Retirees or their families can benefit from an income tax reduction if they pay for a place in a nursing home. The tax benefit must be mentioned in box 7CD of the taxpayer’s income tax return.
The deadline for completing your tax return is fast approaching for the 41.5 million French taxpayers concerned. Among them, the 17.2 million retirees must also carry out this traditional spring chore. Even seniors residing in accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people (Ehpad) are not exempt from this administrative process.
According to data from the Department of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (Drees), around 600,000 people reside permanently in a nursing home in France. However, a place in such an establishment is expensive. Residents generally pay the bill themselves when they have the ability to do so. However, some of them, due to lack of sufficient autonomy or means, seek help from their loved ones. It is then the children, grandchildren or spouses who take care of this expense on their behalf.
However, many people are unaware of it, but paying for accommodation in this type of establishment, for yourself or a loved one, gives access to a considerable tax advantage. An additional tax reduction may be mentioned on the tax return of the taxpayer who pays the bill for the nursing home.
This tax reduction represents 25% of the expenses made to pay for the place in a nursing home, after deduction of any aid dedicated to the elderly such as the personalized autonomy allowance (APA). The ceiling for expenses taken into account is set at 10,000 euros per person accommodated, which allows a maximum reduction of 2,500 euros per year and per person to be obtained.
To benefit from this tax advantage, taxpayers must indicate the amounts paid in boxes 7CD of their tax return, and 7CE for the spouse if applicable. According to the General Directorate of Public Finances (DGFIP), more than 420,000 taxpayers benefit from this tax reduction each year.
This tax advantage is particularly welcome given the annual cost of a place in a nursing home. Christine Hospital, director of Uni-Santé, a specialist in databases on establishments for the elderly, specifies that the average cost of a place is 2,418 euros per month. Prices vary depending on the type of establishment: 2,143 euros on average for public structures, 2,335 euros for associative establishments and 2,935 euros for private structures.
Beyond this specific reduction in accommodation costs, retirees living in nursing homes also benefit from other tax reductions reserved for retirees. The first is a global reduction of 10% on declared annual income. Thanks to this mechanism, a retiree declaring 30,000 euros of income will see his taxes calculated not on 30,000 but on 27,000 euros, or 3,000 euros less.
Several million retirees can also claim a second tax reduction in 2026. To be eligible for this additional advantage, you must be at least 65 years old on December 31, 2025. A large proportion of French retirees are therefore potentially affected since the average age of retirees in 2025 was 75 years old according to INSEE.
This second reduction is however subject to income ceilings. In 2026, a retiree aged over 65 living alone and whose income is between 17,670 euros and 28,430 euros per year will benefit from a reduction of 1,411 euros. For those whose income is less than 17,670 euros, the reduction can reach 2,822 euros. In the case of a married or civil partnership couple subject to joint taxation, this second reduction applies as long as only one of the two spouses meets the age condition.
