2023-11-22 14:48:51
“It’s still crazy. » Philippe, a craftsman from Yvelines specializing in the installation of boiler ducts, still can’t believe the mail he received last week. A housing tax notice on the secondary residence – it has disappeared from the main residence – in the name of his 13-year-old son, with 1,258 euros to be paid before December 15. “I put it under his nose when he came home from school, he stuck his tongue out a little,” laughs the father of the family. He told me : But if I pay that, they’ll take half of my savings since I was born. »
Philippe tried to call his tax office. “But it rings for ten, twenty, thirty minutes, then it hangs up,” he tells us again. It’s good to computerize but people must remain contactable in the event of a problem. » So he decided to write to them to obtain relief with a copy of the housing tax notice and the family record book. “I even provided a sworn statement to say that I was accommodating my son… who is only 13 years old. »
And he is far from being the only one in this case, there could even be thousands of them. Testimonies from surprised, amused or angry taxpayers are flooding into the regional daily press. This is the case of Sophie, 13 years old, in the Lyon region, who thought she would receive an English diploma in the envelope with her name marked French Republic, reports Le Progrès. But it was ultimately a council tax notice of 2,467 euros.
“It risks making a big hole in my savings”
An 8-year-old girl in Aude, Luna, saw the same type of mail arrive on Friday November 17. “I opened this mail thinking it was in my name,” said to the Dispatch his mother Livia, resident of Salvezines, a town of 69 inhabitants, located on the border of Aude and the Pyrénées-Orientales. Sum claimed, 619 euros. “When my daughter came home from school, I kindly put the mail on the table for her. She cried: Oh no, oh no, I’ll never be able to pay! » she says again.
In Seine-Maritime, it was Johanna’s 12-year-old son who received a letter demanding 1,197 euros from him, as reported by Paris-Normandie. Each time the scenario is the same. This very official housing tax notice sometimes makes the families concerned laugh but especially leaves children or adolescents unfamiliar with the tax system distraught. But sometimes also the parents.
This is the case of Johanna, in Normandy. ” I laughed ! confided his mother, and I turned to my son to jokingly accuse him of leading a double life,” relates Paris-Normandie. His young son also does not lack humor since, informed of this letter, he replied to his parents: “I do have a little money in my savings account, but it risks making a big hole in my savings if I have to pay for all of this. »
“We are on industrial processes”
These errors by the tax authorities are yet another hiccup in the somewhat laborious implementation of the “Manage my real estate assets” service, the platform on which taxpayers had to declare their real estate assets. Faced with the difficulties encountered by many French people, their questions or even problems connecting to the service, the declaration deadline was postponed three times from June 30 to August 10. Only 81% of residential premises were finally declared.
This time, the origin of these unjustified housing taxes comes from a problem with an incorrect declaration. The platform invited the occupants of the accommodation to be declared on January 1, 2023. But “it is not necessary to declare the children”, however, specifies the tax website. If the parents have done so, their offspring may then be subject to tax! And this regardless of their age.
“We are on industrial processes, 39 million tax households, 24 million owners, 4 million housing tax notices on second homes issued each year and this type of error can be encountered,” said justified by the General Directorate of Public Finances (DGFiP) from BFMTV. The tax authorities have also deciphered the problem specific to children. “It happens, if an owner has declared all the members of a family on the declaration of occupants of residential premises, that the information system issues the notice in the name of a child, by mistake. »
Up to 2.7 million council tax notices issued in error
The DGFiP does not reveal the number of French people concerned. But while 3.876 million notices were issued in 2022, “the administration noted a sharp increase of almost 70% in the number of secondary housing taxes”, explains Solidaires public finances, the first union of the DGFiP. That is, by doing a quick calculation, some 2.7 million reviews which could have been issued in error!
“This is symptomatic of the lack of anticipation of the declaration Manage my real estate, tells us Damien Robinet, national secretary of Solidaires finances publics. Colleagues were inundated with calls from taxpayers, this was bound to lead to litigation. All-digital technology leaves too many people behind, we need more support systems. »
Rest assured, if you are concerned it is obviously possible to contest with the tax authorities. “Obviously, when the housing tax is not due, you should report it via secure messaging to your tax service, and it will be reduced,” the tax authorities told BFMTV.
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