Before you start

A French tax number, issued after your first declaration
Records of worldwide income for the year
A French bank RIB
Credentials for impots.gouv.fr, once you have a number

Step-by-step

1
Fix the withholding rate on your first payslips
With no French tax history, your employer applies the taux neutre from a published grid based on your salary alone. It ignores your household, your children and any other income. Once you have a tax number you can request a personalised rate through impots.gouv.fr, and you can modulate it when your circumstances change. Do this rather than waiting a year for the reconciliation.
OnlineWho: YouAs soon as you have a tax number
2
Understand that withholding does not replace the declaration
Prélèvement à la source deducts tax from your salary, but the annual declaration in the spring is still mandatory. It reconciles the withholding, applies the household quotient and reliefs, and captures income the withholding never saw.
OnlineWho: YouSpring annually
3
File your first declaration on paper if you have no tax number yet
The online service needs a tax number you do not receive until you have filed once, so the first declaration usually goes on paper to your local tax office. This circularity catches everyone and the office is entirely used to it — ask them directly.
In personWho: You
4
Work out your parts and what the quotient does for your household
A single person counts as one part, a married or PACSed couple as two, with additional half-parts for children. Income is divided by the parts, taxed on the scale and multiplied back. The reduction is substantial for a couple with unequal incomes and for families.
OnlineWho: You
5
Check the specific commune before buying anything you will not live in full time
Taxe d'habitation was abolished on principal residences but retained on second homes, and communes in pressured housing areas may add a surcharge of up to 60% on their share. This coast is precisely where that power is used, because holiday homes here displaced permanent housing — and the rates vary sharply between neighbouring communes. Check the commune's own position before making an offer, not after the autumn bill.
OnlineWho: You
6
Declare every foreign account — the penalty is fixed and it is applied
French tax residents must list all foreign bank accounts, life insurance contracts and digital asset accounts annually, whether or not they generated income. The account people forget is almost always a dormant one at home.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

French tax number, once issued
Payslips and the annual employer summary
Records of all foreign income and foreign accounts
RIB for refunds and payments
Marriage or PACS documentation, for household parts

Things most newcomers don’t know

On this coast the second-home surcharge is a deliberate housing policy and the rate changes commune by commune.

Communes in pressured housing zones may add up to 60% to their share of the residence tax on second homes, and the Var littoral is where the power was designed to be used — holiday homes here genuinely displaced permanent residents. The consequence is that two properties fifteen minutes apart can carry very different annual bills, and the difference is set locally rather than nationally. Anyone buying a place they will not live in full time should check the specific commune's deliberation before making an offer.

Source: service-public.fr

Toulon's local property tax is one of the gentler ones among large French cities.

Taxe foncière rates are set commune by commune and the spread across France is enormous — Grenoble's global rate is roughly triple Paris's, and Montpellier's is around double. Toulon's commune rate sits well below both, which is a real recurring saving for an owner and one of the quieter arguments for buying here rather than in the flashier cities along this coast. It falls on owners only, so it changes nothing for tenants.

Source: impots.gouv.fr

The rate on your first French payslip is a guess, and you can correct it in ten minutes.

With no filing history, prélèvement à la source falls back to the taux neutre — a published grid keyed to salary alone that knows nothing about your spouse, your children or your other income. For a single earner supporting a family it is usually far too high; for two earners it can be too low, storing up a bill. Once you have a tax number you can request a personalised rate online and it applies within a couple of months. Most newcomers never realise the number was provisional.

Source: impots.gouv.fr

France taxes the household, which changes the answer completely depending on who you are.

The quotient familial divides household income by a number of parts before applying the scale — one for a single person, two for a married or PACSed couple, extra half-parts for children. A couple with one high and one low income pays substantially less than two individuals earning the same amounts; a single high earner does comparatively badly. Comparing French tax against a country with individual taxation is meaningless without specifying the household.

Source: impots.gouv.fr

Common mistakes to avoid

Buying a coastal second home without checking that commune's residence-tax surcharge.
Accepting the taux neutre on your payslip as though it were your actual tax rate.
Assuming withholding at source removes the obligation to file annually.
Not realising the first declaration goes on paper because you have no tax number yet.
Failing to declare a dormant foreign bank account and incurring the fixed per-account penalty.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.