In 2020, arising out of the Covid crisis, the government introduced a new tax credit for a newspaper or magazine subscription.
The tax credit is available for the first subscription to a newspaper or magazine that offers general or political news and information, whether local, national or international, with the text stating that it must cover: de façon permanente sur l’actualité politique et générale, locale, nationale ou internationale des informations et des commentaires tendant à éclairer le jugement des citoyens'
The journal may be either on-line or paper based and may be daily, monthly, or quarterly.
There is no stipulation that it must be French, so those wishing to take out a subscription to an Anglophone newspaper or magazine are able to benefit from the tax credit.
The level of the tax credit is 30% of the cost of an annual subscription.
The subscription must have been taken out between 9th May 2021 and 31st Dec 2021 for a year.
Non-residents cannot benefit from the tax credit; you need to be tax resident in France.
No condition of resources applies, although for subscriptions taken out in 2022, the household income cannot be greater than €24,000 per person, increased by €6,000 for each dependant. So a couple with a joint taxable income of €48,000 would be eligible.
Only one subscription per household is permitted.
In order to claim the tax credit, you merely need to enter the annual subscription cost in Box 7PA of the supplementary Form 2042RICI of your French tax return. You do not need to send any proof.
As it is a tax credit and not a reduction in tax, if you pay no income tax you will be sent a cheque by the tax office.
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