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You are looking to reduce your income tax

Reducing my income tax

Tell what is deducted from income apart from what is taken off the tax itself — the confusion is expensive —, work out the credit for home help and for childcare, the relief for donations, and the real saving from paying into a retirement savings plan given your tax band. 7 steps, through to the boxes on the return.

Start here: Cutting your tax with credits and reductions

Understand: deduction, relief, credit — three different mechanisms

  1. Step 1 of 7
    CoursePaid individually26 min

    Cutting your tax with credits and reductions

    What separates a credit, refunded even with no tax, from a reduction that evaporates; the childcare ceiling counted per child and applied before the rate; and the two gift rates with their 20 %-of-income limit. Three modules on a household obtaining 5 064 €. All the prose is free to read; the case study and quizzes are sold.

Compute: home help, childcare, donations, retirement-plan contribution

  1. Step 2 of 7
    CalculatorFree result

    Home employment tax credit calculator

    The tax credit is 50% of personal-services expenses, retained up to €12,000 a year — raised by €1,500 per dependent child or person over 65 up to €15,000, to €15,000 (€18,000 with increases) in the first year of direct employment, and to €20,000 in case of disability.
  2. Step 3 of 7
    CalculatorFree result

    Childcare tax credit calculator

    The tax credit is 50% of childcare costs incurred outside the home, net of the allowances received, retained up to an annual ceiling per child under 6 — a reduced ceiling applies in shared custody.
  3. Step 4 of 7
    CalculatorFree result

    Charitable donation tax reduction calculator

    Donations to public-interest organisations give a tax reduction of 66% of their amount, within a limit of 20% of taxable income; donations to organisations helping people in hardship are taken at 75% up to an annual ceiling, the excess switching to 66%. Whatever exceeds the 20% limit can be carried forward over the next 5 years.
  4. Step 5 of 7
    CalculatorFree result

    PER deduction ceiling calculator

    Employee: your ceiling is 10% of the previous year's professional income (capped at 8 times that year's social security ceiling), with a minimum of 10% of that ceiling. Self-employed deducting from profit: 10% of the profit of the payment year (capped at 8 times that same year's social security ceiling), plus 15% of the portion between 1 and 8 times that ceiling, with the same minimum.

File: form 2042, then the 2042-RICI schedule of reliefs and tax credits

  1. Step 6 of 7
    FormFree30 min

    French form 2042 — income-tax return

    The annual individual return: deadlines by département, key boxes (salaries, capital, property), annexes, flat-tax vs scale option and mistakes to avoid.
  2. Step 7 of 7
    FormFree25 min

    Form 2042-RICI — tax reductions and credits

    The annex for the most common tax reductions and credits: employing a home worker (50 %, €12,000 ceiling raised), care of a child under six (50 %, €3,500 per child), aid to deduct, pre-filled Cesu expenses — and the credit computed by the tax authority, excess refunded.

The other paths

A different procedure, the same principle: the three pillars in order.

Read in French