Notice to latecomers. The deadline for completing your 2024 tax return is getting dangerously close for some households. Indeed, residents of departments ranging from numbers 1 (Ain) to 19 (Corrèze), as well as non-residents in France, have until Thursday May 23 at 11:59 p.m. to complete their online declaration, relating to their income from the year 2023, on their particular space on impots.gouv.fr.
For households still on paper, the deadline has already passed: they only had until Tuesday May 21 at 11:59 p.m., postmarked as proof. As a reminder, since 2019, all French people have been required to declare their income online. Except in two cases: if your main residence is not equipped with Internet access, or if you are not able to make your declaration online. If this is your case, “you can obtain the declaration form (printed 2042) either from your Personal Tax Service or on the site www.impots.gouv.fr”, indicates the tax site. “After having completed and signed it, you must send it to the same personal tax service before midnight on Tuesday, May 21, 2024,” he adds.
Residents of other French departments have a little more time on their hands. In departments numbers 20 to 54, as well as in Corsica, the deadline is May 30 at 11:59 p.m. It will be June 6 at 11:59 p.m. for departments numbers 55 to 95, as well as for overseas departments.
If you let the deadline slip, beware of backlash. Your tax will then be increased. Increase which can range from 10% in the absence of formal notice to 20% “in the event of late filing of the declaration within 30 days following the formal notice”, and even up to 40% “when the declaration is not has not been filed within 30 days following receipt of a formal notice,” specifies Bercy on its site. Added to this are late payment interest, equivalent to 0.2% of the tax due per month of delay. “This interest applies until the last day of the month in which the tax return is filed,” indicates the Ministry of the Economy.
If you have completed your declaration correctly but have just noticed an error or oversight, don’t panic: you can modify it at any time until the declaration deadline for your department of residence. If you let this date pass, an online correction service will be open from July 31 to December 4 inclusive.