Key points
- An information request (demande de renseignements) asks for information or supporting documents without opening a formal audit procedure such as an accounting audit (vérification de comptabilité).
- It is not an accounting audit; if reassessments result from it, they follow the adversarial reassessment procedure (procédure de rectification contradictoire).
- The information provided may be used in a later audit.
- The extent of the obligation to respond depends on the legal basis of the request; respond within the stated deadline, without volunteering more than is asked.
- The response must be precise, complete and documented: an inadequate response may prompt a more formal audit.
- On a complex or sensitive matter, involving a tax lawyer as soon as the request is received allows the response to be calibrated.
Receiving an information request from the tax authorities often causes concern. Unlike a notice of accounting audit (avis de vérification de comptabilité), which announces a formal audit, an information request is a less formal procedure, but it still deserves careful attention. The way you respond may influence the rest of your relationship with the tax authorities.
See also: the remote accounting review procedure (examen de comptabilité) (in French).
The legal nature of a French tax information request
An information request is a procedure by which the French tax authorities ask a taxpayer for information or supporting documents, without opening a formal audit procedure. It may concern specific points: justification of an expense, explanation of a change in turnover, documentation of a particular transaction.
This procedure does not offer the safeguards specific to an accounting audit. If the tax authorities then plan to make reassessments, they must notify them through a reasoned proposed tax reassessment (proposition de rectification), to which you may respond (Article L. 55 (in French) and Article L. 57 of the French Tax Procedure Code (Livre des procédures fiscales) (in French)). Information provided in response to an information request may be used in a later audit.
What are you required to provide?
An information request is not a formal audit giving the tax authorities all the powers available to them in an accounting audit. It is most often based on Article L. 10 of the Tax Procedure Code (in French), which allows the tax authorities to request information, justifications or clarifications regarding the returns filed. For income tax, requests for clarification or justification under Article L. 16 are more demanding: failure to respond may, under the conditions laid down by law, lead to a default assessment (taxation d’office) (Article L. 69 of the Tax Procedure Code (in French)). Unless a specific deadline applies, you have thirty days to respond (Article L. 11 of the Tax Procedure Code (in French)). You are not required to volunteer information beyond what is requested.
How to build your response
Your response to an information request must be precise, complete on the points requested and documented. An inadequate response may prompt the tax authorities to open a more formal audit procedure. A response that provides information beyond what was requested may open up further lines of enquiry.
It is advisable to analyse the exact scope of the request, gather the relevant supporting documents, draft a clear and structured written response, and keep a copy of the request and of the response sent.
When to call on a tax lawyer
Where the information request concerns a complex or sensitive matter (restructuring transaction, intra-group flows, deductibility of a significant expense), involving a tax lawyer as soon as the request is received allows the response to be calibrated and avoids unintentionally creating difficulties for what follows.
For assistance with a tax audit, see our dedicated pages on the tax audit lawyer and the tax lawyer.
