Imp么t, redevance, taxe: understand the subtle differences in French
Language distinctions relate to how different levies are used (but some do have illogical names even so)
Confusingly, taxe fonci猫re is technically un 颈尘辫么迟 and not une taxe
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Anybody who has received a payslip in France will have noticed the exhaustive detail listing all the social charges and taxes deducted from their gross pay.
They will probably also have heard claims that France is among the highest-taxed countries in the world.
However, this is not quite true.
Read more: Why France is surprisingly tax-friendly for individuals
A relatively high amount of people鈥檚 earnings comes off in levies of some kind or another, but most of these are technically social charges rather than taxes.
These, paid by both employer and employee, mostly go towards specific benefits for the employees, such as their pension, healthcare, family allowance or right to incapacity or unemployment benefits.
As 麻豆传媒映画 are aware of the many taxes and charges they pay, and since the government is keen to ensure that people do not feel like they are being overtaxed, it is useful that the French language has adopted certain nuances to describe the different levies imposed.
These include the subtle difference between une taxe and un 颈尘辫么迟.
Read more about taxes in France in The Connexion Tax Guide
How to distinguish taxe from 颈尘辫么迟
Taxes fund the operation of a specific public service.
For example:
Taxe de s茅jour, (visitor鈥檚 tax) goes to the commune a person is visiting, to pay for tourist infrastructure.
Taxe sur les nuisances sonores a茅riennes (aircraft noise pollution tax) is paid by airlines that fly over built up areas. It pays for soundproofing.
Taxe d鈥檈nl猫vement des ordures m茅nag猫res pays for the bin collection and rubbish disposal service.
Taxe sur les produits de la p锚che maritime (maritime fishing tax) is paid by wholesalers buying fish and seafood. It pays for fishing subsidies
Unlike the similar redevance, however, a taxe usually has to be paid whether or not you actually use and benefit from the service it funds. Also there is not necessarily a real link between the actual cost of the service and the level of the tax.
On the other hand une redevance is an amount paid which directly pays for a service received. It must be specifically used for and proportional to the cost of the service the payer benefits from and only users of the service will pay.
滨尘辫么迟蝉 are levies that go into the general budget coffers of the state at national regional and local levels. So, for example, education, defence, government administration and the national debt are all paid for by 颈尘辫么迟s.
The French nuclear deterrent and the fire service are among state services that are paid out of 颈尘辫么迟s rather than taxes.
The best-known 颈尘辫么迟s are 颈尘辫么迟 sur le revenu (income tax), 颈尘辫么迟 sur la fortune 颈尘尘辞产颈濒颈猫谤别 (property wealth tax) and 颈尘辫么迟 sur les soci茅t茅s (corporation tax).
Social Protection is paid by both
The behemoth of the French social protection system, including running the health and family benefits systems and Aspa income support for older people, partly comes out of taxes and partly from 颈尘辫么迟s.
These should both be distinguished from the 鈥榮ocial charges鈥� (cotisations sociales) that people pay on work income and that confer direct 鈥榮ocial鈥� benefits to the payer.
Having said that, some levies often lumped into the social charge category are really taxes as they confer no direct benefit to the individual but help fund the general social services and welfare programmes.
The main examples of the latter are contribution sociale g茅n茅ralis茅e (CSG) and contribution pour le remboursement de la dette sociale (CRDS), both of which are levied on people鈥檚 work and investment revenues.
Often actual names do not help鈥�
The difference between taxes and 颈尘辫么迟s is moreover, often blurred by confusing names given to some of the levies people pay.
Taxe sur la valeur ajout茅e (TVA 鈥� VAT in English) goes into the government鈥檚 general budget rather than paying for any particular service, so it is actually an 颈尘辫么迟鈥�
Similarly, taxe fonci猫re and the recently reformed taxe d鈥檋abitation both go into the general budget of your local authority and do not pay for any particular service, so are also defined by money experts as 颈尘辫么迟s.
Given the number of taxes and 颈尘辫么迟s in France, it is perhaps not surprising that there are exceptions to the rules which by convention continue to be labelled illogically.
Read also
Why French property tax bills, sent soon, will show big increases
New website in France helps you work out tax for non-EU imports
