Taxes: anyone with a garden should consider this box; it allows you to make significant savings.

Having an outdoor space can help reduce your tax bill, but you have to think about it.

This is a little trick to consider when it comes to "doing your taxes." As the French are asked to complete their tax returns and send them to the General Directorate of Public Finance, various levers exist to reduce the bill to be paid to the Treasury. While the most well-known schemes, such as donations, childcare, or even using a cleaning service, are sometimes overlooked.

This is particularly the case for taxpayers who live in a house with a garden. They can use this to reduce their income tax. Indeed, when you hire a gardener, the amount paid is 50% tax deductible. Many jobs are eligible for this scheme.

The Public Treasury agrees to apply the tax reduction when an expense has been incurred for clearing brush, trimming hedges, trees and shrubs, flower care, weeding, hoeing, watering, green waste management, lawn mowing, vegetable garden or orchard maintenance, fruit and vegetable picking or cleaning the garden and exterior.

Be careful not to be too greedy, however. The tax authorities deduct a maximum of €2,500 from taxable income through this method, no more. That's 50% of €5,000 in expenses. Anything beyond that cannot be deducted.

To benefit from this reduction, you must complete box 7DB of your tax return. This is already well known to taxpayers since it is the line "amounts paid in 2024" in the "Personal services: home employment" section.

Here, you should note the amount of gardening bills, but not only that, since it is also in this same space that you should enter expenses related to childcare or even the use of a cleaning lady. The calculation is then done by the tax authorities and the reduction is applied automatically. On average, in 2024, filling in this box (all personal services combined) allowed you to reduce your tax amount by €853.29.