News Digest: Tax Return Deadlines & New UK-France Flight Routes

Two of France’s 2023 tax deadlines have now already passed, including all paper returns (submitted by those filling out their tax return for the first time in France) and returns from residents living in departements 1-19. This week, it’s the second of the three deadlines for income tax returns submitted online, so if you live in or file your taxes in French departements 20-54, you will have until this Thursday, June 1^st, to submit your tax declaration online.

If you still need to fill in your tax return, we’ve put together a series of handy guides to help you along the way, which we’ll be continuing over the next couple of weeks. Be sure to check out our 2023 French Tax Calendar for the final deadlines, which vary depending on the French department in which you live. Steep fines can apply in the case of a missed deadline – here’s what happens if you file your French tax return late.

Good news for French property owners and travellers from the Midlands, North West, and South East regions of the UK – low-cost airline EasyJet has just announced four new flight routes from Birmingham, Manchester, and Southend airports.

Starting from October 2023, EasyJet will fly daily from Birmingham to Paris’ Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport and three times a week (Mondays, Fridays & Saturdays) to Lyon airport. These flight routes will run all year round.

In December 2023, a new weekly flight (Sundays) will also connect Manchester and Grenoble, ideal for ski season visitors. Southend airport will also start flying to Paris’ Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, providing travellers in southeast England a direct link to the French capital.

A word of warning from one of our UK readers concerning the placement of Crit’Air stickers – the emission-rating vignettes required for driving in some French cities (read more about the requirements here). We’ve heard from some UK drivers that there have been issues regarding the placement of the Crit’Air stickers on their windscreens.

The stickers must, under French regulations, be placed on the bottom right-hand corner of the windscreen and clearly visible to roadside cameras. However, for UK right-hand drive cars, this is the driver’s side, and on some vehicle models, it’s caused some problems with obscuring the driver’s field of vision. MOT regulations in the UK state that a 290mm vertical band (Zone A) centred on the steering wheel must be clear of obstructions (shown on the photo below, so make sure that you place your Crit’Air sticker outside of this zone.

Thanks to FE reader John for bringing our attention to this, and if any other readers have any similar tips or warnings, do let us know – you can get in touch with me at [email protected]

If you live in France or have relatives in France, don’t forget that this Sunday, June 4th, is the Fête des Mères or Mother’s Day in France. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums out there!