what you need to know to complete your first income tax return

The end of the reporting period is approaching. If the deadline has already passed for the paper declaration and for the online declarations in departments 01 to 19, there are a few days left to declare online in the other departments, until 1^er or until June 8, as the case may be.

Is it your first time? Above all, avoid doing it at the last minute because you will not necessarily immediately find the answers to the questions you will ask yourself when faced with all these boxes to be filled.

When should you file your first declaration?

In principle, from the year following that of your 18th birthday. You can nevertheless – but it is not compulsory – continue to be attached to your parents’ tax household until the year you turn 22, or that of your 26 years if you are a student, even if you are no longer living. at their home.

The connection is not always the best solution, however, even if you are still a student and have no other taxable income than the help provided by your parents: you may have an interest in filing your own declaration to benefit from certain social benefits paid under conditions of means and / or exemption from housing tax, if you have your own accommodation.

How to access your online space?

If you were attached to your parents’ tax household in 2020, you must have received a letter from the tax administration with your login details (tax number and electronic declarant number) and a flashcode to log in on your smartphone. If you can no longer find it, you can connect using France Connect (with the codes you use on the Health Insurance, La Poste, etc.) site: you will be automatically recognized.

Last possibility: request your tax number online by clicking on the section ” Contact “ at the bottom of the site’s home page Impots.gouv.fr then on “You are particular” “Your request concerns access to your particular space” and “I don’t have a tax number”.

To create your account, you will need to choose a password and enter a reference tax income equal to “0”. You will then be able to access the online declaration service.

How do you declare your wages, including summer jobs?

In principle, you must declare all income received in 2020: salaries, alimony paid by your parents, professional benefits if you exercise a self-employed profession, etc.

For salaries, the amount pre-filled by the tax authorities corresponds to the net taxable amount. Please note, this amount is different from the net amount paid to you. To reconstitute the taxable net starting from the amount received, it is necessary to add, where applicable, the withholding taxes deducted from your salaries and the amount of the non-deductible CSG.

Make sure that the amount of source deductions taken from your wages is pre-printed on your return, and that it is correct. Otherwise, correct the amounts indicated.

You were a student last year and were 25 years or older at 1^er January 2020? If you have worked at the same time as your studies, including during holidays, these student jobs are exempt up to 4,618 euros.

What about internships and apprenticeships?

If you have completed an internship in a company or received a salary within the framework of an apprenticeship contract, the amounts received are exempt up to 18,473 euros. This exemption is cumulative with that of student jobs, if you have completed a compulsory internship in a company as part of your course and held a salaried job in addition to your studies.

Online, you must indicate the total amount paid and tick the box “apprentice / trainee” and / or “student”: the exemptions will apply automatically.

Should we declare parental aid, grants, housing assistance?

If your parents have paid you money regularly or have paid certain expenses on your behalf (health, school fees) or if you have lived with them, they can deduct the aid provided up to the limit of 5,959 euros. On your side, you must declare this amount as alimony.

If your parents are separated and each of them has given you a helping hand, the aid is taxable up to the limit of 11,918 euros (5,959 euros for each parent). If your parents paid you more, you don’t have to report it.

You do not have to mention the housing allowances received, the scholarships granted on social criteria as well as the allowances paid within the framework of a civic service mission, an international volunteering in company (VIE). or in administration (VIA) – regardless of the duration of the assignment and the amount of the allowance.

How to obtain a reduction or a tax credit?

If you have incurred expenses that allow you to benefit from a tax reduction, you must mention them on your return. The tax authorities will calculate your reduction. You do not have to provide any supporting documents, but keep them safe, in case you are asked for them.

Donations made to an association must be declared by completing box 7UF within the limit of 1000 euros, if you have given money to associations helping people in difficulty (“Coluche donations”). Other types of donations, including sums paid to a political party and “Coluche donations” which exceed the limit of 1,000 euros, must be carried over to box 7UF.

If you have joined a union representing employees, you can benefit from a tax credit, if you have not opted for the deduction of your actual costs: indicate the amount of contributions paid on the 2042 RICI declaration (box 7 AC).

What to do in the event of an error?

If you made a mistake, you can correct your declaration until 1^er June (zone 2) or until June 8 (zone 3). After receipt of your tax notice, if you still notice an error or an oversight, you will be able to correct your declaration on a remote correction service accessible from your private area. As in previous years, this service should be open until December.

When will the tax notices be available?

Your tax notice will be available in your private space between July 26 and August 6. You will be notified by email. If the tax payable is equal to the amount of withholding taxes made on your wages in 2020, you will not have to pay anything more.

If, on the other hand, the amounts withdrawn at source in 2020 were not sufficient, you will have a balance to pay in the fall of 2021, taken directly from your bank account. If the sum to be paid is less than or equal to 300 euros, it will be withdrawn in one go at the end of September. Otherwise, it will be taken in four installments from September to December.