French Income Tax Simulations 2023
5th April 2023
How much French income tax might you expect to pay this year?
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Whilst income tax rates remain unchanged this year (for income earned in 2022), to take account of inflation the government have increased the income bands by 5.4%.
To illustrate the amount of income tax payable, they have provided three examples of the tax calculation - for a single person, a couple with 2 children and for a retired couple.
In all cases, the simulations are for those who are tax resident in France. The basic tax rate for non-residents (on French taxable income) is 20%.
The graphic below shows the calculation for each of these groups, assuming a net income of €40,000 for a single person, €60,000 for a couple with 2 children, and €40,000 for a retired couple.
In each case, there is a standard 10% allowance for 'expenses' to determine the taxable income.
The total income is then divided by the number of members in the household (quotient familial) before the amount of tax payable by each household 'part' is calculated.
As can be seen, the first €10,777 of income of each part has a tax rate of 0%, with the remaining tranches of income taxed at the relevant rate. The marginal tax rate for both couples is 11%.
The resulting figure for each part is then multiplied by the number of members of the household to give the gross tax payable, before deduction of the 'tax discount' (décote fiscal) for those who pay only a small amount of income tax.
In the examples, the net tax payable by the single person is €4,394, with €2,085 payable by the couple with 2 children and €930 payable by the retired couple.
Contrary to popular belief, income tax in France is very progressive, with around half the population who are not liable.
These figures do not take account of the social charges payable, notably on pension and investment income, which are assessed separately and which you can read about at Guide to Social Charges in France.
We shall be publishing more information on the amount of income tax payable at different levels of income in due course. In the meantime, you can read the figures for 2022 (for 2021 income) at French Income Tax in 2022.
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