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TAXES

How much income tax can you expect to pay in France?

It's no secret that workers in France are highly taxed, but as the French government reveals the new levels for taxation at source, we look into how much you can expect to pay.

Published: 1 September 2021 09:50 CEST
How much income tax can you expect to pay in France?
Don't expect your French tax bill to be small. Photo: Philippe Huguen/AFP

If you are an employee, your income tax will be deducted at source from your monthly salary as part of a pay-as-you-earn system that is relatively new in France.

The French government lays out a standard rate for deductions, at different income rates.

The rates for the next 12 months have just been published and they are;

  • Up to €10,084: 0
  • €10,085 – €25,710: 11 percent
  • €25,711 – €42,000: 30 percent

French taxes are progressive so that people earning in the higher bracket only pay a 30 percent rate on the portion of their salary over €25,711, not on their whole salary.

Here’s the example given on the French public service website, using a net income of €42,000: 

Up to €10,084: the applied rate is 0

Then from €10,085 to €25,710: the applied rate is 11 percent on €15,626  = €1,719 

Then from €25,710 to €42,000, the applied rate is 30 percent on €16,290  = €4,887 

Therefore the total annual income tax is €1,719 + €4,887 = €6,606 at an overall rate of 15.7 percent.

Family rates

However, to make things more complicated tax rates vary depending on your personal circumstances, such as whether you are married and have children.

The above is the flat rate for a single person with no children.

If this is your first year of paying tax in France you will be charged at the flat rate, but could be due money back if you are married and have children.

In order to claim this you need to register with the French tax office and declare your personal circumstances to benefit from the personalised rate.

You have two choices in how you do this – either contact the tax office now to create a tax profile, or wait until the next tax declaration time to supply more details.

The next declaration will come around in April 2022. You are not obliged to make contact with the tax office before this date, but if you don’t then you will have to wait until next year to get your new rate.

Come April, everyone who is living or working in France is obliged to fill out the annual tax declaration – here’s how that works.

Other taxes

So that’s income tax – however, if you take a look at a French payslip there are all sorts of deductions in addition to income tax.

A standard French payslip – which by the way is printed on A4 size paper because there are so many deductions from your salary – is split into two parts; impôt sur le revenue (income tax) and charges sociales (social charges).

READ ALSO How to understand your French payslip

And one of the first things you notice is that social charges – which are things like compulsory pension contributions and unemployment insurance – are usually considerably more than the income tax you are paying.

There is also a hefty column of charges patronales or part employeur (employer costs) which is the contribution that your employer has to make to things like your pension, unemployment insurance and social security costs.

Your employer may also have to pay extra costs like paying for half of your mutuelle health insurance or your transport costs.

READ ALSO The perks and benefits that French employees enjoy

Before you get too gloomy about that, however, there is the possibility that you might get some money back from the tax man since you can claim for a range of deductions including childcare costs, charity donations and even the salary of a cleaner.

Depending on the industry you work in, you could also get tax rebates as part of historic agreements through the conventions collectives (collective agreements). 

And then there is the consideration that all those French taxes fund things like France’s excellent healthcare system, generous unemployment benefits should you lose your job, and the mostly efficient train network. 

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WORKING IN FRANCE

The rules on working from home in France

Working from home is increasingly common in France and Paris residents are being urged to consider it during the Olympics - so what rules and protections are in place for employees and employers?

Published: 26 April 2024 13:03 CEST
The rules on working from home in France

The pros and cons of homeworking were thrown into sharp relief during the Covid-19 pandemic – and it seems there are more pros than cons for many employees, who avoid having to commute to work one or more times per week.

For employers, the advantages are sometimes less clear, if articles about the benefits of going into the office are accurate. However, the fashion in France seems to be for a form of hybrid working, with those workers able to do so spending part of the week in the office and the rest working remotely.

Meanwhile some people just do it as needed – for example to avoid transport disruption during a strike or during the Paris Olympics for people who work in areas close to Games venues.

If you do want to work remotely in France – or if your employer has asked you to – are as follows:

Negotiate

Private sector employees can negotiate an agreement to work remotely full- or part-time. If you ask to work from home for any number of days per week on a long-term basis, your boss has the right to refuse, but must give a reason. 

Your boss can also ask you to work from home. In normal circumstances, you can refuse and don’t have to provide a reason. However, in the event of exceptional circumstances (such as, for example, a pandemic), remote working may be imposed on employees without their agreement.

Either way, it’s considered sensible to have the agreement down in writing so that everyone knows where they stand. It also means that no one will get shouted at during any health and safety inspection.

It’s a good idea to check any conventions collectifs – collective agreements – that exist in your profession or workplace. They may well have covered remote working already, so it is well worth checking out what this covers before beginning negotiations – as well as working time, the agreements may also cover things like whether your company will buy you a special chair and whether you can put in an expenses claim for extra electricity used on your work-from-home days.

The remote-working rules for public sector workers are different and slightly more complex.

Contract conditions

Assuming you are not a self-employed contractor, you remain an employee of the company with the same rights and responsibilities you have when working in the office. But if you switch to home-working permanently, your employers must provide written conditions of your working practices.

Among these must be a protocol for working hours and workflow regulation.

Employer and employee must also agree – before you start remote working – times when your boss can contact you at home, in order to preserve your right to a private life. This will usually be during office hours, obviously. But it also means your boss can’t assume you’ll be tied to your desk permanently just because you don’t have a commute.

READ ALSO URSSAF: What is it, how it works, and how it affects you

In all other aspects, the employee is under the same obligations as if they worked in the office full-time. You must respect your employer’s instructions, working hours and rules on using office equipment or systems.

Work equipment

Speaking of which… when an employee is working from home, the employer must provide, install and maintain any necessary equipment.

If the employed remote worker uses their own equipment, the employer has to ensure it is appropriate for the job and is maintained. Be aware, self-employed contractors, such as remote-working freelances, will often be expected to have and use their own equipment.

For employees who work from home, however, setting up home-working should not entail any personal additional costs. Employers must supply and maintain equipment that you reasonably need. How that equipment is supplied – whether it’s direct from the employer, or by reimbursement of the cost of setting up a work-station at home, can be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Rules on the use of company equipment at home – including, for example, limits on personal use – will likely remain the same as those in the office, but you should get this in writing before you start any shifts at home.

READ ALSO Micro-entrepreneur: How to set up as a small business in France

Allowances and expenses

Working from home will mean that personal electricity bills rise as workers use their own electricity for lights, coffee machines/kettles and computers.

Any fixed expenses – such as stationary, phone calls, printer cartridges, for example – can be claimed back from your employer on the production of receipts.

You are also entitled to ask your employer to share some of the cost of utilities like electricity, internet and heating.

If you work in a job where you receive restaurant vouchers, these cannot be withdrawn if you switch to home-working.

Data protection

The employer has an obligation to protect any customer and company data used and processed by its employees, including remote workers, whether the worker uses the employer’s equipment or their own.

Health and safety

If you are working at home, your residence becomes your workplace for that day, with all that implies legally. For example, if you fall down your own stairs on a day you are working from home, that could count as a workplace accident and your employer could be liable.

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