You just receive a transfer from your parentsor slip an envelope to your child to help them buy an apartment. Should it be declared? The answer is not as simple as you might think. Nahima Zobri, tax lawyer and head of the tax department at Dougs, explains that “no, not all donations must be declared”. Because it depends on the category into which the gift in question falls. There are three, which are very distinct.
The usual presentthat is to say a Christmas or birthday gift. “It is case by case, the amount must remain proportionate to the assets and income of the donor”specifies the lawyer. In this case, it does not have to be declared. Then there is donation by notarial deed which is managed directly by the notary: no action is required of the beneficiary. This is the third category, manual donation, which requires a spontaneous declaration on your part – which has been done electronically for the vast majority of taxpayers since January 1, 2026.
Manual donations: one month to declare
The manual donation covers everything which no longer enters into the present of use and is transmitted from hand to handwithout going through a notary: cash, check, transfer, movable property. As soon as he is “revealed or noted”you have one month to declare it. Nahima Zobri specifies two scenarios: either you take the approach proactively, or you respond following a request from the administration, for example during a tax audit which detects an unusual financial flow.
In this case, why declare spontaneously? Because it is the only way to benefit from the reductions. In the family sphere, a reduction of 31,865 euros applies every fifteen years between a parent (under 80 years old on the day of the donation) and an adult child (or emancipated minor), for manual donations of money. For traditional donations, the reduction is 100,000 euros between parents and childrenrenewable every fifteen years. The two can be combined. “If you want to benefit from it today and trigger the countdown of fifteen years, it is in your best interest to file the declaration,” explains Nahima Zobri. She adds that this also facilitates monitoring during succession.
Fill out the correct form and avoid mistakes
Since January 1, 2026, all donation declarations must be filed electronicallyunless your main residence is not equipped with internet. Two forms exist depending on your situation. Form 2735 is to be used when you have rights to paythat is to say when the donation exceeds the applicable deductions. Form 2734 applies when the donation is not taxablebecause it falls within a reduction or exemption.
If the rights to pay exceed the reduction, parents have the possibility of paying these rights themselves in place of the beneficiary. And this support does not enter into the calculation of the donation : there are no new duties to pay; an often overlooked advantage.
On these forms, two errors recur regularly, according to Nahima Zobri. The first: forgetting to carry forward previous donations from the last fifteen years in the dedicated box. If you have already received donations from the same donor, they must appear in the declaration to update the available reduction envelope. “Not mentioning them distorts all the calculations”warns the lawyer. The second: incorrectly enter the date of the donation. An incorrect date can call into question an exemption by shifting the starting point of the period by fifteen years… which could be unnecessarily costly.
