In 2023, did you have an account with a foreign establishment such as Revolut, N26 or even Bunq? Are you wondering if you should mention it in your 2024 tax return? MoneyVox details the accounts to declare, and all the steps to do so.
They are commonly called nobanks. Sometimes in an abusive manner, since not all of them are banks in their own right. Nevertheless, over the past ten years, the number of players offering payment applications with accounts and bank cards has increased. And not all of them are French. Among the best-known brands in France, Revolut is from the United Kingdom, but has a banking license issued by Lithuania; N26 is based in Berlin, Germany; bunq is Dutch; while Wise or Monese are registered in Belgium…
This does not prevent them from practicing in France. Thanks to the so-called European passport mechanism, a financial institution with an authorization issued in one country of the European Union can provide its services in all other countries in the area. However, these accounts are considered by the French tax authorities as accounts held abroadfrom the moment they do not benefit from a Local IBANthat is to say starting with FR.
Does your payment account ID start with DE, BE or LT? It must be the subject of a annual declarationas 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 income declaration (…), the references to accounts opened, used or closed abroad.
Clearly, if you held an account with a non-local IBAN in 2023, you must declare its existence to the tax authorities, even if it was closed during the year. Otherwise, you risk fine of 1500 euros per undeclared accountor even 10,000 euros if the account is located in a state which has not concluded an agreement with France to combat tax fraud and evasion.
Where the matter becomes complicated is that some of these foreign nobanks now offer accounts with local IBAN, starting with FR. They even suggested that their clients transform their accounts formerly denominated in LT or DE into accounts in FR. This is the case for the two main ones, Revolut, which claims 3 million accounts in France, and N26 (2.5 million). So, should we still declare them? We are trying to take stock.
Revolut: no need to declare (with rare exceptions)
Originally from the United Kingdom, Revolut obtained credit establishment approval in Lithuania in 2018, which allowed it to continue offering its services in the countries of the European Union, despite Brexit. After this date, the accounts held by Revolut’s French customers were therefore Lithuanian accounts, denominated in LT, and logically considered foreign by the tax administration.
This is no longer the case since May 18, 2022. Since this date, Revolut has a French branch, Revolut France, approved by the ACPR. This authorizes you to open payment accounts with a French IBAN, starting with FR. But also transform the IBAN of existing accounts, to change them from LT FR.
Result: if you have opened a Revolut account in 2023, reference year of the current declaration, it is natively in FR, and you therefore do not declare it. Same thing if your Revolut account is older, but its IBAN changed from LT FR before January 1, 2023.
This remains the case of accounts for which the transition from LT to FR has taken place after January 1, 2023. There, you will have to declare it one last time, before being at peace next year. This scenario concerns a minority of Revolut customers, without specifying what proportion. Today, only 1% of Revolut customers still have an LT IBAN, but there were more in January 2023…
Don’t know when your account changed from LT FR? If you are used to archiving your emails, try a search: at the time of the migration, Revolut sent you a message with the word Welcome to Revolut France!. Did you delete it? In this case, all you have to do is wait. Asked about the subject, Revolut explained to us that it should directly contact concerned customers shortly to help them with their declaration.
N26: closure of account DE declare
Like Revolut, N26, a German bank, now distributes IBANs in FR. This is the case for new customers since June 2023. If your account was opened after this dateyou do not need to declare it.
Is your account older? It was therefore natively denominated in DE (for Germany, Germany) and you already had to declare it last year. Since June 2023, N26 has invited you to obtain a French IBAN. If you accepted this invitation, you now have an account in FR.
Regarding his statement, it follows two scenarios.
- You have accepted the transition from DE to FR in 2023: in this case, you must indicate in your declaration that the account in DE has been closed;
- You have accepted the transition in 2024, or you have not accepted the transition: you must declare the existence of the foreign account, as in previous years.
Please note that the above information also applies to accounts opened at Helios the accounts, formerly denominated in DE, have switched to the French IBAN since September 15, 2023.
An additional declaration to complete
Do you still have to declare your Revolut or N26 accounts? Do you have a Wise, bunq or Monese account? Here is a reminder of the procedure to follow to declare it.
Good news: if you already declared your account last year, you will not have no need this year to fill in your contact details again. If your account was closed in 2023, you will only need to modify the form to report this.
If it is a first statementthis is how it works in your online tax space.
First step: during step 3 of the declaration, that which concerns income and expenses, check the box Accounts abroad, resumption of tax reductions or credits, in the Miscellaneous section. A new window then appears, which asks you to select an additional declaration. Choose the declaration numbered 3916, entitled Declaration by a resident of an open account 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, check the box 8UU.
Click Next, select annex 3916 on the left of the screen and enter the number of accounts to declare.
Second step: you must complete theannex 3916. This online form has been simplified since the 2021 declaration: only the sections you have selected are present, which makes consultation easier.
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), have your account RIB ready and complete the following information:
- Account number: the last 10 digits of your IBAN;
- Account Features: Current account;
- Opening date and, possibly, closure;
- Designation of the organization managing the account: indicate here the official name of the company, as it appears on your RIB;
- Address of the account managing organization: you will also find it on the RIB.
To help you declare your account, some players offer manuals. This is the case of N26of Bunq (in English) or even 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.
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 means of online payment to the card, the administration has provided since 2014 an exemption from declaration for accounts meeting three cumulative conditions:
- have the purpose of making online payments for purchases or collections relating to sales of goods;
- assume the holding of another account opened in France, (…) to which it is backed;
- have been credited with a sum of annual collections equal to or less than 10,000 euros during the reference year.