Tax in the year of divorce in France: two returns, shares reallocated
In the year of separation, each spouse declares their own income for the whole year.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy
In the year of a divorce, legal separation or end of a PACS, each former partner files their own French tax return for the whole year, with only their own income: the joint return disappears from the year of separation. A parent raising children alone ticks box T and gets a single-parent half share; with shared residence, the shares linked to the children are split between both. Support paid for a minor child who does not live with you is deductible, and the parent receiving it declares it after a 10% allowance. With €42,000 and €24,000 of taxable income, two children living with the second parent and €350 of support a month, the two households’ total tax goes from €3,432 for the couple to €4,444 after separation: €4,444 for the first, €0 for the second. With shared residence and no support, the total would be €2,156. French “parts” are not allowances: they divide income before the scale is applied, then cap the benefit.
Tax in the year of divorce: before and after
Change in tax for both households together
+€1,012
| Couple’s tax before (joint return) | €3,432 |
| A’s tax after (1 shares) | €4,444 |
| B’s tax after (2.5 shares) | €0 |
Tax scale and the cap on tax shares; décote and credits not modelled.
Tax shares of a separated parent
| Children | Custody | Shares | Tax on €36,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | , | 1 | €3,904 |
| 1 | with this parent | 2 | €1,408 |
| 2 | with this parent | 2.5 | €770 |
| 3 | with this parent | 3.5 | €0 |
| 1 | shared | 1.5 | €2,046 |
| 2 | shared | 2 | €1,408 |
| 3 | shared | 2.5 | €770 |
The rules come from the service-public.fr sheets on the tax shares of a single parent: one share for yourself, half a share per child for the first two and a full share from the third, plus a single-parent half share; with shared residence each increase is halved, and the single-parent half share becomes a quarter share for one child, a half share from two. The right-hand column applies the scale and the cap, without the décote or tax credits.
The cap that limits the benefit of children
Each half share linked to a child cannot reduce tax by more than €1,807, each quarter share with shared residence by more than €904. For a single parent, the full share of the first child is capped at €4,262, and with shared residence each of the first two half shares at €2,131. These amounts, applied to 2025 income, are published by the tax administration; the cap only bites at fairly high incomes.
Before and after: what makes the difference
Three effects combine. The first, unfavourable, is the loss of joint taxation for the higher earner. The second, favourable, is the single-parent half share and the support deduction. The third depends on custody: with shared residence, each keeps half the shares but nobody deducts support. The calculator compares both situations; deducting support and tax on support received have their own pages.
The compensatory payment on the return
Paid as a lump sum within twelve months, it gives a tax reduction of 25 % of the sums paid, on up to €30,500; spread beyond that or paid as an annuity, it is deductible for the payer and taxable for the recipient. The compensatory payment page compares the forms. If one of you leaves France after the divorce, French tax residence rules then apply separately to each.