🇫🇷 France · Tax System
Corporate tax, VAT/GST, personal income tax, capital gains, and filing obligations.
Quick answer
France taxes personal income progressively with pay-as-you-earn withholding, adds social levies, and applies VAT (TVA) to most goods and services; corporate tax applies to companies. Tax residents are taxed on worldwide income.
Taxes are administered by the Direction générale des Finances publiques (DGFiP) via impots.gouv.fr. Companies are subject to corporate income tax (impôt sur les sociétés), and VAT (TVA) applies to most goods and services.
- The standard corporate income tax rate is 25%, with a reduced rate available for qualifying small companies on part of their profit.
- The standard VAT rate is 20%, with reduced rates of 10%, 5.5% and 2.1% for specific categories.
- Most filing and payment is done online through the company's dedicated space on impots.gouv.fr.
Step-by-step
- 1
Determine your tax residency
You are generally French tax-resident if your home, main stay or economic activity is in France; residents are taxed on worldwide income.
- 2
Register with the tax authorities
Register with the tax administration (impots.gouv.fr) and obtain a tax number (numéro fiscal) for your online account.
- 3
Understand the taxes that apply
Identify income tax (impôt sur le revenu), social levies (prélèvements sociaux), VAT (TVA) for businesses, and local taxes.
- 4
Note pay-as-you-earn withholding
Income tax is withheld at source (prélèvement à la source) on salaries and pensions, adjusted through your online account.
- 5
File your annual return
File the annual income declaration (déclaration de revenus) in spring for the previous year, even with withholding, to reconcile your tax.
- 6
Pay, keep records and get advice
Pay or receive any adjustment, keep records, and get advice for cross-border income.
Checklist
- Tax residency determined (home/main stay/economic activity)
- Tax number (numéro fiscal) + online account
- Applicable taxes identified (income tax, social levies, VAT, local taxes)
- Pay-as-you-earn (prélèvement à la source) set up
- Annual declaration (déclaration de revenus) filed in spring
- Adjustment paid/received
- Records kept
- Advice for cross-border income
Official authorities
- impots.gouv.fr (DGFiP)
Tax authority — corporate tax, VAT, and online filing.
- service-public.fr — Entreprendre
Official overview of business taxes and obligations.
Frequently asked questions
Is income tax withheld at source in France?
Yes — France uses a pay-as-you-earn system (prélèvement à la source), with a final reconciliation via the annual return.
Am I a French tax resident?
Residency depends on your home, main stay or economic activity being in France; residents are taxed on worldwide income.
What are social levies?
Social contributions (CSG/CRDS) apply on top of income tax to most income, funding social protection.
Official-information aggregation, not legal advice. Always verify on the authority's own site.
Government portals
- Government of France — Office of the French Prime Minister — government policies, ministers, and key legislation
- France Public Services (Service-Public) — France's unified administrative services — residence permits, taxes, social security, civil records
- French General Tax Directorate (DGFiP) — French income tax, VAT, wealth tax filing; tax residency determination; French tax number (NIF) application