Whether it is a declaration to send, a payment to make or alerts about attempted fraud, the French are used to receiving emails from the tax administration. Even if some of them sometimes go unnoticed… And this is often the case for a message sent only a few days ago to 9 million taxpayers. However, it is very important and can directly influence the income of the tax household.
This message sent to individuals’ mailboxes is in fact linked to the withholding tax and the income tax owed by the recipients. The rate that applies to them does not take into account certain elements of their income tax return. Hence the need for the taxpayers concerned to alert the tax authorities in order to anticipate the amount they will have to pay next year.
This approach concerns taxpayers who employ an employee at home, have their children looked after, benefit from personal services or even declare donations or union dues. Expenses that qualify for a tax credit or reduction. But if these tax advantages make it possible to reduce the income tax payable, or even to benefit from a balance paid by the tax authorities, they are however not included in the calculation of the withholding tax rate. Hence the establishment by the tax authorities of two payments per year, corresponding to the sums from which the taxpayer benefits in respect of his tax credits and reductions.
The principle is as follows: each year, the tax authorities make a transfer in favor of the taxpayer in mid-January which corresponds to 60% of the amount of credits and tax reductions from which they benefited the previous year. The balance is then paid during the summer based on the information provided by the taxpayer in their income tax return sent in the spring. This January advance thus makes it possible to reduce the budget of the taxpayer, who does not have to wait until the summer to benefit from the taking into account of his tax advantages.
The only thing is: the amount of these can vary from one year to the next. And if the taxpayer’s expenses qualifying for a credit or tax reduction have decreased between 2022 and 2023, then the January advance risks being larger than the amount to which the taxpayer is entitled. The latter will then have to reimburse this sum to the tax authorities at the end of the summer.
Hence the need, for these tax households, to modify certain information online on the tax website in order to adjust the amount which will be paid to them in January 2025. The email from the tax administration sent a few days ago s entitled as follows:Reductions and tax credits: how to modify your advance?” and explains to the recipients the steps to follow.
To modify the amount of the advance, simply log into your account on the tax website then access the “Manage my withholding tax“, menu “Manage your reduction and tax credit advances“. The taxpayers concerned have until December 12, 2024 to complete their procedures.
