At 9:02 AM the next day, the French tax authority sent an automated receipt: “Votre déclaration a été enregistrée. Aucun paiement dû.”

He clicked “Déclarer.”

He opened the PDF. It was a pre-filled, annotated version of the French declaration form. Yellow highlights showed exactly where to write “Art. 24 CG1 – Crédit d’impôt conventionnel.” Red boxes indicated which lines to leave blank. A blue comment box read: “Do not attach Indian Form 10F unless requested – keep scanned copy ready.”

Panic began to set in. He had tried using an online French tax calculator, but it was in Euros, didn't account for the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between India and France, and kept crashing.

For one chaotic July, an Excel sheet and a smart PDF had saved him from double taxation—and a very expensive call to a Parisian accountant.

Arjun closed his laptop, made a cup of filter coffee, and renamed the files: “Xxcxx_Tax_2025_FINAL.xlsx” and “Xxcxx_Proof_Submitted.pdf” .

“Xxcxx?” he muttered. He searched his drive. There it was: