TLDR: You may benefit from a tax credit equal to 50% of the expenses actually paid for childcare, outside your home, for a dependent child under six on 1 January of the tax year. The childcare must be provided by an approved childminder. Expenses are taken into account up to a limit of €3,500 per child, after deduction of any assistance received.
Who can benefit from the tax credit
You may benefit from this tax credit if you are fiscally domiciled in France and if you are responsible for a child under six on 1 January of the tax year.
The scheme applies regardless of your family situation and whether or not you carry out a professional activity.
Conditions relating to the childminder
The childminder must be approved in accordance with the rules applicable to childminders. Approval is granted by the president of the departmental council of the department where the childminder resides.
The childcare must take place outside your home. Amounts paid for childcare provided at your home fall under another tax scheme.
Amounts paid to a person who looks after children without the required approval do not qualify for this tax credit.
Which expenses to take into account
The tax credit corresponds to 50% of the expenses actually incurred for childcare. Expenses are taken into account up to a limit of €3,500 per dependent child. When the child is deemed to be equally dependent on both parents, this limit is reduced by half.
You must take into account the amounts actually paid during the relevant year. Certain allowances directly related to childcare may be taken into account on the basis of a flat-rate amount, particularly those relating to toys and educational equipment, as well as water, electricity and heating.
You must deduct from the calculation base the PAJE free choice of childcare supplement that you received. You must also exclude the portion of expenses financed by assistance from the social and economic committee or your company, in particular through a prepaid CESU.
Year taken into account and calculation of the tax credit
Expenses are allocated to the year in which you actually paid them. An amount invoiced but not paid is not taken into account for the year in which it was invoiced.
The tax credit is offset against your income tax after tax reductions and the other tax credits provided for by the regulations, as well as after the relevant non-final levies and withholdings. If the tax credit exceeds the tax due, the excess is refunded.
This tax credit is included in the overall cap on certain tax benefits.