A taxpayer can request the application of the progressive scale of income tax if it is more favorable to him than the flat tax, even after the income declaration. But for all that, can the latter, in the event of an error, go back and change the scale to the flat tax? The tax authorities have just given their answer.
Do you know box 2OP of the income tax return? This box aims to make you waive, if necessary, the flat tax, a single tax rate on interest and other savings gains (12.8% income tax + 17.2% social security contributions).
A tax rate of 12.8% is very advantageous for highly taxed households… but disadvantageous if you pay no tax. However, in principle, all taxpayers are subject to the flat tax of 12.8%. This is also deducted at source by financial organizations (bank, insurance, etc.) before you even receive your interest.
Income declaration: the magic box that reduces your taxes
If it is in your interest to avoid the flat tax, and opt for the classic scale, i.e. 0% for non-taxable persons, it is necessary to check the 2OP box of the annual income declaration. For 2024, the online declaration of 2023 income can be made from tomorrow, Thursday.
Following the implementation of the flat tax in 2018, more than 8 million tax households lost money by forgetting to waive it in favor of barme taxation. For more than 1.6 million households, the income tax overpayment reached or even exceeded 50 euros!
From, the tax authorities have set up an alert for online declaration. Moreover, if you had already checked the 2OP box last year, it will automatically be pre-checked for 2024. A message will remind you of this.
And if your income has increased and you now have an interest in taking advantage of the flat tax rather than the 2OP box, the DGFiP will alert you at the end of the online declaration.
Claim the option on the scale a posteriori? Yes
Better yet, if a taxpayer forgot to activate box 2OP when filing their income tax return, they can file a complaint with the tax authorities later.
Within the framework of the right to error, temperance measures have been adopted and taxpayers who have not opted for taxation on the scale at the time of their income declaration can do so by making a request retrospectively, without penalty.頻, indicates Bercy in its response published on October 24 to Official newspaper of the National Assembly, following a written question from the Renaissance deputy for Haut-Rhin, Brigitte Klinkert.
Give up the option to the bar you have chosen? No
Conversely, can a taxpayer ask the tax authorities to return to flat tax after having wrongly chosen scale taxation to reduce their tax bill? Given the irrevocable nature of this option, the taxpayer can no longer renounce it, during the audit or within the claim period, explains the Minister of Public Accounts in a response consulted by The echoes. A solution confirmed by the jurisprudence of the Council of State in a decision of April 5.
What you lost by not checking the magic 2OP box