The deadlines for completing your 2021 tax return are approaching and it is important not to forget anything. Me Thomas Carbonnier, tax lawyer, gives you his practical advice to help you not get lost in your income to declare this year. This is an important deadline, which should therefore naturally be taken seriously at the risk, if not, of losing a lot of money. Discover the different points to check when declaring your income so that you don’t omit anything from the sums to be declared or, conversely, from the tax deductions that you could benefit from.
“In the event of alimony paid to descendants or ascendants who are in financial difficulty, you should know that it is deductible from income”, specifies the expert in the preamble. As a reminder, for the 2022 declaration of income received in 2021, if you are hosting an ascendant (parent, grandparent or great-grandparent) in need, “you can deduct the lump sum of 3,592 euros for accommodation and food” without “no proof be necessary”.
“Union dues are also deductible. Joining a union of any kind gives rise to a tax credit,” recalls Me Carbonnier. Regarding the amount of the tax credit, you can in practice deduct 66% of the annual contributions. Service-public.fr recalls that the amount of contributions is “limited to 1% of your gross taxable income (in the category of salaries, pensions and annuities free of charge)”. The tax lawyer specifies that “donations to recognized works of public utility” are also deductible. The tax reduction is 66% of the amount of donations and it applies within the limit of 20% of taxable income.
“There is something new this year with a tax credit created by Macron for any new press subscription for one year and for the first time. A novelty aimed at promoting reading and helping the press”, specifies Me Carbonnier. Indeed, this tax credit was established by the amending finance law for 2020 of July 30, 2020 to support the press sector particularly weakened by the health crisis.
You can benefit from this tax credit for a subscription to a political and general information press title, paper or digital, if you subscribe for the first time between May 9, 2021 and December 31, 2022, for a period minimum of 12 months.
According to service-public.fr, the political and general information publications concerned are:
The tax lawyer obviously specifies that it is necessary to “check that the amounts pre-declared on your online declaration by seeing if the tax net and the taxable net stick well with your payslips”. Thomas Carbonnier recalls that there is “a summary in the pay slip for the month of December with the taxable accumulation which is indicated”. The employer also indicates the amount he withheld at source. “It is also to be verified”, he recalls.
If you receive supplementary pensions, there may be errors in the reports. “You must therefore connect to the various websites and download the supporting documents to ensure that the amounts indicated on your pre-completed declaration are in accordance”, explains Thomas Carbonnier. In the event of an error, all you have to do is correct the pre-declared amounts.
“There is no longer a social declaration filed by the self-employed with Urssaf, now it is integrated into the tax declaration”, warns the tax lawyer. It is therefore necessary to think of declaring in the declaration of income what they formerly declared to Urssaf via the social declaration of the self-employed (DSI). If you have not followed the reform, it is not obvious.
Be aware, however, that thanks to the right to error, you can rectify your declaration. Indeed, if you inform the tax authorities before July 1, 2022, no penalty will be claimed.
