Newsletter August 2026

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Correcting your 2025 income tax return

Have you already submitted your 2025 income tax return but noticed an error or omission? As long as the correction service is open, you can still modify most of the information you reported directly from your personal account at www.impots.gouv.fr. The online correction service is available from July 29 through December 3, 2026.

Possible Changes

The system allows you to correct, among other things, the amounts of reported income, deductible expenses, and tax reductions and credits. However, certain personal data cannot be modified through this process. This includes your address, civil status, family status (marriage, divorce, death, etc.), and the designation of a trusted third party.

After the Correction

Once the tax authority has processed your amended return, you will receive a new tax assessment notice indicating the final tax amount. Your tax rate and/or your withholding tax payments will then be adjusted in the “Manage My Withholding Tax” section.

What if you notice an error after December 3, 2026?

After the online correction period ends, you can still request a correction to your return by filing a claim with your tax office. For 2025 income, this can be done until December 31, 2028.

Additional parental leave: what’s changing on july 1^st 2026

Effective July 1, 2026, a new additional birth leave allows employees to extend their maternity, paternity, and child-rearing or adoption leave.

This program is available for children born or adopted on or after January 1, 2026 (including in cases of premature birth where the estimated due date was after that date). Each parent has an individual right to this leave and may choose to take one or two months of leave. The two months may be split into two periods of one month each.

The leave must be taken within nine months of the child’s birth or arrival in the household. As a transitional measure, for children born or adopted between January 1 and June 30, 2026, this period begins on July 1, 2026.

The employee must notify their employer at least one month before the start of the leave; this notice period is reduced to fifteen days when the leave begins immediately following maternity, paternity, or adoption leave. Once the legal requirements are met, the employer cannot object.

During this period, the employee may not engage in any other professional activity. The leave entitles the employee to daily benefits paid by Social Security, calculated according to the rules applicable to maternity, paternity, and adoption leave: 70% of salary for the first month, then 60% for the second, up to the Social Security ceiling.

New tax audits on electronic payment terminals (TPE)

Since the enactment of Law 2026-534 of June 25, 2026, the tax authorities have been granted a new right to conduct unannounced audits specifically targeting electronic payment terminals or systems (TPE).

Officials holding at least the rank of auditor may conduct inspections, without prior notice, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. (or during business hours), at the business premises of VAT-registered entities, excluding residential areas. They may request to inspect all TPE used to process payments, whether or not they are connected to a cash register, and record:

• the terminal serial numbers;
• the identifiers of the bank accounts into which funds are deposited.

At the start of the inspection, a notice of inspection is provided to the business or its representative. Upon completion, a report is signed (or the refusal to sign is noted), and a copy is provided to the taxpayer. This report lists the terminals inspected and the associated bank accounts.

If any point-of-sale terminals are not presented, either in whole or in part, during this inspection, a fine of €7,500 per device not presented is imposed (CGI Art. 1770 quaterdecies).

This measure supplements the existing inspection of secure and certified point-of-sale software or systems.

Separated couples: the primary residence may be different for each spouse

In a ruling dated July 7, 2026, the Council of State reiterated that a married couple subject to joint taxation is not necessarily deemed to share a single primary residence.

This clarification applies in particular to spouses who, without having yet divorced or separated their property, live at different addresses. For the purposes of the housing tax, the primary residence must be assessed individually for each spouse, based on their actual circumstances.

The tax authorities therefore cannot rely solely on the address listed on the tax return to determine each spouse’s primary residence. This address serves as an indicator, but it does not create a presumption.

In practice, however, the taxpayers concerned must be able to demonstrate the reality of their habitual residence. In the event of an audit, any evidence establishing that the residence is in fact occupied as a primary residence may be taken into account.

THE OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED FROM AUGUST 1^st THROUGH AUGUST 24th 2026, INCLUSIVE, FOR ANNUAL VACATION. WE WISH YOU A WONDERFUL SUMMER!