Housekeeping, childcare, gardening… Millions of French people benefit each year from the tax credit linked to personal services. In 2026, the declaration changes and you have to be attentive to avoid unpleasant surprises.
Like every spring, the tax return comes back with its boxes to fill out. For people who employ someone at home or work through a specialized organization, something new is being added this year. The tax administration now wants more precise information on the expenses incurred.
The first step remains the same: enter the total amount of expenses in box 7DB, section “Personal services”. This total corresponds to the sums incurred for the employment of an employee at home or for the use of a specialized structure. In practice, the information appearing on the Cesu or Pajemploi tax certificate is generally automatically reported on the tax return. This concerns in particular the amounts paid, social security contributions paid or even the immediate advance of the tax credit when it has been used. The Federation of Individual Employers (Fepem), however, recommends carefully rereading this data before validation and correcting it if necessary.
This vigilance is all the more useful when the year has not been linear. Change of employee, use of several parties, alternation between direct employment and service provider organization: all of these cases can modify the elements to be declared. The federation also reminds that, when there have been several employees or a change during the year, this information appears on the Cesu or Pajemploi tax certificate, a reference document at the time of the declaration.
The main thing to remember is that you are now required to provide additional information about your home help. Zoé Bernon, lawyer at Fepem, explains that “the novelty for the 2026 tax return lies in the obligation to provide additional information in annex 2042 RICI, in particular on the “nature of the organization” (employee at home, association, company or private or public organization) to which the taxpayer uses as well as on its “modalities of intervention” (direct employment, agent, service provider, etc.)”. She adds: “For each category of expenses, the individual employer must now mention the identity of the home-based employee(s) he employs (via Cesu or Pajemploi). If he also uses an organization (association, company, public or private organization), he must also identify it.”
Why this development? Hélène Agbo-Bloua, also a lawyer at Fepem, declares: “The implementation of this new obligation aims to limit the risks of fraud and reduce reporting errors.” The main risk is therefore no longer just declaring an amount incorrectly, but neglecting the details now required. However, everything is not set in stone. She emphasizes: “In the event of an error, the taxpayer will be able to correct or complete the elements relating to their expenses for personal services or home employment by reporting them to the tax administration and by correcting their declaration directly online.” She also specifies that “generally speaking, inaccurate information in these sections does not automatically result in the tax benefit being called into question and the tax credit being paid”.
But Fepem also warns of persistent oversights. “In the event of a tax audit, the absence of information in these new boxes may be raised by the tax administration and supporting documents may be requested from the taxpayer,” relates Zoé Bernon. She adds: “If the individual employer forgets to declare for each expense the precise type of service it corresponds to, the tax administration may request details, or may even refuse to calculate and therefore allocate the tax credit.” It is therefore better to remain vigilant.
