Inheritance tax 2022: calculation, exemption, scale

Inheritance tax in France: definition

In France, the assets transmitted to death is in principle subject to the payment of inheritance tax.

Each beneficiary must indeed pay a sum calculated according to the part received by each.The calculation of inheritance tax is thus carried out from scales specific to several categories of heirs.Tax exemptions and abatements are however provided by law for the spouses of the deceased and family members.

When and where to pay inheritance rights?

Payment of inheritance tax: Who and to whom?

The payment of inheritance tax on the goods which has been inherited must in principle be made immediately (cash) in one go, at the time of filing the declaration of succession to the tax services responsible for the registration which the domicile of the domicile of thedeceased :

Any heir, but also a donor, that is to say beneficiary of a donation, or legatee (of a legacy), must complete a declaration of succession to the death of the deceased.It is even an obligation, except a few special cases.This is a document to be given to the tax administration which summarizes the composition of the heritage (goods, debts) as well as the donations made before the death.The net assets (once possible debts deducted) of the succession makes it possible to determine the rights to be paid by each of the heirs.

There are two cases of derogation from the obligation to fulfill the declaration of succession:

1. Les héritiers en ligne directe (enfants), le conjoint ou partenaire de Pacs survivant sont exonérés de l’obligation de remplir la déclaration de succession lorsque l’actif brut successoral (actif sans déduction des dettes, le passif) est inférieur à 50.000 euros, à la condition qu’ils n’aient pas bénéficié d’une donation ou d’un don manuel (somme d’argent, bijoux, voiture) non déclaré de la part du défunt.
2. pour tout autre bénéficiaire de la succession si l’actif brut successoral est inférieur à 3.000 euros, aucune déclaration de succession n’est à remplir.

Form 2705 (CERFA 11277*08), just like 2705-S, 2705-A (for life insurance contracts) or 2709 (for real estate) can be informed and signed by a single heir.He must give it to the center of public finances of the home of the deceased or at the tax service of non-resident individuals if the deceased lived abroad.

Payment and deposit period of the declaration of succession

He has a period 6 months to file the declaration of succession from the death if it took place in mainland France or one year otherwise.However, certain situations, such as the absence of heir, the discovery of a will subsequently in death, the dispute of the succession, or the ignorance of the identity of one or more heirs on the day of death, can shiftthis delay.

CAUTION: Any late succession declaration is subject to penalties.In the event of delay, an interest of 0.20% applies each month from the end of the period, increased by 10% if the deposit is made with more than 6 months late, or even 40% if the situation n'is not regularized after formal notice from the taxman.

Calculation of inheritance rights

Calculate inheritance tax is essential: any beneficiary of a succession is required to fulfill a declaration accompanied by the payment of rights when filing the service of the tax administration responsible for the registration.

Inheritance tax: calculation in several stages

1. Déterminer l’actif net successoralPour pouvoir procéder au calcul des droits de succession, il est tout d’abord nécessaire de déterminer la somme à laquelle appliquer l’impôt. Cela implique d’établir le montant de l’actif net taxable du défunt, qui est ensuite réparti entre chaque héritier. C’est sur cette part nette que l’administration fiscale fixe le montant des droits à payer. Calcul de l’actif net taxable = actif – passifComposition de l’actif : biens meubles (voiture, bijoux, mobilier, argent liquide, lingots et pièces en métaux précieux, comptes bancaires, livrets, actions …) et immobilier (maison, appartement, terrain, bois et forêts…). Certains biens bénéficient d’une exonération partielle ou totale.Composition du passif : dettes déductibles de l’actif (frais de dernière maladie non encore remboursés, frais d’obsèques, certains impôts comme l’impôt sur le revenu ou les impôts locaux…)Attention ! Une donation antérieure au décès consentie par le défunt à un ou plusieurs héritiers doit être prise en compte dans l’actif successoral pour le calcul des droits de succession si elle a été faite depuis moins de 15 ans
2. Déterminer sa part taxable selon le lien de parentéEn l’absence de testament, la succession est répartie suivant un ordre fixé par la loi. Selon le lien de parenté avec le défunt, on peut bénéficier d’un abattement fiscal personnel qui permet de diminuer la base imposable aux droits de succession. Le principe est le suivant : plus le lien de parenté est proche, plus le montant de l’abattement est important.Lire l’article >> Degrés de parenté et droits de succession
3. Appliquer le barème de calcul des droitsLorsqu’on connaît sa part taxable, il faut appliquer le barème des droits de succession.Ce barème est progressif : le patrimoine reçu est taxé par tranches.

Inheritance duty calculation simulator

To facilitate the calculation of inheritance tax, you can use a simulator.

Since spring 2017, there is an official simulator to benefit from a free and anonymous estimate of inheritance tax due to the death of a loved one.The use of this calculator implies knowing several elements: the tax domicile of the deceased (in France or abroad), information on its situation (if it has been the victim of war or an act of terrorism for example), the value of the net of goods making up the succession (the active inheritance net of debts and the amount of the heir in the succession.

Other simulators exist like that of Masuccession.en which has other advantages:

Inheritance tax between spouses and PACS partners: exemption

Exemption from inheritance tax for the surviving spouse

For any succession opened since August 22, 2007, the surviving spouse of the deceased benefits from a total exemption from inheritance tax.Survivor spouses as well as the partners of the Civil Solidarity Pact (PACS) are concerned provided that the latter have written a will.If this is not the case, the PACS partner will be considered a third party and will have to pay inheritance tax at the rate of 60%, as if he were a non -parent person, foreign to the family of the deceased.

Exemption between brothers and sisters under conditions

An exemption from inheritance tax is also granted to brothers and sisters respecting very specific criteria:

Note: beneficiaries of the exemption must provide all the supporting documents and indications necessary to prove their situation.

