French Income Tax Filing Deadlines Extended: April 2020

France’s Minister of Public Accounts Gérald Darmanin has announced that he is postponing the opening of income tax returns from April 9 to April 20 and that he was suspending tax controls, particularly in sectors most affected by the coronavirus crisis.

“I took the decision, after having informed the Prime Minister, to postpone the tax return by one week,” he said on TF1. “We were due to declare incomes from 9 April 2020. We will now do so from 20 April,” he said.

Mr Darmanin referred taxpayers to the online tax site to find out how much time they have to complete their return according to their region, and also indicated that people who file their return on paper could now file it up to 12 June, one month later than initially planned.

New deadlines

Here are the online declaration deadlines, by region:

1st zone: June 4, 2020 for departments 01 to 19 as well as taxpayers not resident in France;
2nd zone: 8 June 2020 departments 20 to 54 (including the two departments of Corsica);
3rd zone: 11 June 2020 departments 55 to 974/976.

For paper declarations

If you are not able to file your return online (for example, if you do not have Internet access), you must use a paper return.

You can get the declaration form (form 2042) either from your Public Finance Centre (Personal Income Tax Department) or from www.impots.gouv.fr

Once you have completed and signed it, you must send it to the same Personal Tax Department before midnight on June 12, 2020 (a month later than previously advertised).

As of 2020, no more paper pre-filled returns will be sent by post to users who declared their income online last year (2018 tax return, in spring 2019).

Automatic declaration

From 2020 the first batch of the new déclaration automatique will take effect for some people who last year were taxed on a pre-filled income statement and did not notify of any changes to their status in 2019. These contributors will receive a summary via email outlining known income, with no further action needed if there is nothing to add or modify.

---

The information in this article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute legal, professional or financial advice. We encourage you seek the advice of a relevant professional before acting on any of this information. Any hyperlinks to other resources are provided as sources and assistance and are not intended as an endorsement.

If you find this information useful sign up for our free newsletter, French Property, Tax & Law and let us keep you up-to-date with the latest news, tips and advice.