No, of course, the taxes do not give a gift! And yet, when the Public Treasury handles the rounding, it is most often in your favor.
1 Why the taxman does not know the comma
Have you ever tried to enter an amount with numbers following a comma on your tax return? Wasted effort! And for good reason, the rule is spelled out in the General Tax Code (1): the tax and all the different elements necessary for its calculation are round to the nearest euro. The objective is obviously not to complicate the already complex tax calculations. And this rule applies to the amount of the tax but also the allowances, reductions, credits, discounts…
Is this rounding your advantage? Not especially, the impact is neutral since the General Tax Code also specifies that the fraction of a euro equal to 0.50 is counted as 1. In short, schematically, if your tax came to 151.73 euros, you would pay 152 euros. And 151 euros if the purely mathematical result was 151.43.
2 When the taxman wipes your slate clean
Mrs. D., you owe us… 55 euros in tax, in 2023, on 2022 income? Come on, gift, we erase the debt! And you Mr. G., 63 euros… come on, you pay! A 100% fictional scenario. The Directorate General of Public Finances (DGFiP) obviously never addresses you in these terms. But the end is the same.
Again, the rule is in the law: the limit is 61euros! If your tax payable (the final annual tax following the declaration, excluding deduction at source) is less than 61 euros, the tax authorities do not claim anything from you. If the amount reaches or exceeds 61 euros, the DGFiP claims its d. This rounding rule, which concerns low-taxed households, is very clearly in your favour, if you are obviously concerned.
Important detail, this amount of 61 euros (recovery threshold in tax jargon) applies to annual tax: in other words the 2023 tax to be paid on 2022 income. excluding withholding tax. A tax balance of a few euros supplementing a deduction at source exceeding these 61 euros during 2023 is therefore not affected by this tax gesture.
Taxed 50euros ≠ be non-taxable
Attention, it is not because the taxman exempts you from the payment of a tax of a few tens of euros that he completely erases the slate. This threshold of 61 euros is valid before allocating any tax credit (but after any reductions) as confirmed by the DGFiP MoneyVox.
An example. Mrs. H. is announced an annual tax 2023 (before credits) of 50 euros. Good news: thanks to the threshold of 61 euros, the Public Treasury does not claim anything from him. The DGFiP also announces a tax credit of 40 euros. Quiz: Will Mrs. H. receive 40 euros or nothing at all? Answer: 0. The taxman does not forget the 50 euros of annual tax. The credit reduces the annual tax to 10 euros… which are therefore not claimed.
Ultimate calculation: in this same situation, if ever Mrs. H. benefited from a credit of 70 euros, then she would receive 20 euros from the Public Treasury.
The end-of-declaration calculation puzzle
Another threshold 12euros
Another rule, always for taxpayers on the edge of tax. You are above the threshold of 61 euros, but you benefit from a tax credit. In this very particular case, the tax authorities demand their departure from 12 euros.
Last example. Mr. U. must pay 90 euros in 2023 on his 2022 income. He benefits from a tax credit of 70 euros. He will therefore have to pay 20 euros.
3 When the taxman is careful not to reimburse you
Scandal? For some, the answer will obviously be yes. If the Public Treasury must refund you less than 8 euros (2)following complex tax calculations, he won’t refund you anything… This rule of non-reimbursement for any sum less than 8 euros is valid for all taxes or tax debts, therefore income tax but also housing tax or property tax, for example.
This rounded off, of 8 euros, is obviously in your favor. Faced with its detractors, the tax administration will easily recall (as explained above) that it wipes the slate clean up to 61 euros, when it comes to claiming tax.
In the end, the tax rounding rules are therefore rather in favor of taxpayers. One question remains: why choose thresholds of 8, 12 or 61 euros (this last threshold of 61 euros corresponded at one time to the cost of collecting taxes) and not 5, 10 and 100 euros? That’s another debate.
Income tax: 2023 filing deadlines
(1) Articles 193 and 1657.
(2) Article 1965 L of the General Tax Code: Relief or refunds of all taxes or tax receivables for an amount less than 8 are not made.