If you were an apprentice in 2021, the wages you received are exempt from income tax, within the limit of the amount of the annual minimum wage. That is up to 18,760 euros for 2021.
This exemption only concerns apprentices as such, ie young people who have signed an employment contract entitled “apprenticeship contract”. Those who have signed a professionalization or qualification contract, or any other paid work-study contract, cannot take advantage of this advantage.
It does not matter, however, whether you file your own tax return or whether you are still attached to the tax household of your parents – or one of them.
No proration
The limit of 18,760 euros does not have to be prorated if you started or finished your apprenticeship during the year. If you have earned more than 18,760 euros over the year, only the fraction of the salary that exceeds this threshold must be declared, regardless of the number of months of apprenticeship.
But beware, if you have followed up with an employment contract, whether it is a fixed-term or indefinite-term contract, the wages corresponding to this period are taxable “normally”, even if you do not have not reached the limit of 18,760 euros with the salaries received during your apprenticeship period.
For example, if you have completed your apprenticeship period, for which you earned 7,800 euros until June, and then followed up with a six-month CDD for which you were paid 9,000 euros, the “first » 7,800 euros are not taxable, while the 9,000 euros earned afterwards are.
No accumulation
If, when completing your tax return, the amount pre-printed on the screen (or on your paper return) does not take into account the exemption to which you are entitled, you must correct it by entering on the line displaying boxes 1 AJ to 1 DJ, the total of your taxable wages.
Attention, as an apprentice, you cannot benefit, in addition, from the tax exemption granted to young students who work in parallel with their studies, during the school year or during the holidays.
This exemption equivalent to three times the monthly minimum wage (4,690 euros for salaries received in 2021) only applies to young people who are pursuing secondary or university studies.