Taxes: What should I do if I forgot to file my tax return on time?

Are you in Zone 1 and forgot to file your tax return by midnight on Thursday, May 22? The deadline has passed for you. Taxpayers who do not reside in France or who live in departments numbered 1 to 19 were, in fact, those with the shortest deadline to file their income tax returns.

As a reminder, taxpayers in zone 2, who reside in departments 20 to 54, have until Wednesday, May 28, 2025 to declare their income and those in zone 3, who live in departments numbered 55 to 974/976, have until Thursday, June 5, 2025 to fulfill their obligations by going to their personal space on the Impots.gouv.fr website.

For those in Zone 1 who missed the boat, procrastination is not without consequences. The deadline has now passed, and the tax authorities should begin applying late payment penalties. In principle, your tax will be increased by 10% if you complete your tax return before receiving a formal notice, details the website service-public.fr . Once the formal notice from the tax authorities has been received, the rate increases to 20% if you file your return within 30 days of receipt. When the return has not been filed within 30 days of receiving the formal notice, the penalty rate applied increases to 40%.

"Penalties for late filing are calculated on the total amount of tax due, without taking into account advance payments and deductions already paid," the public service website further specifies. And if the tax authorities discover that you are carrying out an illegal activity (undeclared work or illegal activity), an increase of 80% will be applied to you, without it being necessary to send you a formal notice, explains Bercy .

Be careful, that's not all; late payment interest is also applied. "It amounts to 0.20% of the tax due per month of delay (or 2.4% over 1 year)," according to the same source. This interest applies until the last day of the month in which the tax return is filed.

There is, however, one exception to these penalties. The tax website specifies that, since 2020, for households eligible for automatic declaration, the failure to explicitly submit a declaration is now considered a declaration. Without action on their part, their declaration will then be automatically validated by the administration. This system does not work for those affected by the real estate wealth tax (IFI), who are required to file a declaration.

For the rest of you, you can always try to slip through the tax net by asserting your good faith with Bercy. All you have to do is request a "gracious remission" on your penalties from the personal tax service (SIP) or the treasury that issued the payment notice... and cross your fingers.

Once you realize you're late, it's also advisable to quickly go to your personal space, as the online declaration service remains open for a few days after the deadline for submitting your declaration, until June 26. After that, only paper declarations will be possible.