French income tax brackets run in five steps from 0% to 45%, and each rate applies only to the slice of income that falls inside its range. For income earned in 2025 and declared in 2026, the thresholds set by Article 197 of the Code général des impôts are €11,600, €29,579, €84,577, and €181,917 per family share.1Legifrance. Code General des Impots – Article 197 The “per family share” part matters: France taxes households, not individuals, and divides the household’s income by the number of shares before running it through the brackets.
The Rates for 2025 Income
The bracket structure updated by the 2026 Finance Law (LOI n°2026-103) applies to income earned in 2025 and declared in 2026:1Legifrance. Code General des Impots – Article 197
- 0% on income up to €11,600
- 11% from €11,600 to €29,579
- 30% from €29,579 to €84,577
- 41% from €84,577 to €181,917
- 45% on everything above €181,917
The thresholds are indexed each year by the Finance Law so that inflation alone does not push taxpayers into higher brackets.
How the Slice-by-Slice Math Works
Only the portion of income within a given bracket is taxed at that bracket’s rate. If your taxable income per share reaches €200,000, the first €11,600 is still taxed at 0%, the slice from €11,600 to €29,579 at 11%, and so on up the ladder. Nothing about crossing a threshold retroactively raises the tax on income below it.
The full calculation goes like this: take household net taxable income, divide by the number of shares to get income per share, apply the brackets to that per-share figure to get tax per share, then multiply by the number of shares to get what the household owes.
What the Brackets Cover
The progressive brackets apply to employment income, pensions, business profits, and rental income. Investment income sits outside this system by default. Dividends, interest, and capital gains from securities go through the Prélèvement Forfaitaire Unique, a flat tax of 12.8% for income tax plus 18.6% in social contributions as of 2026, for a combined 31.4%.2Service Public. Income Tax – Savings and Investment Income
You can elect to have investment income taxed under the progressive brackets instead, which unlocks a 40% abatement on dividends and lets you deduct part of the CSG. The choice is all-or-nothing for the year: elect progressive rates and every piece of investment income and capital gain follows that route.2Service Public. Income Tax – Savings and Investment Income Taxpayers in the 11% bracket often come out ahead choosing progressive taxation; those in the 30% bracket or above usually do better with the flat tax.
The Family Quotient and Per-Share Calculation
The quotient familial is what makes the brackets behave the way they do. Rather than taxing each person, France splits household income into shares based on family size, runs each share through the brackets, and multiplies back up.
Shares are assigned as follows. A single person counts as one share. A married or civil-union couple counts as two. Each of the first two children adds a half-share, and each additional child adds a full share. A married couple with three children therefore has four shares in total.
Consider a couple with two children and €80,000 in net taxable income. They have three shares (2 + 0.5 + 0.5). Divide €80,000 by 3 to get roughly €26,667 per share. Running that through the brackets produces 0% on the first €11,600 and 11% on the remaining €15,067, for about €1,657 per share. Multiplied by three shares, the household owes approximately €4,971. Taxing the same €80,000 as a single share would drive far more income into the 30% bracket and produce a much larger bill.
The government caps how much tax relief the extra shares from children can produce. For the 2025 income year, the maximum reduction from each additional half-share is €1,807.1Legifrance. Code General des Impots – Article 197 The tax administration compares your bill with and without the extra shares and applies the cap automatically.
Getting to Net Taxable Income
The brackets act on net taxable income, not gross pay, so the base itself is the first thing to get right. Mandatory social security contributions come off gross salary before anything else. Most wage earners then get an automatic 10% standard deduction for commuting, meals, and general work expenses, subject to a floor and a ceiling per household member that the Finance Law updates each year. For the 2024 income year, that floor was €505 and the ceiling was €14,455 per person. Pensioners get a similar 10% allowance with a lower ceiling that applies per household.
If actual work-related costs exceed the 10% standard deduction, you can claim frais réels (actual expenses) instead, backed by receipts for mileage, equipment, professional training, and the like. It is one method or the other for the year, not both. Every euro of deduction compounds through the bracket structure, which is why the base number matters more than it looks.
Non-Residents: Same Brackets, With a Floor
If you live abroad and earn French-source income, the progressive brackets and the family quotient still apply to your calculation, but a minimum effective rate is imposed: 20% on income up to €29,579 per share, and 30% on anything above that.3impots.gouv.fr. Tax Liability and Reporting Obligations in France for Non-Residents If the ordinary progressive calculation would give you a lower effective rate, you can ask the tax administration to apply that instead. Tax treaties between France and your country of residence may override these rules for particular categories of income.
The Surcharge Above the Top Bracket
The 45% top rate is not the end of the story for the highest earners. A separate levy, the contribution exceptionnelle sur les hauts revenus (CEHR), sits on top of the regular income tax and social contributions. It is calculated on the revenu fiscal de référence, a broad income measure that includes dividends and capital gains even when those are taxed under the flat rate. The rates depend on filing status:4Service Public. Contribution Exceptionnelle sur les Hauts Revenus
- Single filers pay 3% on income between €250,001 and €500,000, and 4% on anything above €500,000.
- Couples filing jointly pay 3% on combined income between €500,001 and €1,000,000, and 4% on anything above €1,000,000.
A single filer earning €600,000 owes an additional €11,500 in CEHR: €7,500 on the slice between €250,001 and €500,000, plus €4,000 on the €100,000 above €500,000. Added to the regular progressive tax, this pushes the effective marginal burden on the highest earners well beyond the nominal 45% headline.