You declare your income, and a particular point escapes you. You seek advice from tax officials. The advice given may be inappropriate, and during a tax audit, an adjustment may be applied to you. The advice given does not offer any guarantee, unless it is in writing and signed by a qualified and identified official.
The Right Advices
Advice from tax officials, unwritten and signed by a qualified official, does not guarantee you will not undergo a tax adjustment. It’s well known. The words fly away, only the writings remain. It is the same with the tax authorities. The advice that you get from the services, however official, in order to correctly fill out your income tax return does not prevent you from being rectified subsequently, in the event that you have incorrectly declared your income. Clearly, the advice given by telephone by the agents of the tax services is not authentic, only the writings from the tax services are opposable to the tax authorities. For online tax filing choosing the right options is important there.
Unable to physically return to the tax offices
With the pandemic, physically going to the tax office is obviously a bad idea. There is therefore securing messaging in your personal taxpayer area. Rather, it is the right way of contact, because the answers given are in writing. But it is still necessary that these emails be signed by a qualified and identified official. For taxpayers who prefer to explain their sometimes complex situation by telephone to a tax official, a dedicated telephone line also exists.
Sound advice given without any guarantees
Information given orally by a tax officer to a taxpayer to help him complete his tax return is not opposable to him. Clearly, the aid indicated only commits you if you make the declaration that we advise to make.
Tax audit and adjustment if necessary
No assistance, oral or written, given by a tax officer, prevents the administration from subsequently checking your declaration. In the event of non-payment of the tax payable, according to the tax authorities, you can be rectified. Arguing that a tax officer helped you over the phone will be pointless, since this assistance is not opposable. Indeed, in the absence of written records, the Minister considers “that it is not possible to guarantee the accuracy and completeness of the information transmitted to the tax administration, nor that of the response it provided as part of an oral exchange”.
3 years of tax anticipation for individuals
In principle, the tax administration has until the end of the 3rd year following that in respect of which the tax is due to exercise its right of control.
Right to error
In particular, it allows a taxpayer to take advantage of the positions taken by the administration during a tax audit, on the points examined during the audit, including those which were examined following the taxpayer’s request to the taxpayer.
