Emmanuel Macron’s proposal went unnoticed during the presentation of his program on Thursday March 17. According to his profession of faith, which can be consulted online, the outgoing president, candidate for re-election, wishes “allow all couples living together to reduce their taxes as if they were married or in a civil partnership”. This would amount to allowing common-law partners to declare their taxes together and to be considered as a single tax household, which is not the case at present, according to information confirmed by the Figaro. What would this measure change? Franceinfo takes stock.
How is the couples tax calculated?
In France, two people living in a free union must complete two separate tax returns. Conversely, the joint tax return is mandatory for most married or PACS couples, considered as a single tax household by the State. For these couples, the amount of income tax is calculated “on the basis of an average of the income of the two partners, divided by a family quotient calculated according to the situation of the couple”depending on the number of his children, explains tax lawyer Caroline Aupoix, interviewed by franceinfo.
For these couples, however, certain specific situations allow them to declare their taxes individually. A married or PACS couple, but with separate property and who do not live under the same roof, must complete individual declarations. The same applies to spouses in the process of divorcing or in the event of the abandonment of the marital home by one of the spouses and when “everyone has separate professional or asset income”notes the site Impôts.gouv.fr.
Is it necessarily beneficial?
The joint statement is “advantageous when there is a large difference between the incomes of the two members of the couplerelieves Caroline Aupoix. The level of tax to be paid will be a little lower than if the income is declared separately.”
“If the incomes of both spouses are approximately equivalent, then the joint declaration does not really have an impact.”
Caroline Aupoix, tax lawyerat franceinfo
In certain situations, “rarer”, it may be interesting to keep a separate imposition. The lawyer cites, for example, the “tax niches capped at 10,000 euros, in particular that of household help, which can be declared twice in the event of separate taxation”.
Why this tax reform?
For the presidential majority, the idea is to modernize “a system” taxation that is no longer suited to today’s society. In The Parisianan executive of La République en Marche thus intends “adapt income tax to reality of the situation of the households, without stopping at the only legal bonds uniting the two members of a couple”. In 2018, 2.7 million pairs French people were in fact in a free union, i.e. 13.3% of all unions, according to INSEE figures.
Evolution is “logic”judge Caroline Aupoix. The lawyer points out that the real estate wealth tax, which replaced the solidarity tax on wealth, is already “imposed on the couple even if it is a free union”. This potential new development of tax law could even be useful to the State: “This will make it possible to check whether the property taxes are not declared twice for the same property, in order to benefit from an abatement on the housing tax.”
Finally, it would simply be more convenient “for the State, to claim the payment of a tax to two people rather than one”, adds the expert. In the event of a joint declaration, the two spouses are jointly and severally liable. Each partner will therefore have to pay the full amount due to the tax authorities if the other does not.