Through the tax credit, you have the opportunity, every year, to reduce the amount owed to the tax administration. This is, in fact, a sum subtracted from the amount of your tax, which, unlike the tax reduction, is refunded to you in whole or in part. This is, for example, possible when its amount exceeds that of your tax or if you are not taxable. However, certain tax credits remain unknown, this is particularly what happens with the one reserved for gardening assistance for retirees. What is it about ?
Among the tax credits available, there is one dedicated to a more or less mentioned everyday expense, gardening work. Therefore, when you choose to call on a paid third party to maintain your land, you have the ability to benefit from half of the annual bill being covered. It doesn’t matter whether you own or rent your home, it is possible to obtain a 50% credit, up to 12,000 euros per year per tax household.
In the case of gardening work, this ceiling is lowered to 5,000 euros since this action does not require any particular qualification. In the list of services eligible for the tax credit, we find in particular lawn mowing, weeding, brush cutting, manual watering, leaf collection, trimming of hedges, shrubs and trees, as well as the replacement of certain plants and cleaning around paths or the swimming pool.
To benefit from this tax credit, you must note the total amount of expenses in box 7DB of the income tax return and report the amount of aid received in box 7DR. If this information is usually pre-filled by the administration, it is better to check it. The 50% reduction will be applied to the total amount of tax, for taxable persons. For others, the tax authorities will reimburse half of the expenses by transfer to the bank account.
In the context of withholding tax, you may have already had the opportunity to obtain the “advance reduction and tax credit”, paid last January for 2023 expenses. The tax administration notifies, as Notre Temps reminds us, that “the advance paid in January N will reduce the credit that you may possibly have on the basis of expenses incurred in N-1”.
To employ a person at home, you can use CESU checks, but certain steps are necessary to declare these employees to Urssaf. It is possible to contact an association or company specializing in personal services. They can arrange with the administration to provide you with a tax certificate.
This tax certificate may be requested from you in the event of an audit, like the annual certificate issued by Urssaf, the MSA, the CESU National Processing Center or the PAJEMPLOI National Center in the context in which you are direct employer. Since last year, you must also notify the type of services provided during your income tax return using an online form or annex document no. 2042 RICI.