How French tax residents declare and pay tax on P2P lending and crowdlending income under the PFU flat-tax regime.
French tax law treats P2P lending interest as revenus de capitaux mobiliers - movable-capital income, the same category that covers bank interest, bonds and dividends. When you lend to borrowers through a crowdlending platform (whether a French ECSP, a Latvian MiFID II firm like Mintos, or a Swiss platform like Maclear), the interest you receive qualifies as investment income and is subject to France's standard capital-gains and investment-income tax rules.
Since 2018, France has applied the Prelevement Forfaitaire Unique (PFU) - a flat-tax regime also known as the "flat tax" - to investment income. The PFU sets a single headline rate of 30% on interest and capital gains, comprising 12.8% income tax plus 17.2% social contributions (CSG, CRDS and related levies). This rate applies automatically unless you opt for the progressive income-tax scale, which may be advantageous if your marginal rate is below 12.8% (rare for active investors).
P2P loans are not treated identically to direct equity or real-estate crowdfunding. Interest income from loan notes, factoring invoices or real-estate-backed loans falls under fixed-income taxation, while equity crowdfunding dividends and capital gains follow share-based rules. For most European P2P platforms indexed on P2PScore - which offer loan products, not equity - the PFU at 30% is the operative framework.
Under the PFU, your net taxable income from P2P lending is multiplied by 30%. If you earn EUR 1,000 in interest from a platform like InRento (buy-to-let crowdfunding) or Capitalia (Baltic SME loans), you pay EUR 300 in combined tax and social charges. The 12.8% portion goes to the state budget as income tax; the 17.2% funds France's social-security system and is non-refundable.
The PFU is withheld at source (prelevement a la source) by French banks and securities intermediaries. However, most European P2P platforms are not French tax agents and do not withhold French tax. Platforms like Mintos (Latvian MiFID II licence) or Maclear (Swiss SRO registration) pay you gross interest. You must declare the income yourself on your annual tax return, and the French tax authority (Direction Generale des Finances Publiques, DGFiP) calculates the 30% charge when you file.
You can opt out of the PFU and choose taxation under the progressive income-tax scale (bareme progressif) instead. This may reduce your tax if your household's marginal rate is low, but you lose the simplicity of the flat rate and must aggregate P2P income with other revenue streams. Most investors earning over EUR 25,000 per year find the PFU advantageous.
French residents file an annual tax return (declaration de revenus) using form 2042. P2P interest goes into the section for investment income (revenus de capitaux mobiliers), typically box 2TR for interest taxed under the PFU or box 2DC for the progressive scale.
If you hold accounts on non-French platforms - Mintos in Latvia, Nectaro in Latvia, PeerBerry in Croatia, Maclear in Switzerland - you must also complete annex 2047 (revenus encaisses a l'etranger, foreign income). Annex 2047 lists each foreign source of income, the country of origin, and any foreign withholding tax already paid (which may be creditable under double-taxation treaties).
The DGFiP's online declaration portal (impots.gouv.fr) guides you through the necessary annexes. When you indicate foreign investment income, the system prompts you to attach 2047. You do not send platform statements with the return, but you must retain them for at least six years in case of audit.
Form 3916 (declaration of foreign accounts) is mandatory for residents holding accounts outside France with a balance above EUR 0 at any point during the year. Each P2P platform account counts as a foreign account if the platform is domiciled abroad. Failure to file form 3916 can trigger penalties of EUR 1,500 per undeclared account, even if no income was earned. You file 3916 annually alongside form 2042; it asks for the platform name, country, account number (or user ID) and peak balance during the year.
French tax treatment of defaults and capital losses on P2P loans is not uniform. Whether a default is deductible depends on how the loan is legally structured: as a direct loan participation, a transferable security, or a bond note.
Some losses may be offset against capital gains from the same category in the same year or carried forward to future years. Other losses - particularly those on direct loan contracts (not securities) - may not be deductible at all, because French tax law historically treated loan principal losses as personal bad debts rather than capital losses.
