What is a response from the tax authorities by email worth?

Question to an expert

I asked the tax service via the site’s messaging system, what is the response worth, legally?

The taxpayer wondering about the interpretation of a tax text, or about the essment of his situation with regard to a tax text, can ask the administration a question, by writing (as a general rule) to the public finance department of his department. The answers given in this context are called “rescripts”.

Under certain conditions, these rulings are enforceable against the tax authorities, that is to say that the position taken by the administration binds it vis-à-vis the taxpayer. But they can only be used by the person who made the request.

Warning: if the question was asked via the site’s email Impots.gouv.fr, the response cannot in principle protect the taxpayer, due in particular to the risk of falsification of the mail or the sender of the message. Opposability may, however, be permitted in certain cases, if several conditions are met.

To prove

The taxpayer must in particular establish proof of the existence of a formal position, an explicit, precise position, which recalls the facts and the applicable law. And the administration must not contest its reality or content.

What about the information published in frequently asked questions (FAQ), which the administration is increasingly using? They do not constitute regulations or laws. These are only interpretations of tax texts. Thus, they are not enforceable against the taxpayer or the administration.