Step 1: If you have paid French taxes before, you can expect to receive Form 2042 in the mail. If not, you can obtain the form at your local tax office  or online(link is external). Form 2042 will include pre-printed information. If it is incorrect, you should cross out the erroneous figures and write the correct ones.

Step 2: File your tax return online here(link is external). Exact deadlines vary according to location. Late submissions incur a fine amounting to 10% of your tax bill. You do not need to pay any amount when you do this.

Married couples are required to file their income jointly. Single, divorced, and widowed taxpayers are also required to file jointly with their dependent children (under 21 years of age or less than 25 years of age and are students).

Non-residents need to file an income tax return if their employment income reaches the 20% tax bracket.

Step 3: Once the French tax authorities have received your declaration, they will calculate your tax and send you a bill (avis d’imposition), usually around mid-late August. You may even receive the bill during November or December if it is your first time filing taxes.

Step 4: Make payments here, through a SEPA bank account.

Once you are in the system, the French tax authorities will use the previous year’s income as a basis to calculate the following year’s taxes. If 2016 was the first year you filed, you will be paying your 2017 French tax liability on the basis of your 2016 income.

Tax is generally paid in 3 instalments on 15 February, 15 May, and 15 September, but you can also put in place a monthly withholding tax arrangement via an express request at your local tax office or by going online.

You may also opt, before October, to make 10 equal monthly payments by bank transfer, beginning in January of the follow year, totalling the full amount of previous year’s income tax liability, and any additional tax is payable when assessed. Any excess payment is automatically refunded.