Self-Employed Workers: Understanding the Unified Social and Tax Declaration

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Since 2021, reporting requirements for self-employed workers in France have been simplified. Social and tax data now need to be submitted in a single declaration during the annual income tax process. Who must comply, and how does it work? Here’s what you need to know.

Key Points

As of 2021, the unified social and tax declaration has replaced the previous Social Declaration for the Self-Employed (DSI), following Decree No. 2021-686 of May 28, 2021.
This unified reporting must be completed electronically.

⚠️ Please note: this change concerns reporting procedures only. The Urssaf or General Social Security Funds (CGSS) remain your point of contact for managing and paying your social contributions.
(The CGSS fulfills the same roles as Urssaf in France’s overseas departments and regions.)

What Is the Unified Social and Tax Declaration?

Until 2020, independent professionals had to complete two separate declarations:

  • A social declaration via net-entreprises.fr, used to calculate their mandatory personal social contributions and charges.

  • A tax declaration via impots.gouv.fr, to determine their income tax.

To simplify these procedures, the standalone DSI was eliminated and replaced by a single, unified declaration that covers both social and tax obligations.

Since 2021, self-employed individuals only need to file one declaration via impots.gouv.fr, covering both income taxand social contributions for the previous year (year N-1).

Who Must File the Unified Declaration?

The new system applies to self-employed workers operating in crafts, trade, industry, or liberal professions, provided they are covered by the general scheme for self-employed workers.

Who Is Not Affected?

Some categories are excluded from this unified process:

  • Micro-entrepreneurs: They must continue filing their revenue (monthly or quarterly) directly with their Urssaf or CGSS.

  • Certain special regimes: Such as authors and artists (MDA/AGESSA), fishermen, and merchant sailors. These individuals continue using their existing separate social and tax declarations.

Recent Expansion

As of 2023, the unified declaration also applies to contracted health professionals (PAM-C) and farmers.

💡 Note: The unified process does not apply to paper filers. If you live in a white zone (no internet access) or are unable to file online, you can still use the paper income tax form. However, your social contributions will need to be declared separately with your Urssaf.

How Does the Unified Declaration Work?

While the social and tax data are now merged, the process remains largely familiar.

Self-employed individuals still log in to impots.gouv.fr to complete their income tax return (form 2042). This form now includes a dedicated social section, integrated into the same reporting flow. Some fields are pre-filled based on available administrative data to minimize manual input.

If you’re not automatically recognized as a self-employed person but should be, you can manually opt into the “social section” during the process.

What Happens After You File?

Once your declaration is validated:

  • All the information required to calculate your social charges is automatically sent to Urssaf or CGSS.

  • These bodies will then adjust your provisional payment schedule and finalize your contributions as needed.

  • If applicable, the data will also be shared with your pension fund for liberal professions.

If Your Accountant Files for You

If you use an accountant or tax advisor, they will file the unified declaration on your behalf, including the required social data—even when using EDI-IR electronic submission.

Once the tax return is submitted, the necessary information will be transmitted automatically to Urssaf.

Filing Deadlines

The filing timeline remains unchanged. The online portal opens around mid-April, and deadlines follow the standard income tax calendar, which is announced each year during tax season.

Need to update your social data after submitting? You can edit your online tax return as often as needed within the filing window. Any revised social data will be forwarded to Urssaf, which will update your contributions accordingly.

Outside the tax season, contact Urssaf directly to make changes to your declared social contribution data.

Support from Urssaf

To assist you, Urssaf and mon-entreprise.fr offer an online tool to help calculate your deductible social contributions based on your income. This can help you accurately complete:

  • Your professional tax documents (liasse fiscale), and

  • Your 2042 tax and social return, particularly for CSG/CRDS calculations.

👉 Access the tool here
You can also consult the FAQ covering the social aspects of the declaration for additional guidance.