News Digest: Le Pen Election Ban, Tax Deadlines Announced & April Changes

After a long-awaited trial regarding the embezzlement of European Parliament funds, Marine Le Pen and 24 other members of France’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party were found guilty yesterday. We won’t go into the full details of the case here (The Guardian and Le Monde have comprehensive coverage if you want to learn more), but essentially, Le Pen and her co-defendants were accused – and now convicted –  of creating fake jobs at the European Parliament that were paid for using EU funds. The funds, which totalled about €7 million, were instead used to fund assistants working for the RN party.

Le Pen has been sentenced to four years of jail time, with two years suspended and two years to be served at home with an electronic tag, alongside a fine of €100,000. Most importantly, she and all of the other defendants will be subject to a peine d’inéligibilité, a five-year ban on holding public office, starting immediately.

Despite having stepped down as leader of the RN party – which now has her protegé Jordan Bardella at its helm – Le Pen was still the favourite to run in the 2027 elections with hopes of succeeding current President Macron. The guilty verdict not only means that she won’t be able to stand in the elections, but it’s also a big knock to her self-proclaimed “anti-corruption” principles – in 2004, she was famously quoted as saying: “The French are sick of seeing politicians embezzling money. It’s scandalous”. However, Le Pen has called the verdict, a “political decision”, promising to appeal the ban, and there is concern that this could actually have the reverse effect of boosting support for the Far Right.

Tax season is almost upon us, and the official deadlines for filing your French tax return have finally been declared. If you are resident in France, you must, by law, file a French tax return, even if you don’t have any income to declare or aren’t liable for any taxes. Tax declarations will be open from next Thursday, April 10^th, and the deadlines are as follows:

May 20th: Postal Deadline. If it’s your first time filling in a tax return in France, you must fill in a paper form, and this deadline applies to you.

May 22rd: The first deadline for online applications applies to French nationals who are overseas residents or French residents who live in départements 1-19.

May 28th, 2025: The second deadline for online applications applies to French residents who live in départements 20-54. Note that this deadline falls on a Wednesday rather than the usual Thursday, being as Thursday May 29th is a bank holiday in France.

June 5th, 2025: The third and final deadline for online applications applies to French residents who live in départements 55-101.

Tip! To access our exclusive 2025 French Tax Guide and Masterclasses, including wealth tax, property tax, and filling in your tax return, then you can also become a FrenchEntrée Member.

A new month and a new trimestre in France always bring a few changes with it, so what’s changing in France in April?

Let’s start with the less-favourable news. Gas prices are going up, this time by an estimated 2.27% for households that have gas heating. Notaires fees in some departments are also going up from an average 4.5% to 5%, while sick leave pay will go down from an average €53 per day to €41 per day.

As always, March 31^st also marks the end of the annual winter truce or trêve d’hiver in France, which means forbids landlords from evicting tenants or utilities companies from cutting households off, even if they have not paid their rent or bills.

In better news, April also means a 1.7% bump in CAF family benefits, Parisians can enjoy extended terrace seating at bars, cafes, and restaurants until 10pm (from April through October), and, of course, the Easter school holidays are just around the corner.

Finally, a quick reminder that the UK’s new Electronic Travel Authorisation or ETA will be expanded to all EU citizens from tomorrow – April 2nd. If you’re a Brit travelling to the UK with French or non-UK citizen friends or family members, make sure that they apply for the visa waiver online prior to travelling.

Read our full guide: ETA Visa Waiver for the UK: Everything You Need to Know

If you’ve read some strange stories in the news this morning or found a paper fish mysteriously attached to your back, it can only mean one thing – it’s April Fool’s Day, better known as the poisson d’avril!

Don’t worry; everything in this News Digest is true, but you can read all about France’s unique April 1st traditions here.