In 2021, the tax audit brought in more than 10.7 billion euros, which went into the state coffers. The tax administration has many tools at its disposal to detect fraud. Just recently, it was AI that made it possible to detect pools that have never been declared to the tax services.

Three-year recovery period

The tax audit is rarely launched randomly, but when there is a suspicion of default or error. Regarding income tax, the campaign for which is currently open, the tax auditor may be alerted by a discrepancy between your declaration and what is declared to other bodies with which the tax authorities communicate. It can be the banks, the Urssaf or Pôle emploi. When he chooses to control a taxpayer, the tax officer is free to ask him for all the documents justifying his supposedly disputed declaration. But it is limited in time.

"The limitation periods vary according to the case and according to the taxes," says the website of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. For income tax, the recovery period is three years. The tax authorities may make an adjustment "until the end of the third year following that in respect of which the tax is due". The administration can act until 31 December 2025 for the tax due in respect of 2022 income.

The time limit may be extended

But beware, from the moment the administration notifies you of a proposal for rectification, the deadline is interrupted. It is then left for a limitation period of three years. "You receive a proposal for rectification in November 2023 concerning your 2020 income tax, the administration has until December 31, 2026 to claim you amounts that you should have paid," reads the website demarches.interieur.gouv.

The recovery period may be extended to ten years in certain cases: if there has been no tax declaration even though it is mandatory, if you carry out an undeclared self-employed activity with the CFE (Centre for Business Formalities) or the Registry or if your activity is hidden. This may be the case "for certain omissions or inadequacies found following the opening of a succession," says the Ministry of Economy and Finance. In the event that you lose a legal action against the tax authorities, you are obliged to regularize your tax within one year of the court decision.

  • Economy
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  • Taxes
  • Tax return
  • Treasury
  • Tax evasion
  • Income tax