In France, income tax (impôt sur le revenu) is assessed on the whole fiscal household (foyer fiscal) and, for residents, on worldwide income. Every spring you file a return (déclaration des revenus) covering the previous calendar year, using form 2042 and any schedules that match your income. For someone who has just moved to France, this is often the first serious contact with the tax administration — and the vocabulary, forms and deadlines are entirely in French.

FiscoExpat exists to remove that friction. You complete a guided intake in English, upload the supporting documents through a secure form, and we structure everything into a clean file. From there, Sacha Juglet, expert-comptable, and the ORAVIA team review your situation, confirm the scope and, once you accept the mission letter, prepare and file your return. The platform never files automatically or gives personalised advice on its own — a qualified accountant always takes over.

What a French income tax return actually covers

A French return is not just about salary. The foyer fiscal groups spouses or PACS partners and dependent children, and the tax is calculated on the household's combined income divided into parts (the quotient familial). Depending on your profile, several categories of income may each need to be reported, and every category has its own logic and schedule.

  • Salaries, wages and pensions (traitements, salaires et pensions)
  • Self-employed income (BIC / BNC, micro or actual regime)
  • French and foreign rental income (revenus fonciers)
  • Investment income, dividends and capital gains
  • Foreign-source income covered by a tax treaty

When you are required to file

You are generally a French tax resident if your main home or the centre of your economic interests is in France, or if you spend most of the year there. Residents report worldwide income; non-residents report only French-source income. The year you arrive is usually split, and even a low or nil income can require a return to register you in the system. Filing is annual and online, with deadlines staggered by département across May and June. You can check the official criteria on impots.gouv.fr.

  • Main home or 183-day presence in France
  • Centre of economic interests in France
  • First-year arrival with a split-year return
  • Deadlines staggered by département (May–June)

How FiscoExpat prepares your file

Instead of guessing which boxes to tick, you answer plain-English questions about your household, your move, your income and your documents. We turn those answers into a structured summary an accountant can act on immediately — no back-and-forth translating terms or chasing missing pieces before the work can even start.

  • Guided intake in English
  • Secure document upload
  • Structured summary for the accountant
  • Mission letter and Stripe payment through ORAVIA

What the accounting mission includes

Once ORAVIA accepts your file, the mission covers the actual preparation and filing of your return: selecting the right forms, checking the deductions and tax credits you are entitled to, applying any treaty relief, and submitting the declaration. You keep a single English-speaking point of contact throughout.

  • Preparation of form 2042 and related schedules
  • Review of eligible deductions and tax credits
  • Application of double-tax treaty relief where relevant
  • Filing and confirmation