Hi all, I couldn’t find the answer to this on any previous CESU discussions, but apologies if I missed it. My hubby and I have just started a new gardien position, being paid via CESU. Having just received out first payslip I see that our employer (via CESU) is only paying our social taxes , not our income tax. We want to be totally legitimate and we also need a French Tax number to be able to open a French bank account, but have to be paying income tax to get a tax number. Our employers have no idea at all about how our income tax gets paid (even though they are liable to pay it as our salary was quoted in net values). Any advice on what to do would be very greatly appreciated!! 
They need to double check they are doing the declarations correctly… They should be clicking on la zone « salaire net à payer après déduction de l’impôt sur le revenu »
Hi Jane,
Thanks so much for your help, but I have looked at their CESU account (they gave me login privileges so I can try to sort it out), I cannot find either la zone « salaire net à payer après déduction de l’impôt sur le revenu ». Is it part of the main dashboard?
Thanks again,
Mo
It will be part of your employers espace I think.
Maybe someone who is registered with CESU will pop up, but my understanding is that a major benefit of CESU is that all these things are sorted!
Thanks Jane, fingers crossed 
According to this CESU sorts it so that neither the employer nor the employee has to work it out. If your income does not put you in the taxable income bracket so far, nothing will be taken. Your employer will not actually pay your income tax for you on top of your wages. It will be deducted from your pay if you have ant tax liability. But you started the job in September then unless it is very highly paid it is very unlikely that the four monthly salaries that you will be paid between now and the end of this tax year will incur any tax liability.
Hi Sandcastle,
This could be where the answer lies, thank you…
I suppose because CESU support casual workers, whose hours might vary, they do not collect tax auromatically, based on the assumption that the employee will reach the taxable income bracket.
I still need to source a tax reference number though, do you think we will not yet be registered for tax and therefore will not have a number? I have emailed CESU asking, but received no reply. My fear of phone French is preventing me from trying to find out that way 
Perhaps we should drop into the local tax office and register? Would you advise that?
To answer your question, I think the practice of quoting salaries as net values is based on using a PAYE scheme and paying tax at source, so it does not take into account your personal circumstances. As far as I know it is no longer compulsory to complete an annual tax return for PAYE employees in France, is that right?
Thank you very much for your time and effort, it was very helpful,
Mo
I know, this should be plain sailing and hopefully it will be once we have worked this bit out. My experience with French bureaucracy is that it is often a pain to set up but then works beautifully once in progress. Thank again for taking the time to respond, I do appreciate it.
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I have just been reading around and discovered that it is still compulsory to complete a tax return, even if you pay withholding tax! I will go into the local office and register for a tax number in that case.
You learn something new every day, eh!
That would certainly be the best plan, if only for peace of mind.
The impôts site is down for maintenance at the moment (as I write this) so I can’t check it but ISTR you can apply for a TIN online by going to Particulier | impots.gouv.fr
During the last tax declaration round, a number of first declarants mentioned that they were able to do this online.
Yes you must complete a tax return even if nothing to pay! It is a legal requirement. But also useful if for example you want to apply for energy grants as they will need the RFR figure off your return. Also, in due course, you will need them if you want to apply for a permanent resident card.
I worked CESU for the past 5.5years and did not have to do anything. My employer has an account with which she registers my hours with URSSAF(CESU) and they sent my monthly wage slip and they also notified the Impôts who marked on tax papers every May how much I had been paid and I had to just confirm their figures were correct or if not, ammend them. The idea as mentioned is to keep the system is as easy as possible for casual workers.