TLDR: Income earned through digital platforms like Upwork or Fiverr is subject to tax obligations in France if the activity is carried out professionally or if transactions occur in French territory. Platforms must transmit transaction data to the French tax administration for users residing or operating in France, as well as inform them of their tax and social obligations. Declaration is done online via the official portal impots.gouv.fr.
Who must declare
If you are a tax resident in France or carry out transactions in French territory, you must declare income earned through digital platforms like Upwork or Fiverr. This obligation applies to both service providers and sellers, regardless of the platform's nationality. For non-residents, only income of French source is taxable under French domestic law.
Platform obligations
Digital platforms must inform users of their tax and social obligations for each transaction made. This includes providing direct links to the websites of the relevant authorities, such as impots.gouv.fr for tax compliance and urssaf.fr for social obligations. Platforms must also transmit to the French tax administration a series of information related to user transactions, including identification details, total transaction amounts, retained commissions, and financial account details.
Thresholds and deadlines
Platforms must notify users who exceed a certain annual threshold with at least 20 transactions in the context of expense-sharing activities or private sales. This threshold does not apply to professionals who regularly carry out commercial or freelance activities. Platforms must declare transactions made by providers/sellers on a quarterly basis. For transactions carried out after January 1, 2020, platforms must specify the amount subject to VAT in France.
Income declaration
Income earned through digital platforms can be declared online via the official portal impots.gouv.fr. Platforms are required to provide users with a direct link to this portal, as well as to the Urssaf website for social obligations.
Exceptions and limits
Platforms based in states/territories with automatic information exchange agreements may be exempt from declaring in France for transactions already covered by such agreements. Digital asset payment services received as consideration for transactions on platforms are considered taxable operations.
Online procedure
Platforms must provide direct links to the websites of tax and social administrations to allow users to fulfill their obligations. Income from platforms can be declared online via the impots.gouv.fr portal.