Whether through internships in companies, as work-study trainees or by chaining odd jobs, most students today are required to hold a job during their studies.

However, who says work, says remuneration and therefore taxation!

But don't worry, the state has set up a tax exemption for young people, whether they are attached to their parents' tax household or declare their income themselves.

No taxes on odd jobs

Pledge of independence and often essential financial supplement to make ends meet, student jobs are almost unavoidable.

So as not to dissuade young people from carrying out these first immersions in working life and to take account of their often meager resources, the tax authorities therefore exempt them from taxes to a certain extent.

Only people under the age of 26 who carry out a salaried activity alongside their studies are concerned.

As long as the total of their annual salaries does not exceed three times the monthly amount of the minimum wage, they are exempt from income tax and there is no need to declare them.

Amounts above this threshold are, however, taxable.

The ceiling was thus €4,690 for student jobs carried out in 2021.

Please note: odd jobs carried out outside of an employment contract, for example as a microentrepreneur, do not benefit from any exemption and are therefore to be declared as industrial and commercial profits (BIC) or non-commercial profits (BNC) according to their plan.

Internships also offered

Particularly formative, internships in companies are strongly recommended.

However, the law requires the payment of a bonus to any student who carries out this field work as part of his university course, when the internship extends over more than 2 consecutive months (i.e. 44 days at the rate of 7 hours per day ) or from the 309th hour when performed continuously or not.

The minimum amount here is set at €3.90 per hour, knowing that the bonuses are higher in certain branches.

At a minimum, this therefore represents €1,205 for 309 hours of internship.

But there again, the tax authorities turn a blind eye!

The legislation provides that these bonuses are exempt from tax as long as they do not exceed the annual amount of the minimum wage, which corresponded to a ceiling of €18,760 for internships carried out in 2021.

Apprentices on the same scheme

If some internships are always welcome, it is even more the courses carried out in alternation which are today acclaimed from all sides to facilitate professional integration.

In this context, young people then sign an apprenticeship or professionalization contract through which they spend most of their training in a company and are obviously paid for their work.

Depending on the type of contract and the age of the student, the salary varies here between a few hundred euros per month and can reach 100% of the minimum wage.

OUR “STUDENT” FILE

Although the annual cumulative salary can therefore easily increase over the years, the exemption ceiling here is the same as that applied to trainees, i.e. the annual amount of the minimum wage (€18,760 in 2021).

Beyond that, the remuneration will therefore be taxable.

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Students also benefit from other tax incentives:

  • tax-exempt aid: scholarships granted by the State and local authorities based on social criteria are obviously exempt from income tax and do not have to be declared.

    The same is also true for housing aid granted by the Family Allowance Fund (CAF) or for scholarships allocated to doctoral students.

  • a tax reduction: when the student is attached to the tax household of his parents, the latter benefit from a tax reduction of €183 for the continuation of training in higher education.

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