This is the rule: accounts held abroad must be declared to the tax authorities, on the occasion of the annual declaration of income. Including if this account is held by a nobank or a payment application established in France, such as N26, Revolut, Bunq or even Monese. In 2022, the procedure, fortunately, is simplified.
There are the headliners: N26, Revolut, Lydia, Orange Bank, Nickel, Ma French Bank… And there are the outsiders: Aumax pour Moi, Pumpkin, Bunq, Monese, CanB, OnlyOne, Helios… All have in common to offer payment services to French individual customers, thanks to a deposit account with IBAN usually linked to a bank card.
From the outside, their offers look alike. But if you look under the hood, they show big differences. Some are credit institutions in their own right (N26, Revolut, Orange Bank, Ma French Bank), others are not. Above all, the accounts offered by some are held outside France, in another European Union country.
This is the case, in particular, of:
This does not prevent them from practicing in France. Thanks to the mechanism known as european passport, a financial institution with a license issued in a country of the European Union can provide its services in all the other countries of the zone. However, these accounts are considered by the French tax authorities as accounts held abroad. They must therefore be the subject of an annual declaration, as specified in article 1649 A of the General Tax Code: natural persons (…), domiciled or established in France, are required to declare, at the same time as their declaration of income (…), the references of the accounts opened, used or closed abroad.
Otherwise, you risk a fine of 1500 euros per undeclared account, or even 10,000 euros if the account is located in a State that has not concluded an agreement with France to combat tax fraud and tax evasion.
Thus, if you held an account in one of the brands mentioned above during 2021, including if it has since been closed, you must report it on your 2022 tax return. This is not the case, however, for accounts opened in 2022, which will not have to be declared until 2023.
The good news is that if you have already declared this account by in 2021, this year you will not need to fill in his contact details again. The tax authorities confirmed this during the launch of the 2022 declaration campaign: this year, everything will be pre-filledbased on information provided in 2021.
An additional statement to complete
If, on the other hand, you opened an account in 2021 in one of the establishments above, or any other that exercises its activity from abroad, here is the procedure to follow in your online tax area.
First step: during step 3 of the declaration, the one concerning income and expenses, tick the box Accounts abroad, recovery of reductions or tax credit, in the Miscellaneous section. A new window then appears, which offers you to select an appended declaration. Choose the declaration number 3916, entitled Declaration by a resident of an account opened held, used or closed abroad or of a capitalization contract or investment of the same nature taken out outside France, then validate.
When you reach the Miscellaneous section of the declaration, tick the box 8UU.
Click on Next, select appendix 3916 on the left of the screen and complete the number of accounts to declare.
Second step: you must complete theappendix 3916. This online form has been simplified since the 2021 declaration: only the sections you have selected are presented, which makes it easier to consult.
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State your identity in part 1 then click on Bank account in part 2 (Nature of the account, contract or investment concerned by the reporting obligation).
In part 3 (Information relating to the bank account opened, held, used or closed abroad), take your bank account details and complete the following information:
- account number: the last 10 digits of your IBAN;
- Account Features: Current account;
- Opening date and, possibly, closing;
- Designation of the organization managing the account: indicate here the official name of the company, as it appears on your RIB;
- Address of the organization managing the account: you will also find it on the RIB.
To help you with the declaration of your account, some players offer user manuals. This is the case of N26of Revolutof Bunq or even of Helios.
Finally, in part 5 (Use of the account opened, held, used or closed abroad), all you have to do is specify whether it is an account for personal use exclusively, professional use exclusively or mixed personal and professional use.
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The PayPal Exception
Like N26 or Revolut accounts, PayPal accounts are held abroad, more precisely in Luxembourg. However, given the number of taxpayers using their PayPal account not to deposit money but as an alternative online payment method to the card, the administration has planned since 2014 a declaration exemption for accounts meeting three cumulative conditions:
- have the purpose of making online payments for purchases or collections relating to the sale of goods;
- suppose the holding of another account opened in France, (…) to which it is backed;
- have been credited with an amount of annual receipts equal to or less than 10,000 euros during the reference year.