Payment of tax

What are the solutions in case of difficulties in paying your taxes?

Publié le 18 août 2025 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Job loss, divorce, inflation… Having trouble paying your tax balance? You can ask to benefit from a payment deadline, or even in very exceptional cases, a free discount. Service-Public.fr informs you about what you can do.

When your tax balance is above €300, the tax administration has implemented an automatic averaging system; you are deducted in 4 monthly installments, on September 25, October 27, November 27 and December 29, 2025 for tax notices sent in the summer of 2025.

Depending on your situation, this 4-time payment system may not be enough to help you cope with temporary financial difficulties. If you cannot pay your income tax or property tax, you can exceptionally request a payment deadline from the tax authorities.

You can make your request:

  • by simple post in the service of taxes ;
  • by logging into your personal space on taxes.gouv.fr, then by accessing your “secure messaging” (then click on “write”, then select “I have a problem paying my taxes”, then “I have trouble paying”, then select the tax concerned and follow the instructions on the form);
  • by visiting your public finance center (you can find the contact details of this center on your tax notice or on impôts.gouv.fr, in the “contact” section).

Your application must include:

Applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis, with an individualized approach to the taxpayer's situation.

What if you are absolutely unable to pay your taxes?

When a payment deadline is not sufficient, you are absolutely unable to pay your tax, you can send a request for a free rebate to the public finance center you depend on. This type of discount is only granted in very exceptional cases and is not intended to be renewed.

Your request may relate to all or part of the tax concerned. It is done by email from the secure messaging of your personal space on taxes.gouv.fr, or by simple mail.

In your mail, you must indicate the information necessary to identify yourself and the tax concerned. It is recommended to accompany your request with the tax administration form “payment difficulties” and supporting documents.

When you make a request for a free rebate, the tax authorities shall take into account in particular:

  • one payment period offset the tax;
  • one unpredictable loss of revenue (unemployment);
  • of exceptional circumstances (death of spouse, separation, disability) or having caused abnormally high expenses (illness);
  • one disproportion between the size of your tax debt and your income level (accumulation of arrears or recalls following a check).

FYI  

Requests for late payment or for an ex gratia remittance are generally accepted processed within 2 months. If you have not received a reply within this period, your request must be considered rejected. This period can exceptionally be extended to 4 months due to the complexity of your situation. In this case, the administration must inform you of this additional period before the expiry of the initial period of 2 months.

Please note

When you apply for a rebate, your actual payment capabilities are analyzed by considering, among other things:

  • your assets and all the resources of the people living with youwhether taxable or not (social allowances, municipal subsidies, RSA, etc.), permanent or temporary;
  • expenses essential to the daily life of your home (food, health, insurance, housing, transport costs between your home and your workplace, etc.);
  • the adequacy of your expenses and resources, depending on the composition of your household (if your expenses exceed your financial capacity solely because of your lifestyle choice, your request for a free rebate will be rejected).
  • assessment of the extent of the tax debt : the administration ensures that the granting of a payment period cannot be sufficient to discharge the debt.

Warning  

Depending on your situation, the granting of the tax rebate or moderation (partial rebate) may be subject to:

  • the prior payment of taxes that remain your responsibility;
  • filing a return, if you are not fully up to date with your reporting obligations;
  • a waiver of any litigation concerning the taxes concerned by the application.

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