French households can start declaring their income for 2021 from Thursday 7 April. Those who cannot and still do not file a paper declaration have until midnight on 19 May to return it. For those who declare their income online, the deadline is May 24 to June 8, depending on their department of residence.
Tax returns are sent between July 25 and August 5 to taxpayers who declare their income online, and between July 29 and August 31 to those who have filed paper returns.
The director-general of public finances, Jérôme Fournel, was pleased on Thursday that 87.3% of tax households filed their latest tax returns online or automatically. “In 2019 we had an internet reporting rate of about 68%”he said during a press conference at the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
In 2021, France had 23.1 million online declarants, 103,000 more than the year before. More than eleven million users have resorted to automatic reporting.
Odometer, tax-free premiums… the novelties of this year
Certain measures taken in the past year entail some changes to this statement. One of the most important innovations concerns the kilometer scale, with which taxable households can deduct part of their fuel costs as professional expenses.
Due to the rising prices at the pump, the government has decided to increase this scale by 10%, a measure of concern “the heart of the middle class”, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. This concerns 4.3 million households that declare their actual costs, 2.5 million of which are actually taxed.
In addition, the tax-free purchasing power bonus, the so-called Macron bonus, has been extended in 2021. It is exempt from tax up to a limit of 1,000 euros for each employee who earns less than three times the minimum wage (gross), and up to 2,000 euros for companies with fewer than 50 employees that have entered into a profit-sharing or promotion agreement for so-called “second-line” professions (ie professionals, excluding caregivers, who continued to work on site during childbirth). The €100 inflation bonus that millions of households will receive from December 2021 is not subject to income tax.
The government has also extended the increase to 75% of the amount of the tax credit donation granted for a donation to an association that helps the most deprived. This increase also applies to donations to religious associations.
New tax credits are appearing: 30% for a first subscription to the information press, or even 75% (up to a limit of 300 euros) for the installation of an electric vehicle charging system in a home.
The tax credit rate for an investment in SMEs will be increased from 18% to 25% for investments made from 9 May to 31 December 2021.
Finally, in recent years “regularly, people who declared children did not ask for the scholarships to which they are entitled”, commented Jérôme Fournel on Thursday. To remedy this, users whose tax household includes one or more children who attend secondary or secondary school can check their eligibility at the end of their online return using a simulator.
