With tax season starting on April 9th, there’s a new system for couples making joint declarations.
Every year, French tax declaration season opens in the spring, and almost every year something changes – this year, the major change is for married couples or those in civil partnerships (pacsés).
“To ensure that tax is allocated according to each person’s income, the individualised rate will now apply by default from September 2025” states French tax service impots.gouv.fr.
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So what does that mean? It’s about whether each person is charged an income tax rate based on their own earnings, or the joint earnings as a couple.
From this year, each member of the couple will be subject to a rate corresponding to their own income – le taux individualisé (the individualised rate) – unless they choose “otherwise” in their tax returns (option contraire de leur part dans les déclarations de revenus).
This will mainly affect couples who have a significant difference in their individual incomes.
The government provides an example of a couple with unequal incomes:
Julia earns €1,600 a month while Karim earns €3,500 a month. Their net taxable income, after a 10 percent allowance, amounts to €55,080 a year, resulting in a total tax bill of €3,574.
Before the reform, the household rate applied equally, at 5.8 percent. Julia therefore paid €93 a month and Karim €203.
With the individualised rate, the breakdown changes. Julia is then taxed at 0.4 percent, or €6 a month, whilst Karim has a rate of 8.3 percent, or €290 a month. The total amount of tax that the couple pay between them, however, remains unchanged.
In other words, “those on the lowest wages will pay less, and those on the highest will pay more,” said economist Henri Sterdyniak in an interview with French media Midi Libre.
The individualised rate is “attractive” for couples who have “very different salaries” and “separate bank accounts”, added Sterdyniak.
For the payment, a single tax notice is sent in the couple’s name. Either one can make the payment.
Those who prefer to stick to the old system can choose to do so, but will have to specify this on their 2026 declaration, choosing option contraire de leur part dans les déclarations de revenus.
If you have recently married or entered into a civil partnership, you have 60 days to notify the tax authorities of your new situation via the Gérer mon prélèvement à la source service (manage my income tax deducted at source) in your Finances Publiques account on the impots.gouv.fr website. The same applies if you have divorced.
Your rate will be applied immediately. The information will be included in your tax return for the year of the marriage or civil partnership.
EXPLAINED: Should you do a joint or single tax declaration in France?
