tick next to the question of whether you own property in France and that should be the end of the matter.
If you do own property in France - if you do own French property, an extra questionnaire has been added toward the end of the declaration, which will ask you whether anything has changed since you completed the property tax declaration. If you tick 'no' then that should be the end of the matter.
Changes that would need to be reported include a change in the use of the property - eg what was a second home is now your main residence, or you have rented out your second home on a long-term lease.
You also need to declare any significant changes that you have made to the property - eg building an extension, installing a swimming pool or adding another room. This is because property tax bills are calculated based on the rentable value of your property.
The property tax declaration itself is a one-off task, not an annual one like the income tax declaration, but you do need to update the declaration if anything has changed in the past year. You don't need to wait for the income tax declaration to do this, you can do it at any time by logging in to your account at impots.gouv.fr and heading for the 'bien immobiliers' section.
If you didn't do a property tax declaration last year - the declaration was a new requirement last year and the deadline to have completed it was the end of August (albeit with several extensions). You may not have done one if you have bought property within the last year, if you had declared your property 'uninhabitable' to the tax office or if you simply didn't realise that you had to.
If this is the case, it seems likely that your best option is to complete the property tax declaration first, before doing the income tax declaration - both forms can be found on the tax website at impots.gouv.fr - full details on how to complete the property tax declaration HERE.
The property tax declaration refers to the situation on January 1st 2024. So if you have bought property since then, you don't need to complete the declaration until next year. Neither do you need to click yes to 'owning property in France', since the income tax declaration is concerned with the 2023 tax year.
Other changes
There are two other small changes to the income tax declaration this year, the tax office has announced.
Adult children - the first is if you have adult children who are still included in your household declaration - for example over-18s who still live you, including those who are away at university but still live with you during the holidays. A new requirement this year is that their main address must be included, if it is different to yours.
Tax app - the online tax service has an app as well as a desktop website and this year declarations can be done via the app. The tax office said this is limited to 'simple' situations.
They say: "You will be able to make certain changes to your tax return, such as removing/adding dependants, changing/adding a bank details details form and changing the amounts shown."
Basically it seems like this one is - for now - limited to people who already declare online, have a simple tax situation with no overseas income and for whom nothing significant has changed this year. Others might be better off sticking with the website.
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The annual task of completing the French tax declaration will be slightly different this year, with a new section added to the form.
The annual déclaration des revenus (income tax declaration) must be completed by almost everyone living in France - even those who have no income here - as well as some other groups including people living outside France who have some source of French income.
Explained: Who has to do a tax declaration in France
Declarations are now open and the deadline for filing is May or June, depending on where you live - full details HERE.
Once you have done your first online declaration the form remembers your previous answers, so for most people the annual task is a case of verifying that previous details are correct, and adding in anything that has changed over the past year.
READ ALSO The bumper 2024 tax guide
However this year there is a slight change of format, with an extra questionnaire added.
The tax office explained: "To remind property owners of their obligation to declare changes to the occupancy status of their property, a compulsory questionnaire has been inserted at the end of the online declaration process.
"Users who are property owners will be asked to indicate whether there have been any changes to the occupancy of their property. If so, they will automatically be directed to Gérer mes biens immobiliers (manage my properties)."
What does this mean?
This refers to a new requirement that was added last year - a form called the déclaration d'occupation that must be completed by everyone who owns property in France.
The declaration required people to update details of their property so that the tax office had the most up to date information, and then state whether their property was used as a main residence, a second home or rented out. This information was then used to calculate property tax bills.
The déclaration d'occupation is a separate process to the annual income tax declaration, and it seems that the new questionnaire has been added to the income tax declaration to 'remind' any property owners who have not done their declaration, or not updated it.
The questionnaire refers only to property that you own in France, property owned in another country does not need to be declared in France (although if it brings in any income such as rental income you do need to declare that).
READ ALSO How to complete the French property tax declaration
In a slight change of format to the online declaration, the form begins by flagging up which sections you may need to fill in - based on your previous answers.
Tick boxes include having income in France, having income from overseas, having foreign bank accounts and owning property in France - if you have declared online before these will be already ticked based on last year's declaration, so you only need to alter them if something has changed.
If you don't own property in France - if you are living in rented accommodation in France, last year's property tax declaration probably passed you by. The good news is that you still don't need to worry about it - just make sure that there is no tick next to the question of whether you own property in France and that should be the end of the matter.
If you do own property in France - if you do own French property, an extra questionnaire has been added toward the end of the declaration, which will ask you whether anything has changed since you completed the property tax declaration. If you tick 'no' then that should be the end of the matter.
Changes that would need to be reported include a change in the use of the property - eg what was a second home is now your main residence, or you have rented out your second home on a long-term lease.
You also need to declare any significant changes that you have made to the property - eg building an extension, installing a swimming pool or adding another room. This is because property tax bills are calculated based on the rentable value of your property.
The property tax declaration itself is a one-off task, not an annual one like the income tax declaration, but you do need to update the declaration if anything has changed in the past year. You don't need to wait for the income tax declaration to do this, you can do it at any time by logging in to your account at impots.gouv.fr and heading for the 'bien immobiliers' section.
If you didn't do a property tax declaration last year - the declaration was a new requirement last year and the deadline to have completed it was the end of August (albeit with several extensions). You may not have done one if you have bought property within the last year, if you had declared your property 'uninhabitable' to the tax office or if you simply didn't realise that you had to.
If this is the case, it seems likely that your best option is to complete the property tax declaration first, before doing the income tax declaration - both forms can be found on the tax website at impots.gouv.fr - full details on how to complete the property tax declaration HERE.
The property tax declaration refers to the situation on January 1st 2024. So if you have bought property since then, you don't need to complete the declaration until next year. Neither do you need to click yes to 'owning property in France', since the income tax declaration is concerned with the 2023 tax year.
Other changes
There are two other small changes to the income tax declaration this year, the tax office has announced.
Adult children - the first is if you have adult children who are still included in your household declaration - for example over-18s who still live you, including those who are away at university but still live with you during the holidays. A new requirement this year is that their main address must be included, if it is different to yours.
Tax app - the online tax service has an app as well as a desktop website and this year declarations can be done via the app. The tax office said this is limited to 'simple' situations.
They say: "You will be able to make certain changes to your tax return, such as removing/adding dependants, changing/adding a bank details details form and changing the amounts shown."
Basically it seems like this one is - for now - limited to people who already declare online, have a simple tax situation with no overseas income and for whom nothing significant has changed this year. Others might be better off sticking with the website.
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