Platforms issuing notes classified as financial instruments under MiFID II (Mintos, Nectaro, Twino) or ECSP tokens (Capitalia, InRento) may produce losses that qualify for offset. Platforms using direct loan assignments or participation agreements may not. Case law and administrative guidance evolve; no single rule covers all platforms.
We recommend consulting a French tax adviser (expert-comptable or avocat fiscaliste) before claiming default losses. Document every default with the platform's official notice, recovery correspondence and final write-off confirmation. The tax authority may challenge deductions if documentation is incomplete.
The six-year statute of limitations for French tax audits means you must keep P2P records for at least six years after filing each return. Essential documents include:
Many platforms send annual tax reports by email in January or February. Download and archive these files immediately. If a platform ceases operations or enters insolvency (as seen with EstateGuru's workout phase or Reinvest24's suspension), retrieving historical statements becomes difficult.
France has double-taxation treaties with most European countries, including Latvia (Mintos, Nectaro, Twino), Lithuania (InRento, Capitalia, Crowdpear) and Estonia (EstateGuru, Debitum). These treaties generally allocate taxing rights on interest to the investor's country of residence, meaning France has primary taxing authority and the source country should not withhold.
In practice, most P2P platforms do not withhold tax because they are not banks and have no domestic withholding obligation. If a platform does withhold - for example, if it is classified as a financial intermediary under local law - you may claim a foreign tax credit on form 2047. The credit reduces your French PFU liability by the amount of foreign tax paid, subject to treaty limits.
Switzerland (Maclear's jurisdiction) applies a 35% withholding tax on certain interest payments, but crowdlending interest is often exempt under Swiss domestic law. Maclear does not withhold on distributions to EU investors. If you ever encounter Swiss withholding, the France-Switzerland treaty allows a refund via a treaty-relief procedure, filed with the Swiss Federal Tax Administration.
France taxes P2P lending interest under the Prelevement Forfaitaire Unique (PFU) flat-tax regime at 30% total: 12.8% income tax plus 17.2% social contributions. This applies automatically to interest from crowdlending platforms, whether European or non-EU. You may opt for the progressive income-tax scale instead if your marginal rate is lower, but most investors find the PFU simpler and more advantageous.
Yes. French tax residents must declare all worldwide investment income, including interest from non-French P2P platforms, on form 2042 and its annexes. Even if the platform withholds no French tax, the income remains taxable in France and must be reported. Use annex 2047 to detail foreign-source income and any foreign withholding tax paid.
Treatment of defaults and capital losses on P2P loans is complex and context-dependent. Some losses may be deductible from other capital gains, while others may not qualify. The rules differ depending on whether the loan is classified as a financial instrument or direct loan participation. Platforms issuing MiFID II notes or ECSP securities may produce deductible losses; direct loan assignments typically do not. Consult a French tax adviser (expert-comptable) for your specific situation and document every default with official platform notices.
P2P interest is typically declared on form 2042 (main return) and annex 2047 (foreign income) if earned outside France. Interest classified as revenus de capitaux mobiliers goes in box 2TR for PFU taxation or box 2DC for progressive-scale taxation. The tax authority's online declaration system at impots.gouv.fr guides you through the annexes required for foreign accounts and income. Keep platform statements and transaction records for six years.
Yes. French residents holding accounts on foreign platforms must separately report those accounts on form 3916 (declaration of foreign accounts) each year, even if the account balance is zero or no income was earned. Each non-French P2P platform account counts as a foreign account. Failure to file form 3916 can result in penalties of EUR 1,500 per undeclared account. You file 3916 annually alongside form 2042, listing the platform name, country, account identifier and peak balance during the tax year.
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Read guide →Maclear offers 14.5-14.9% on Swiss-originated SME loans and real-estate financing, with SRO registration and a track record of covering defaults in full. French residents declare Maclear interest on form 2042 and annex 2047; the platform provides annual statements for tax filing. EUR 30 bonus on your first deposit.
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