France

Title: Enquête revenus fiscaux N

GENERAL INFORMATION AND BASIC DEFINITIONS

1. Background

Further information is available from Insee of 18 BD Adolphe Pinard 75675 Paris cedex 14, phone: 01 41 17 54 68, fax: 01 41 17 65 48, e-mail: olivier.guillemin@insee.fr.
Data have been collected by household survey since 1996. 1

2. Purpose and coverage

The following purposes are considered to be very important or of some importance:
Lesser importance is attached to:

Geographic coverage: Selected areas only, namely Metropolitan France with the following geographic areas excluded: overseas Departments and Territories(Dom and Tom) .

Population coverage:
The following types of household are included in the data collection:
The following types of household are excluded in the data collection:

Units:
Dwelling units are used in the sample selection and are characterised by:
Data are recorded for the household unit which is characterised by:

Unit members: 2 Visitors (not usual residents) temporarily living in the dwelling are not included as unit members. Domestic staff living in same dwelling/compound are included in the unit.

3. Reference periods

The time period to which income and/or expenditure statistics refer when released/published is from 01/02 to 12/02. This survey is conducted annually. The statistics are published annually.

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

4. Sample design

The Primary, Secondary and Ultimate Sampling Units are block, none and household respectively.

Stratification:
Areas/districts were stratified using the following criteria:

The sampling frames for the Primary Sampling Unit (PSU) and Ultimate Sampling Unit (USU) were the list of Census blocks and none respectively. The sample size was 75000 households or other units. The overall response rate for the survey was 93 percent. Errors/biases were minimized by using an updated sampling frame.

Enumeration procedure: Enumeration uses a panel design in which each reporting unit is enumerated more than once. The sample is divided into 3 representative sub-samples, some of which are replaced with new ones during the lifetime of the panel. Each sub-sample remains in the panel for 24 months. The panel has an expected lifetime of 2 years, and each reporting household/unit is enumerated 3 times in total. If a reporting household/unit drops out from the panel, it is abandonned. If changes occur in composition of the reporting household/unit during the lifetime of the panel, then it continues in the panel. No action is taken to select a smaller set of reporting units for more detailed questioning.

DATA COLLECTION, CONCEPTS, DEFINITIONS AND CLASSIFICATIONS

5. Income data

Income data are collected. Receipts do not have to be regular and recurring to be considered as income. Income excludes receipts resulting from the sale or reduction of assets and/or from incurring liabilities. Income excludes receipts that are not currently available to the unit.

The following receipts are collected separately:5
The following receipts are collected but not separately:5
The following receipts are not collected:5
The following receipts are classified as income from paid employment:
The following receipts are classified as income from self-employment:
The following receipts are classified as property income:
The following receipts are classified as employment-related transfer income:
The following receipts are classified as transfer income but not employment-related:
The following receipts are classified as other income but not employment-related:
The following receipts are excluded due to measurement problems:
The following receipts are excluded for other reasons:
The following receipts are collected using the last 12 months as the reference period:

Negative values (business losses) were included when computing self-employment income.

6. Expenditure data

Expenditure data are not collected from this source.

7. Other Data Collection Issues

The following other topics are covered:

Households are not requested to indicate whether durable goods are new or second-hand when their acquisition is recorded.

Non-response:

Non-response is reduced using other incentives : compulsory in character.

DATA PROCESSING, ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION

Answers are not pre-coded on data collection forms, but are coded by the taxpayer .

The responses are edited tax authorities.

Extreme values are retained without change. Neither in-kind receipts nor consumption of own production is included in the estimates.

Treatment of owner-occupied housing: Values of owner-occupied housing are not included in the total income/expenditure estimates.

Treatment of selected groups/values in analysis: No households/units are excluded from analysis because of incomplete response. Missing values are imputed only on some occasions . Supplementary sources are used to adjust estimates for under- or over-reporting. see page annexed to C are excluded from data analysis.

Weighting:
Weighting factors are used to adjust for:

Sampling errors: No information was provided on samplimg errors.

Tabulation and Analysis: Statistics are presented showing averages per month6 and statistics are analysed and tabulated for households and for individuals separately.

The following classifications are used for tabulation and analysis of income statistics:

Documentation and Dissemination:
Published survey reports: synthéses n°28, 47, 65, 1999
Published methodological information: guide d'utilisateur des enquêtes revenus fiscaux (document interne), 10/02

Additional statistics (or special tables on request) are not available for public use.

Separate tables are published for the following special population groups:7
Files of unidentifiable unit data are not available (or available on request) for public use.

(1) Certain data are recorded by the administration. (2) Students : students living as boarders, in university campuses or student hostels in connection with their studies must be included with the normal accommodation where they live the rest of the time. When they have independent accommodation, they will only be included in their parents' home (or another's) only if they do not occupy it during the academic vacations. The fact that they occupy their studen t lodging for even part of theacademic vacations is sufficient not to include them in their parents' home. (3) The designation of the reference person varies according to the type of household. When there is a couple in the household, the male spouse is coded as the reference person. Where there are several couples, the oldest active male spouse is designated, or failing that, the oldest active person. In the absence of a couple, the single-parent family is surveyed. In the case of a single-parent family, the mother (or father) of the children is designated as the reference person. Where there are several, the oldest active person or failing that the oldest is designated. When there are only separate individuals in the household, then the oldest active person is designated, or failing that the oldest. (4) In part for each person receiving an income and in part a single individual declaring for all persons belonging to the unit. (5) The following income is imputed: old age pensions, family allowances, disability benefits, housing benefit. (6) The statistics are also presented in the form of annual averages. (7) Staff of hospitals, schools and hotels living in a group, members of religious communities, populations of mobile homes and seafarers, persons without a fixed abode , are entirely excluded from the scope of the survey.