No, of course, taxes are no gift! And yet, when the Public Treasury uses rounding, it is most often in your favor.
1 Why the tax authorities don’t know the comma
Have you ever tried to enter an amount with numbers behind a comma on your income tax return? Wasted effort! And for good reason, the rule is written in full in the General Tax Code (1): the tax and all the different elements necessary for its calculation are rounded to the nearest euro. The objective is obviously not to complicate the already complex tax calculations. And this rule applies to the amount of tax but also to allowances, reductions, credits, discounts, etc.
Is this rounding your advantage? Not particularly, 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 2024, on 2023 income? Come on, gift, let’s wipe out the debt! And you, Mr. G., 63 euros… come on, you pay! A 100% fictional scenario. The General Directorate of Public Finances (DGFiP) obviously never addresses you in these terms. But the purpose is the same.
Here again, the rule appears in the law: the limit is 61 euros! If your tax payable (the final annual tax following the declaration, excluding withholding at source) is less than 61 euros, the tax authorities will not charge you anything. If the amount reaches or exceeds 61 euros, the DGFiP demands its d. This rounding rule, which concerns low-taxed households, is very clearly in your favor, if you are obviously concerned.
Important clarification, this amount of 61 euros (recovery threshold in tax jargon) is valid for the annual tax: in other words the 2024 tax payable on 2023 income. This means excluding deduction at source. A tax balance of a few euros supplementing a withholding tax exceeding these 61 euros in 2024 is therefore not affected by this tax gesture.
Taxes: how much did you have to earn in 2023 to pay nothing in 2024?
Taxed 50euros ≠ be non-taxable
Be careful, just because the tax authorities exempt you from paying a tax of a few dozen euros does not mean that they completely wipe the slate clean. This threshold of 61 euros is valid before deduction of any tax credit (but after possible reductions) as confirmed by the DGFiP MoneyVox.
An example. Mrs. H. is announced an annual tax for 2024 (before credits) of 50 euros. Good news: thanks to the threshold of 61 euros, the Public Treasury does not demand anything from it. The DGFiP also announces a tax credit of 40 euros. Quiz: Will Mrs. H. receive 40 euros or nothing at all? Answer: 0. The tax authorities do not forget the 50 euros annual tax. The credit reduces the annual tax to 10 euros… which are therefore not claimed.
Final calculation: in this same situation, if Mrs. H. ever benefited from a credit of 70 euros, then she would receive 20 euros from the Public Treasury.
The puzzle of calculating the end of the declaration
Another threshold 12 euros
Another rule, still for taxpayers on the tax edge. You are above the threshold of 61 euros, but you benefit from a tax credit. In this very particular case, the tax authorities demand a starting price of 12 euros.
Last example. Mr. U. must pay 90 euros in 2024 on his 2023 income. He benefits from a tax credit of 70 euros. He will therefore have to pay 20 euros.
3 When the tax authorities refuse to reimburse you
Scandal? For some, the answer will obviously be yes. If the Public Treasury must return less than 8 euros to you (2)following complex tax calculations, he won’t reimburse you for anything… This rule of non-reimbursement for any sum less than 8 euros applies to all taxes or tax debts, therefore income tax but also housing tax or property tax, for example.
This rounding of 8 euros is obviously to your disadvantage. Faced with its detractors, the tax administration will easily point out (as explained above) that it wipes the slate clean up to 61 euros, when it comes to claiming tax.
Ultimately, the tax rounding rules are therefore rather in favor of taxpayers. One question remains: why choose thresholds of 8, 12 or 61 euros (the latter threshold of 61 euros once corresponded to the cost of collecting tax) and not 5, 10 and 100 euros? That’s another debate.
Income tax 2024 *
Thursday May 23, 2024 11:59 p.m.
Thursday May 30, 2024 11:59 p.m.
Thursday June 6, 2024 11:59 p.m.
Hover over a department to view the tax filing deadline.
*Declaration deadlines 2024 2023 revenue
(1) Articles 193 and 1657.
(2) Article 1965 L of the General Tax Code: Reductions or refunds of any taxes or tax debts of an amount less than 8 are not made.