In a few days, the net salary will no longer be as high as before for many employees.
September: the month of returning to work, going back to school and its many expenses, taxes… But also the salary cut! This is the bad surprise that will take many French people by surprise in a few days. If the paycheck is eagerly awaited, it will not be as high as usual. No need to go and complain to your boss, he is not responsible for it. Your basic salary has not changed one iota. The difference is shown on a line at the bottom of the pay slip.
Let’s take Mickaël as an example. This employee has been earning 2,000 euros net per month since the beginning of the year. But in September, only 1,979 euros will be paid into his bank account. A mistake? No. This is the result of the income tax return made in the spring. A great many French people will find themselves in Mickaël’s situation at the end of September.
Since the introduction of withholding tax, every month, a portion of the income tax payable is deducted before the salary arrives in the account. This is a percentage. This is established by the tax authorities based on your last tax return. It is then sent directly to your employer. Each time, this is done in September. Thus, if your 2023 income (declared in 2024) was higher than your 2022 income (declared in 2023), then your withholding tax rate will increase. This will be applied from the September paycheck, at the end of the month.
In our example, Mickaël was at a rate of 2% until then and then increased to 3% since his last tax return. Since his boss did not increase it between August and September, his net salary will therefore decrease since the tax authorities are taking more money from him. The people concerned are therefore those who received more income in 2023 compared to 2022.
However, it is possible to avoid this situation. By going to your personal space on the impots.gouv.fr website, you must click on “Manage my withholding tax” in the right-hand column. A new window opens. Here, by clicking on “Report a change” or “Update following an increase or decrease in your income”, you can ensure that the rate decreases. Be careful, however, this means that the balance to be paid to the tax authorities at the end of the following year will be greater since the tax authorities will not have collected as much as they should have throughout the year.
Furthermore, it is entirely possible not to transmit your tax rate to your employer, by clicking on the box provided for this purpose. This will result in applying a tax rate only linked to the salary paid by your employer and not to all of your income. “This option is only of interest if you receive significant income in addition to your salary and you do not want your employer to apply your personalized rate”, specifies the DGFiP.