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© The Connexion
January 1 brings a wide range of changes to areas of day-to-day French life, from tax and motoring to the cost of posting a letter.

The minimum wage, SMIC, goes up 1.1% to €1,113 net per month. Income support, RSA, is up 1.3%.

The top rate of VAT passes from 19.6% to 20% and the old 7% rate becomes 10%. VAT on cinema tickets drops from 7% to 5.5% with under-14s offered a new flat €4 rate to see a film.

An estimated 200,000 low-income households will cease to be taxed on their income as the minimum threshold increases.

However, the thresholds applied when calculating the quotient familial are being recalculated, increasing by €1,500 for each demi-part instead of €2,000. This means an estimated 1.3 million households will see their income tax bill rise by about €800.

Postal charges increase by an average of 3% with the price of a stamp passing from €0.63 to €0.66. Cigarette prices will also rise from January 13, up €0.20 for a pack of 20 and €0.50 for rolling tobacco.

Drivers in the overseas departments should see their petrol bill fall after a law was passed limiting petrol firms' profit margins, which are said to be twice as high in the DOM than in mainland France.