Married or former couple: who pays the tax debts?

The persons concerned by the principle of fiscal solidarity are therefore spouses, irrespective of their matrimonial status, and partners linked by a Civil partnership.

In matters of tax solidarity, the tax authorities may require one of the Civil partnerships' spouses or partners to pay the full amount of the tax, without there being any need to allocate the household's tax debt among them beforehand. This solidarity applies during divorce proceedings, after divorce and in the event of a breakdown of the common life, if there are still sums to be paid under common taxation.

The taxes concerned by fiscal solidarity are:

• income tax where the couple is subject to common taxation;
• the housing tax where the couple lives under the same roof, irrespective of the marital status of the spouses;
• and the property wealth tax.

In case of non-payment, the tax administration can claim the tax indifferently from one or other of the couple members.