Income tax in France 2026 – withholding at source, your first return, customs and pets

Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sources Sources & methodology →

Income tax in France comes out of your pay from the first month, yet your first return still goes on paper. Here is how the 2026 scale, withholding at source, social levies and the rules for bringing your belongings and pets work for newcomers.

Woman at a kitchen table with a laptop, calculator and paperwork — Photo: OnPoint/peopleimages.com/Adobe Stock

Income tax in France – impôt sur le revenu – is collected mainly through prélèvement à la source (withholding at source): your employer deducts it from your salary each month at a rate set by the DGFiP (the French tax administration). The first year works differently for newcomers, and several rules changed in 2026.

What changed in French income tax in 2026?

Date	Change
19 February 2026	The finance law for 2026 (Loi n° 2026-103) sets the scale; brackets indexed by 0.9 per cent
Income from 2026	Social levies on most investment income rise from 17.2 to 18.6 per cent
2025 and 2026 income	A minimum average rate of 20 per cent for the highest incomes (the CDHR)
September 2026	Withholding rates updated from the spring return, as every September
25 September to 28 December 2026	A balance above €300 on 2025 income is debited in four instalments
April 2027	The return for 2026 income opens

Source: Service-Public and the DGFiP, read 23 September 2026.

When are you tax-resident in France?

You are tax-domiciled in France if any one of these applies: your foyer (household) habitually lives here; you spend at least 183 days of the year here; your main professional activity is here; or the centre of your economic interests is here. A tax treaty with another country can override these rules.

Residents must declare every foreign bank account, digital-asset account and life-insurance contract on form 3916 with the return – an IBAN not starting with FR counts as foreign. The fine is €1,500 per undeclared account, or €10,000 in a country without an anti-evasion agreement with France.

How does income tax in France work in 2026?

Your net taxable income – salaries after a flat 10 per cent deduction for professional expenses – is divided by the shares in your quotient familial (family quotient); the scale is applied to one share and the result multiplied back. A married or PACS couple has 2 shares, a couple with one child 2.5.

Income per share (2025 income, taxed in 2026)	Rate
Up to €11,600	0 per cent
€11,601 to €29,579	11 per cent
€29,580 to €84,577	30 per cent
€84,578 to €181,917	41 per cent
Above €181,917	45 per cent

Source: Service-Public, read 23 September 2026.

Each extra half-share, for example for a child, can cut your tax by at most €1,807 (€4,262 for a single parent's share with one child in sole custody). Small bills get the décote (low-tax relief) when gross tax is at most €1,982 for a single person or €3,277 for a couple: €897 or €1,483 minus 45.25 per cent of the tax.

Take Anna, single with no children and €30,000 of net taxable income. Following Service-Public's worked example, her gross tax is €2,103.99 – an average rate of 7.01 per cent, though her top slice is taxed at 30 per cent. A single person without dependants starts paying only above about €19,300 of declared salary.

High earners pay more: a contribution exceptionnelle (exceptional contribution) of 3 or 4 per cent on reference income above €250,000 for a single person or €500,000 for a couple, plus the CDHR, which lifts their average rate to at least 20 per cent.

The impatriate regime

Recruited from abroad and not tax-domiciled in France in the previous five calendar years? Under article 155 B of the tax code, your impatriation premium can be exempt until 31 December of the eighth year after you start. If you choose, it is valued at a flat 30 per cent of net pay, with exempt pay generally capped at 50 per cent of the total, and half of certain foreign investment income and royalties is exempt too. Ask your employer or tax office to confirm your case.

How do withholding and your first tax return work?

Salaries, pensions and unemployment or sickness benefits are taxed at source. Until your first French return, you get a default rate based on your monthly salary, between 0 and 43 per cent. Married or PACS couples taxed jointly automatically get an individual rate each. Report a marriage, PACS, birth, death or divorce within 60 days in your online personal space.

In the year after you arrive, you file return no. 2042 for income from your arrival date to 31 December, with annexes such as 2047 for foreign income. Declaring in France for the first time, you have no online access: send a paper return to your tax office, then create your online account. French income from before your arrival goes on a 2042-NR.

What	Rule or 2026 date
First return	On paper; in 2026 paper returns were due on 19 May
Online, in later years	2026 deadlines by département: 21 May (01–19 and non-residents), 28 May (20–54), 4 June (55–974/976)
The big cities in 2026	Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) 21 May; Bordeaux (Gironde) 28 May; Paris and Lyon (Rhône) 4 June
Online filing compulsory	If you have internet at home and can use it; otherwise a 0.2 per cent surcharge, minimum €60

Source: the DGFiP and Service-Public, read 23 September 2026.

On salaries, the CSG (generalised social contribution) of 9.2 per cent – 6.8 points of it tax-deductible – and the CRDS (social debt contribution) of 0.5 per cent are levied on 98.25 per cent of gross pay.

On investment income received from 2026 – interest, dividends, gains on securities – social levies total 18.6 per cent; life insurance, PEL, CEL and PEP savings and rental income stay at 17.2. The prélèvement forfaitaire unique (flat tax) on gains from securities is 31.4 per cent, 12.8 of it income tax, unless you opt for the scale. If you live here but are insured in another EEA country or Switzerland, as many cross-border workers are, you pay only a 7.5 per cent solidarity levy.

What can you bring into France – belongings, cash and pets?

From another EU country, you pay nothing and face no customs formalities. From outside the EU, personal effects, furniture and your private vehicle enter duty-free when you move your main residence here, marry and settle, or come to study – if you lived outside the EU for at least a year, owned the goods for at least six months, import them within 12 months and do not sell or rent them for a year. Bring a signed, valued inventory in two copies, form cerfa n°10070, proof of your former residence and the vehicle registration document; customs issue certificate 846 A, and the car must be registered in France within one month of settling.

Alcohol, tobacco, second-home furniture, utility vehicles and professional equipment still pay duty. Cash or equivalents of €10,000 or more must be declared on entry. Customs information: 0 800 94 40 40 (free), Monday to Friday 8:30–18:00, or +33 1 72 40 78 50 from abroad.

Dogs and cats	Rule
Age	At least 15 weeks
Identification	Microchip, or a legible tattoo done before 3 July 2011
Rabies vaccination	First injection at 12 weeks or older, after identification; valid 3 weeks later
Document	EU pet passport, or an official health document from outside the EU
From most non-EU countries	Antibody test at least 30 days after vaccination and 3 months before arrival; vet check within 48 hours of travel
Banned	Category 1 attack dogs, even in transit
After arrival	Register with I-CAD, the national pet register, within 7 days via a vet (€12)

Source: Service-Public, read 23 September 2026.

What to do now

Step	What	When
1	Check the residence criteria and any tax treaty	Before you move
2	Expect the default withholding rate on your pay	Until your first return is processed
3	Report marriage, PACS, birth or divorce online	Within 60 days
4	Send paper return no. 2042, with form 3916 for each foreign account	Spring of the year after you arrive
5	Register your car and your pet	Car within 1 month; pet within 7 days
6	Ask the tax information line, 0809 401 401 (Monday to Friday 8:30–19:00), or the non-residents' office, +33 (0)1 72 95 20 42	When in doubt