Well the day I picked to do MY French tax return. My deadline is actually tomorrow. Unlike the United States -- the other country where I file and pay taxes -- there are several tax days in France. Five years ago, the government created a method of filing on-line and, to encourage people to use it, gave you a 20 euro rebate and also extended your filing deadline. It worked so well -- what a person won't do for a tax rebate! - that last year they cancelled the rebate possibility except for those using the on-line system for the first time. But you still get the extended deadline. So this year, if you insist on mailing in a form you fill out with a pen, it had to be postmarked no later than midnight May 29th. If you live in another European country, a Mediterranean country not in Europe, North America or Africa and have to pay French taxes, you have until June 30th to deal with it -- whether you mail in your form or file on the internet. People living in all other countries get until July 15th. For those of us living in France and filing on-line there are three deadlines -- June 11th, 18th or 25th -- depending on when the kids in your area had their spring break this year. Come on! Would I lie to you. You can look it up at http://www.impots.gouv.fr/ if you read French.
Also unlike the United States, filing your return is very simple and has gotten simpler in the last few years as technology advances. Until a couple of years ago, you were sent a form with your personal information already filled in. You filled in your salary, any other income, and the amounts of any deductions in the appropriate lines but did no calculations. The French have realized for years that computers do calculations faster and more acurately than humans. To further help you, banks were required to send you a facsimile of the tax form in which the numbers corresponding to your interest or dividend payments were filled in on the correct lines. All you had to do was copy these numbers onto the corresponding lines in the real form. The no-anxiety tax return.
But, in its wisdom, the French government thought that might still be too much of a burden for the harried tax-payer. So, two or three years ago, they started sending the forms with your salary already filled in, too, though you still had to copy the interest and dividend information from your bank. This year's tax form has that information already filled in, too. If you have deductions for things like charitable contributions, child care, alimony, student loans, mortgage interest, home improvements that lower your use of non-renewable energy etc. , you DO still have to insert those numbers yourself. But for many taxpayers, filing your tax return now involves merely, read, sign and send. So you really only have to worry about meeting the deadline. I did. And I'm done.
