The tax-credit attestation for private tutors in France

An attestation fiscale de services à la personne is the yearly certificate that lets the families you tutor claim back 50% of what they paid you, as a tax credit.

Many private tutors in France do not realise this can become a pricing argument. A lesson billed at 40 € costs the family only 20 € net once the tax credit applies. Here is how the scheme works and how to issue the certificate correctly.

What the law says

Home tutoring and at-home academic support (soutien scolaire à domicile) count as services à la personne (SAP). Article 199 sexdecies of the French tax code grants a tax credit equal to 50% of the sums paid during the year.

• The general ceiling is 12,000 € of spending per year, so up to 6,000 € of tax credit.
• It rises to 15,000 € in the first year, and increases by 1,500 € per dependent child or per household member over 65.
• The credit applies even to households that owe no income tax: the state pays the difference by bank transfer.

One detail is often misunderstood: only a lesson given at the student's home qualifies. A lesson in your own premises or over video call does not open the right to the tax credit.

A worked example

Take a family with two hours of lessons a week at 40 € an hour, over 30 weeks of the school year: they pay 2,400 € in total. With the 50% tax credit, their real cost drops to 1,200 €. Without a certificate, they pay full price. Across a year, the gap often exceeds a full month of lessons. That is a concrete point to raise at the first contact, before you even describe your teaching method.

The condition: register as a service provider

For your families to get the credit, you must be registered as an organisme de services à la personne. In practice, three steps:

1. Set up an activity, for example a micro-entreprise, and get a SIRET number.
2. File an SAP declaration on the Nova portal. For tutoring, a simple declaration is enough, with no approval (agrément) required.
3. Receive a declaration number, which must appear on every certificate you issue.

Without an SAP declaration you can still teach, but your families lose a 50% tax advantage. For an independent tutor, that is often the first lever on price against an undeclared competitor.

What the certificate must contain

The annual certificate goes to each family before 31 March, covering the sums paid the previous year. It must show:

• your name, address and SIRET;
• your SAP declaration number;
• the client's name and the year concerned;
• the total actually paid over the year, not merely invoiced;
• the number of hours taught, if you track them.

The "paid, not invoiced" point matters. If a family still owes you two December lessons, those hours only enter the certificate once they are settled.

Immediate advance changes the math

Since 2022, URSSAF offers an immediate advance of the tax credit for services à la personne. The family pays only half the lesson at the time of payment, and the state covers the other half directly. No more waiting for next year's tax return, and no large sum to advance. Enrolment goes through the family's URSSAF account and takes a few minutes. For a declared tutor, that is a real selling point.

Keep clean billing all year

The March certificate is only reliable if your year-round tracking is. You need to know at any moment who paid what. A spreadsheet copes for a few months, then partial payments, carry-overs and credits pile up and the totals drift.

This is where a billing tool for tutors saves time: every lesson is invoiced, every payment ticked off, and the annual certificate is generated from the sums actually collected. You can compare plans on the pricing page.

Key points

• 50% tax credit for families, within a 12,000 € annual spending ceiling.
• Reserved for at-home lessons, provided you are a declared SAP provider.
• Certificate due before 31 March, based on sums actually paid.
• The URSSAF immediate advance halves the invoice at the moment of payment.