Is money from solar panels taxable in France?
It is worth considering whether you will sell electricity back to the grid or not
Rules partly depend on the power output of the panel system
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Reader Question: We have had six photovoltaic panels placed on part of our roof. Our installers applied for and received all necessary permissions before installation. Are we required to advise the tax authorities about this?
There is no specific declaration that needs to be made to the tax office about the installation of the panels.
However, if you are obtaining money from selling back surplus electricity to EDF – referred to as a contrat EDF obligation d’achat – you have to declare this on your French tax declaration in the following spring.
If you have not yet made your first claim, you can find more information on the process at tinyurl.com/edf-solar.
Read more: New rules lower aid for home solar panels in France
As usual with income declarations in France, it is income received into your bank account in a given French tax year (the same as the calendar year) that is declarable.
For example, money received in 2025 is declared in spring 2026.
Typically, people who sell electricity take a meter reading once a year on the anniversary of their contract to establish a facture (bill) via their online espace producteur.
A payment is then issued for the previous 12 months.
The income is declarable but not taxable if the power is under 3kWc; if power is above this, then the income is both declarable and taxable.
The declarations are on the form 2042C PRO on paper, or in the main part of the online declaration at impots.gouv.fr.
