April 9, 2026 opens the news campaign of income statement. And maybe you have donations that can be deducted from your taxes this year. Indeed, the tax reduction for donations is one of the rare tax mechanisms that allows an individual to decide for themselves where part of their taxes goes. The rate of deduction oscillates between 66% and 75% depending on the nature of the beneficiary organization – in other words, for 10 euros donated, you can recover between 6.6 and 7.5 euros on your taxes.
In 2026, two important changes will modify the rules of the game. One may concern your donations made at the end of 2025, the other concerns those made this year.
A doubled ceiling for the Coluche tax reduction
This is the most significant new thing in this statement, and you may have missed it. The 2026 finance law has doubled the ceiling of the so-called “Coluche law” system : it is now possible to deduct up to 2,000 euros per household (compared to 1,000 euros previously) at 75%. Beyond that, the rate drops to 66%. And above all, this is where many taxpayers will be surprised, this measure applies retroactively to donations made from October 15, 2025.
If you have slipped a check to an association included in this system (the Restos du Cœur, the Red Cross, Secours Catholique, Médecins du Monde, Action Enfance, etc.) between mid-October and December 2025, you benefit from the new ceiling on this declaration. The maximum reduction on this 75% bracket therefore increases from 750 euros to 1,500 euros per household.
For example, let’s take a donation of 2,500 euros to Restos du Cœur in 2025, including 1,500 euros before October and 1,000 euros in November. The first 2,000 euros are deductible at 75% (which makes a reduction of 1,500 euros). The remaining 500 euros switch to the rate of 66%, or 330 euros. In total, this donation entitles you to 1,830 euros of tax reduction for 2,500 euros donated. A large part of the amount is returned in the form of tax savings. On the other hand, if the entire donation was made before October 15, 2025, the old ceiling of 1,000 euros applies and the deduction will be 1,740 euros.
Donations qualifying for a 66% reduction
For donations made for the benefit of associations of general interest which are not covered by the Coluche system (for example, a local SPA, Sea Shepherd, the League against Cancer, the Telethon or the ZEvent) the rate is 66%. There is also a limit: it is 20% of your taxable income. For a household declaring 60,000 euros of taxable income, this makes 12,000 euros of deductible donations, or 7,920 euros of maximum tax reduction. If donations for the year exceed this threshold, the excess is not lost: it can be carried over to the following five years.
Be careful all the same: if the calculated reduction exceeds the amount of your income tax, the excess is permanently lost. It will neither be refunded nor carried forward.
What’s new about donations made to Chambord
This is new for 2026: donations made between January 1 and December 31, 2026 in favor of the restoration of the Château de Chambord entitle you to a tax reduction of 75% (instead of 66% previously), up to 1,000 euros per household. This is a different ceiling from that of the Coluche system: you can therefore accumulate 2,000 euros of charitable donations at 75% and 1,000 euros of donations to Chambord at 75%, i.e. potentially 2,250 euros of tax reduction on these payments alone.
Please note: donations for the restoration of religious buildings in small towns, which benefited from the rate of 75% during the year 2025, have increased to 66% since January 1, 2026.
Your donations must be reported in the overall income declaration (form no. 2042), in the “Deductible expenses – donations” section. Remember to keep your tax receipts: you do not have to attach them to the declaration, but the administration may request them from you.
