Payment of tax

What solutions are available if you have difficulties paying your taxes?

Publié le 09 septembre 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Many events can cause financial problems of varying degrees: job loss, divorce, inflation... You have difficulties preventing you from paying your tax balance, deducted from your bank account in one time or in 4 installments from September 26, 2024? You can request a delay in payment, or even in very exceptional cases a gracious discount.

When your tax balance exceeds €300, the tax administration has introduced an automatic averaging system; you are deducted in 4 monthly installments, on 26 September, 25 October, 25 November and 27 December 2024.

This 4-time payment system may, depending on your situation, be insufficient to help you cope with temporary financial difficulties. If you cannot pay your income tax, or your property tax, you may exceptionally request a delay in payment from the tax authorities.

You can make your request:

  • by logging into your personal space on impots.gouv.fr, then by accessing your "secure email" (then click on "write", then select "I have a problem paying my taxes", then "I have trouble paying", then select the applicable tax and follow the instructions on the form);
  • by visiting your public finance center (you can find the contact information for this center on your tax notice or on trois.gouv.fr, under the heading “contact”).

Your application must include:

Applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis, with an individualized approach to the taxpayer's situation.

What if you can’t pay your taxes at all?

If a payment period is not sufficient, and you are absolutely unable to pay your tax, you can send a request for an ex gratia remission to the public finance center on which you depend. This type of rebate is granted only in very exceptional cases and is not intended to be renewed.

Your request can relate to all or part of the tax concerned. It is done by email from the secure messaging of your personal space on impots.gouv.fr, or by mail.

In your email, you must provide the information you need to identify yourself and the applicable tax. It is recommended to accompany your request with the tax authority form ‘payment difficulties’, and the relevant supporting documents.

When you apply for an ex gratia rebate, the tax authority will take into account, among other things:

  • one unforeseeable loss of income (unemployment);
  • of exceptional circumstances (death of spouse, separation, disability) or which has resulted in abnormally high expenditure (disease);
  • one disproportion between the size of your tax debt and your income level (accumulation of arrears or recalls following a check).

FYI  

Requests for time limits for payment or gracious delivery are generally processed within 2 months. If you have not received a reply within this period, your request must be considered rejected. This period may exceptionally be extended to 4 months due to the complexity of your situation. In this case, the administration must inform you of this additional period before the expiry of the initial 2-month period.

Please note

When you make a request for an ex gratia discount, your actual payment capacities are analyzed considering among other things:

  • your heritage and all the resources of the people living with you, taxable or not (social allowances, municipal aid, RSA, etc.);
  • expenses that are essential to the daily life of your household (food, health, insurance, accommodation, transport costs between your home and your workplace...);
  • the match between your spending and your resources and the composition of your household (if your expenses exceed your financial capacity solely because of your lifestyle choice, your request for a gracious discount will be rejected).

Warning  

Depending on your situation, the grant of the tax rebate or moderation (partial rebate) may be subject to:

  • prior payment of taxes to be paid by you;
  • filing a return, if you are not fully up to date with your reporting obligations;
  • a waiver of any dispute relating to the taxes concerned by the application.

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