Income Tax in France

Memorandum from the HR and FI Departments and the Legal Service concerning the new internal taxation provisions of the Staff Rules and Regulations, the annual internal taxation certificate for 2007 and the declaration of income for 2007.

I - New provisions of the Staff Rules and Regulations concerning internal taxation

Following the revision of the Staff Rules and Regulations (see CERN Bulletin Nos. 16 and 17 of 16 and 23 April 2007), the provisions relating to internal taxation are now set out in Articles S V 2.01 of the Staff Rules and in Articles R V 2.01 to R V 2.05 of the Staff Regulations, in force since 1st January 2007 (11th edition).

Pursuant to Article S V 2.01 of the Staff Rules, each year the Organization levies an internal tax on the financial and family benefits it pays to the members of the personnel. The Finance Committee has laid down the provisions governing the application of internal taxation in the Staff Regulations (see Articles R V 2.01 to R V 2.05). Some technical amendments and drafting changes have been made to the provisions that were applicable previously.

Article R V 2.01 states that the internal tax base comprises all financial and family benefits paid by the Organization, excluding certain expenses and indemnities and allowances.

Pursuant to Article R V 2.02, the taxable amount is obtained by deducting from the internal tax base certain financial benefits as well as any family benefits to which the member of the personnel concerned may have been entitled during the previous financial year. The Finance Committee has decided that contributions to the health and accident and old-age and disability insurance schemes will no longer be deducted from the internal tax base used to calculate the taxable amount.

Article R V 2.03 stipulates that the amount of internal tax is obtained by applying a scale, periodically adjusted by the Director-General, to the taxable amount. This scale has been modified compared to the previous year to take account of the new method of calculating the taxable amount and of the annual salary adjustment. The 2007 scale can be consulted on the Human Resources Department’s website at the following address:

https://cern.ch/hr-services/Ben/tax/Docs/BaremeImpot_2007.pdf

As in previous years, internal tax is levied at source (see Article R V 2.04).

Finally, pursuant to Article R V 2.05, each member of the personnel is issued with an annual internal taxation certificate, which is intended exclusively for the tax authorities. The 2007 certificate has been drawn up to take account of the amendments to the Staff Rules and Regulations. It indicates the internal tax base, the taxable amount and the amount of internal tax levied. As last year, it also mentions for information the amount of financial and family benefits to be deducted from the internal tax base to obtain the taxable amount.

The amendments to the Staff Rules and Regulations and to the scale have no impact on the net salary paid to the member of the personnel.

II - Annual internal taxation certificate for 2007

The annual certificate of internal taxation for 2007, issued by the Finance Department, has been available since 6 March 2008 (cf. Bulletin No. 10-11/2008 of 3 and 10 March 2008).

  1. If you are currently a member of the CERN personnel you will have received an e-mail containing a link to your annual certificate, which you may print, if necessary. You can also access your annual certificate via http://hrt.cern.ch (open "My Payslips" at the bottom of the main menu.)
  2. If you are no longer a member of the CERN personnel or are unable to access your annual certificate as indicated above, you will find information explaining how to obtain it at the following link: http://https://cern.ch/hr-services/services-Ben/tax/attest.asp.

III - Declaration of income for 2007

1. Who is required to complete the form? Where can it be obtained?

All members of the personnel1) residing in France2), whether or not they are of French nationality, are required to complete a declaration of income for 2007 according to the following instructions and to return a signed copy to their local tax office by Friday, 30 May 2008 at the latest.

Members of the personnel should receive an income declaration form for 2007 at the beginning of May. Those members of the personnel not receiving it directly must go and get a copy from their local tax office or town hall or download it from the Tax Administration website (http://www.impots.gouv.fr/portal/dgi/home?pageId=home&sfid=00).

2. Completing the declaration form

a) Under the heading "Traitements, Salaires" in Part 1 of the form, members of the personnel must not indicate the amount of financial and family benefits paid by CERN in 2007, which is now subject to internal taxation by the Organization.

However, they are still required to declare any other income from a French source (e.g. income from real estate or movable assets), which continues to be taxable in France.

b) Members of the personnel should tick box FV in Part 8 of the form, entitled "Autres Imputations". In the final box, entitled "Autres renseignements", or on a separate piece of paper, they are advised to state: "Membre du personnel du CERN assujetti à l’impôt interne du CERN et, à ce titre, exonéré d’impôt sur les traitements et émoluments versés par le CERN" (member of the CERN personnel subject to internal CERN taxation and therefore exempt from taxation on the salary and emoluments paid by CERN).

c) Members of the personnel must attach to their declaration the 2007 annual internal taxation certificate (to obtain it, see section II above) issued by CERN in accordance with Article R V 2.05 of the Staff Regulations in force in 2007.

WARNING: Members of the personnel must complete a HARD-COPY FORM only. In fact, the tax declaration form cannot be completed on line since it is not yet possible to attach the above-mentioned certificate.

3. Special cases

Users and associates must comply with the procedure described above but continue to be liable for tax under ordinary French law on the remunerations paid by the institutions employing them. They are advised to contact their local tax office for any specific information regarding their personal circumstances.

Further information can be found at the following address:

https://cern.ch/hr-services/services-Ben/tax/decl-fr.asp#Special-cases-France_gb

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IF YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR TAX OFFICE DIRECTLY

This information does not concern CERN pensioners, as they are no longer members of the CERN personnel and are therefore subject to the standard national legal provisions relating to taxation.

HR Department
Tel. 73903

1) Irrespective of the personnel category to which they belong.

2) Members of the personnel are considered to be domiciled in France if:

  • their principal place of residence is in France (especially if their spouse and/or children reside with them), or
  • they are resident on French soil for more than 183 days (6 months) a year without any significant absences.

However, the tax office is the only authority competent to assess individual circumstances. For any specific inquiries, please contact your local tax office.

by HR Department