Here is a tax advantage to know when you have a garden.
Hiring a person to carry out small maintenance work in your main or secondary residence opens access to the tax credit linked to the employment of an employee at home.
This system allows 50% of expenses incurred to be deducted from income tax.
What gardening work is affected?
Among the eligible gardening work, the
Garden Maintenance
site lists mowing the lawn, clearing brush, pruning, maintaining flowerbeds, manual watering of plants and application of fertilizer, collecting leaves and the small uprooting of plants, the pruning of shrubs and hedges, or even the maintenance of swimming pools... Creative work, however, is not affected by the tax credit.
Neither is building a fence.
This tax advantage is accessible to all people domiciled for tax purposes in France, whether they are employed, unemployed or retired, explains the website of the Ministry of the Economy.
The intervention of the employee at home can concern a primary or secondary residence.
You must report the amount of expenses when you complete your annual income tax return, after deduction of any assistance received for the employment of the employee at home.
“Don’t forget to keep all your proof of expenses in case the tax authorities ask you to prove that you actually used home employment,” recommends the government site.
Also read: Tree pruning: our practical and regulatory guide
A ceiling to know
If the amount of the tax credit is greater than the amount of income tax, the tax administration reimburses the difference.
Note that for small gardening work, this tax credit is capped at 5,000 euros of annual expenses per household.
Finally, since 2022, individuals can benefit from an immediate advance on the tax credit, which allows them to avoid advancing costs.
This service is offered by Urssaf.
The employee must first register to allow the individual to benefit from it.
It allows you to only have 50% of the amounts to pay.