Ct is the first time in Gironde that the administration responsible for tax controls has communicated its annual report, in this case that of 2023. The date of this quantified presentation, November 21, corresponded to the anniversary of a dramatic event. Two years ago, Ludovic Montuelle, head of the Arras verification brigade, was killed by several stab wounds in the exercise of his profession. At noon, the 1,700 agents of the Regional Directorate of Public Finances of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the Gironde Department (DRFIP) respected a minute of silence, reminding with this tribute that this profession could be dangerous.
Last year, in Gironde, a thousand tax audits were carried out “on site”, with individuals or professionals, knowing that the department has a million tax households and around 300,000 companies subject to VAT. Tax inspectors specializing in this targeted and in-depth research travel to cases where the stakes are the highest, when a body of evidence suggests that tax rules may not have been respected.
24,000 checks on parts
In 2023, in the department, these “external controls” resulted in 96 million euros in tax adjustments. Otherwise, verification operations are carried out remotely. We call this “document inspection”. The taxpayer generally does not notice this. “If there are no inconsistencies, we close the file and it’s over,” observes Samuel Barreault, the regional director of the DRFIP. But if an anomaly is detected, a letter is sent. In 2023, within this framework, 400 Gironde individuals were invited to regularize their situation.
Samuel Barreault, regional director of public finances for Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Gironde.
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Last year, 24,000 checks of this type were carried out in Gironde. The resulting regularization requests made it possible to recover 28 million euros. We must add to these tax adjustments, small or large, 13 million euros resulting from 1,000 real estate tax audits, for example when an owner declares a house that he estimates at 600,000 euros when in reality it is worth two or three times more. A total of 137 million euros are being recovered in Gironde for 2023, of which 63% have already been paid.
“Equality before taxes”
“We distinguish between taxpayers in good faith or in bad faith,” underlines Samuel Barreault. It is even the basis of the system. “Tax control is about living together,” he adds. It is equality in front of taxes, in front of public charges. It is also a way of fighting against unfair competition. Businesses that don't follow the tax law hurt those that do. » The “right to make an error” appears in the so-called Essoc law (State in the service of a trusted society) of August 10, 2018.
“Those who do not respect the tax law harm those who do”
There is a presumption of accuracy and sincerity: “The system is declarative. We are presumed to be regular. But trust does not exclude control. » If a taxpayer in doubt spontaneously reports it and has actually made an error in an income tax declaration, for a commercial tax or in the area of inheritance tax for example, the increases will be reduced by half. If its correction occurs during the check, they are reduced by 30%.
“Bad faith”
On the other hand, if an irregularity is discovered, “bad faith increases” are applied. However, a tax adjustment can be contested. It's a right. Disputes are judged by the administrative court. “The burden of proof” falls on the DRFIP, which, in 2023, transmitted 47 files to the public prosecutors of Bordeaux and Libourne.
Accompaniement
Control is not the only mission of the DRFIP. It has, what is less well known, a role of supporting companies on a tax level, in particular for those in difficulty, for whom a telephone hotline has been established (on 06 17 22 70 81). Payment delays and rescheduling of tax and social debts are possible. “The procedure is secret,” points out Samuel Barreault. It's between the company and us. » In Gironde, 125 companies, representing 3,250 jobs, benefited from this system in 2024.
A sign of the times, you should know that artificial intelligence is playing a growing role. The DRFIP has been using it since 2015, if only to cross-reference files and data, a mechanism followed, each time, by human validation. “Today, 50% of our programming comes from AI,” says its regional director. A technological development which seems dissuasive to say the least.
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