Is there a tax credits equivalent in France?

gilbutre

Hi,

Not sure whether this thread belongs to this forum (but then I failed to see another forum where it would fit better).

My question is: is there the equivalent of Tax Credits (work and child) in France?

Morglin

If you Google up 'tax credits in France' there are a couple of sites that explain what their equivalent of tax credits is, and who can claim.

Lin

bloolagoon

Not like ours. We are one of the highest even using CB figures. Add on child and working tax and I'm sure you will find there is no comparable.

xylophone

http://www.parisvoice.com/practical-paris/135-french-social-security-system-explained
An overview with links to further reading and information.

seven-day-weekend

Also ask on this thread :

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/94140

There is a poster called droopsnout who lives in France and knows a lot about it.

FBaby

There is a tax credits system but structured totally differently. Most benefits you don't get until you have 2 or more children, some you can only get for a certain amount of time. Some children based benefits you can only get until your youngest is 3yo etc... They also take into account how much housing benefits you receive.

A big change is also the support for single mothers who don't get maintenance from the father of the children.

zagfles

The French don't need a "tax credits" system as such because they have an income tax system which caters for families. Family income is split into "parts", the number of parts depending on the number of people in the family. The first two children have half a "part" each and any more children have a whole "part". So a family with 2 adults and 3 kids would get 4 parts.

What this means is that say such a family of 5 have a single earner on £30,000. Here this family would pay about £6500 in tax/NI and get about £3500 back in tax credits.

In France such a family's income would be split into 4 parts, so they'd be taxed the same as 4 people who earn £7500 each - so being able to use 4 tax allowances and 4 lower rate tax bands etc, and they'd pay hardly any tax, probably under £1000.

Obviously there are benefits for those who don't earn enough to pay tax, just as we do, but there's no need for a separate "tax credits" system.

BigAunty

zagfles wrote: »

Obviously there are benefits for those who don't earn enough to pay tax, just as we do, but there's no need for a separate "tax credits" system.

That sounds a better way of doing it - processing it within one system rather than making deductions with one and then paying back with another.

zagfles

BigAunty wrote: »

That sounds a better way of doing it - processing it within one system rather than making deductions with one and then paying back with another.

Yes, plus the French system is progressive - the more you earn the higher your tax rate. Whereas the system here is very regressive, the more you earn, the lower your effective tax rate (due to tax credits/benefit withdrawal rates).

gilbutre

Thanks all for helpful info and links.