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The priority jobs that qualify you for an early vaccine in France

Before opening up vaccines to all from May 31st, France has announced a list of jobs that qualify you for a priority vaccine.

Published: 21 May 2021 11:10 CEST
Updated: 25 May 2021 08:47 CEST

The priority jobs that qualify you for an early vaccine in France

Photos: AFP

From Monday, May 24th anyone over 18 in France can book a vaccine slot if they work in a ‘priority’ profession, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced last week.

The full list of priority jobs has now been published and is very wide ranging, so if you work in any of the sectors listed below, you are now entitled to book your appointment.

READ ALSO How to book an appointment for a Covid vaccine

Teachers, teaching assistants and staff in nursery schools or crèches
Non-teaching staff working in schools, nurseries or universities (including catering and maintenance staff)
Support workers for families or people with disabilities
Child protection professionals
Staff in emergency accommodation
Police officers and police civilian staff
Security guards
Prison and probation staff
Military personnel
Drivers including bus drivers, taxi drivers, HGV drivers and delivery staff
Postmen and postwomen
Staff on ferries or other boat transport
Public transport inspectors
Cleaning and maintenance staff
Waste collectors or people who work in waste processing, sewage processing centres or water treatment works
Anyone employed in food retail including pâtissiers, bakers, butchers, greengrocers and supermarket cashiers and shelf-stackers
Tobacconists
Anyone working in the hospitality sector including staff and mangers at hotels, cafés and restaurants
Funeral home and mortuary staff
Staff at food processing plants, slaughterhouses or meat processing plants
Veterinary public health inspectors
Labour inspection officers
Anyone working in the events industry
Anyone working in a sports centre or gym
Employees of air or sea transport companies which travel to high-risk areas

The Prime Minister’s office said this concerns around 7 million people.

To prove your eligibility you can present either a professional card or a payslip detailing your job. If you have neither of these, Matignon said that a written déclaration sur l’honneur that you qualify under these rules will be sufficient.

From Monday, May 31st, vaccine slots will then be open to all over 18s, two weeks earlier than planned.

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Explained: France's exit tax

Like some other European countries, France does have an exit tax for those (French or foreign) who are leaving the country. It’s known by the English name l’Exit tax.

However, it won’t affect most people.

Only those who have been tax resident for a minimum six years of the 10 years immediately before they permanently move out of the country are liable to pay an exit tax – if, that is, they own property, titles or rights worth a minimum of €800,000, or that represent 50 percent of a company’s social profits.

If that affects you, the best advice is to seek expert individual financial advice before moving out of France for good. The relevant page on the French government’s impot.gouv.fr website says it is possible to defer payments, and some relief is available.

Because of the relatively high figures involved, this tax is irrelevant for most people. That said, however, you will still have to inform tax authorities that you are moving out of the country because you may still have income, property and capital gains taxes to pay.

Income tax

You must inform the tax office that you are moving and give them your new address so that your tax declarations can be transferred to your new address.

You are liable for tax on everything you earned in France prior to your departure as well as on any French earnings that are taxable in France under international tax treaties that you earned after your departure.

The year of your departure, you declare your previous year’s earnings as normal – declarations in spring 2024 are for earnings in 2023.

A year later, you will have to declare any earnings taxable in France from January 1st up to the date of your departure, and any French-sourced income taxable source until December 31st of the year of your departure.

If you continue to have any French-sourced income – such as from renting out a French property – you will have to declare that income annually, using the non-residents declaration form.

Property taxes

You will have property taxes to pay if you own a French property on January 1st of any given year – whether it is occupied or not.

Property tax bills come out in the autumn, but they refer to the situation on January 1st of that year, so even if you sell your property you will usually have the pay a final property tax bill the following year.

Moreover, if you receive income from property in France or have rights related to that property (such as shared ownership or stock in property companies), as well as any additional revenue connected to the property, during the year you leave France, you will be required to pay taxes on these earnings.

If any property assets in France exceed €1.3 million on January 1st of a given year, you may also have to pay the wealth tax (IFI).

READ ALSO What is France’s wealth tax and who pays it?

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Capital gains tax

If you sell your French property or share of a French property, you may be liable for capital gains tax at a rate of 19 percent. It will also be subject to social security contributions at the overall rate of 17.2 percent.

Capital gains tax varies depending on how long you have owned the property and whether it was a second home or your main residence.

READ ALSO How much capital gains tax will I have to pay if I sell my French property?

The good news is, if you move to another EU country, or any country that has a specific tax agreement with France, you may be exempt from capital gains tax for non-resident sellers on the sale of a property that was your principal residence in France.

If you move elsewhere, you may be able to claim exemption on capital gains tax up to €150,000. As always, you should seek expert financial advice.

Tell Social Security

Inform social security that you are leaving France permanently – and return your carte vitale if you have one. If you do not, you may be liable for any benefits you receive to which you are no longer entitled.

More mundane tasks involve informing utility and water companies, your internet provider, if you have one, the phone company, your insurance companies, banks – and La Poste, who will be able to forward your mail for up to 12 months, for a fee…

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