In addition, the successions of victims of acts of terrorism or war, soldiers, firefighters, police, gendarmes and customs agents are exempt from rights.

To find out more, read: attacks, war, police: exemptions from inheritance rights

Inheritance tax: direct line reduction and other abatements

During a succession, the rights are calculated on the taxable part of each heir.As seen previously, the reduction is full for PACS and spouses partners.However, a partial tax franchise also exists in several situations:

If the heir is disabled, an additional reduction of 159.325 euros is added to the possible deductibles granted due to his family relationship with the deceased.

If the deceased was domiciled in France, all of his property is taxable for inheritance tax.On the other hand, if the heir is domiciled outside of France, only the goods located in France are taxable.

In addition to the quality of the deceased and that of the beneficiary, the nature of the goods transmitted between.Are notably exempt from inheritance tax:

Partial exemptions are provided for forest or agricultural goods (maximum 75%) or company shares or shares with industrial, commercial, craft, agricultural or liberal activity, up to 75%.

Life insurance and inheritance rights

Life insurance outside the assets of the succession

In principle, the payments made by the deceased on life insurance are not part of his succession to his death.The contract (s) therefore do not fall into its inheritance assets for the calculation of inheritance tax due by the heirs.It is therefore not necessary to include them in the declaration of succession given to the tax administration.

The only exception to this principle: in the absence of a beneficiary clause, therefore of beneficiary designated in the event of death, life insurance is added to the inheritance and taxable assets to inheritance rights.

Taxation of life insurance in the event of death

Life insurance is in principle non -taxable in inheritance tax: it is subject to a derogatory taxation in the event of death of the insured (specific abatements and scale) provided for in article 990 I of the General Tax Code (CGI), as sums paid before 70 years.

Under article 757 B of the CGI, only the sums paid by the subscriber after his 70 years on a life insurance contract opened after November 20, 1991 are subject to inheritance tax, after abatement of 30.500 euros for all beneficiaries of the contract (common abatement).Only the fraction of payments beyond the amount of this abatement is therefore taxable (premiums paid outside the capital gains and interests) in inheritance tax.

To go further: succession, reduce rights thanks to life insurance

The scales of inheritance rights in 2022

A progressive scale, depending on the relationship with the deceased, is applied to the taxable amount after possible abatements.The scales remained unchanged on January 1, 2022.

In direct line, the scale breaks down as follows:

Between brothers and sisters, the scale is as follows:

Between third parties or parents, inheritance taxes are thus established:

Inheritance tax reductions

In addition to various abatements and exemptions, reductions in inheritance tax are provided for the family situation of the heir and its link with the deceased. Si la succession est en ligne directe (entre parent et enfant), l’avantage atteint 610 euros à partir du 3^ème enfant vivant ou représenté.A child under the age of 16 is taken into account for the allocation of rights reduction.

For other cases (brothers, sisters, third parties, etc.), the reduction is limited to 305 euros per child beyond the second.

To benefit from the advantage, the heir, the donor or legatee must provide supporting documents (certificate of life, death, family book) in the declaration of succession.

Attention : La loi de finances pour 2017 (article 32) prévoit la suppression de ces différentes réductions pour charge de famille, pour toute succession ouverte depuis le 1^er janvier 2017.

Other reductions are applied for the 50% invalid war mutilated: the rights are halved, up to a limit of 305 euros (photocopy of the disability card or a certificate of invalidity pension to be attached).

How to pay inheritance rights?

Payment of inheritance taxes

How to settle inheritance rights?They can be paid by various means of payment.

It is possible to pay them:

Spreading, payment of payment

At the request of the heir, the payment of inheritance tax can be split.The number of regulations amounts to three or even seven if the asset has 50% of non -liquid goods (patents, claims not due to death, buildings, shares other than actions, works of art or collection, ...).The interval between each being limited to 6 months, the final settlement cannot run over more than three years, from the first payment made during the declaration of succession.

Payment can also be deferred if a property in bare ownership is included in the succession.He then intervened no later than six months after the meeting of bare ownership of the property and her usufruct, the transfer of bare ownership, or from the "deadline for the attribute, the legatee or the Donary forThe payment of the sums of which he is debtor towards his co -heirs, ”specifies the Official Bulletin of Public Finances (BOFIP).

Note: the debtor must send to the Directorate General of Public Finance (DGFIP) a list of guarantees in return for the tax credit from which he benefits.He has four months to build these guarantees.It may be a legal mortgage relating to a building of the estate, a conventional mortgage on another building or a pledge of a capitalization contract.

Rate 2022 of split or delayed payment

For deferred as well as split, interest is applicable (not to be confused with the interest of delay).For a sprawl request made in 2022, the interest rate in the event of fractional or delayed payment of inheritance tax thus reached 1.20% (as in 2020 and 2021).

This 2022 interest rate is reduced to 0.40% for business transmissions.

For split payment, interest is due to each deposit.For a deferred payment, they must be paid each year from the first year after the expiration of the period to complete the declaration of succession.

How to escape inheritance tax or reduce them?

In the presence of a taxable heritage, it is impossible to avoid inheritance tax.However, many legal means exist to reduce their amount while preparing its transmission of assets.This implies for the family to carry out a calculation of future inheritance tax to know what to stick to and to anticipate by taking arrangements accordingly.Taxation is better controlled when you prepare your succession than when you are undergoing it.

Among the arrangements to be taken to reduce your inheritance tax, we can cite the following examples (non -exhaustive list):

Be careful however: taxation should not be the only engine of decision -making in terms of heritage transmission, it is necessary to take into account its own objectives, the possible needs of the people to whom we transmit for and a number of rulescivil and tax are to be respected.