";
If a taxpayer is subject to a tax reassessment, he or she has a number of options for obtaining a reduction in the amount claimed or for having the reassessment cancelled.
I. Administrative appeals
❖ Informal appeals
This is a request for remission of a tax debt that a taxpayer in a difficult economic or financial situation who recognises that a tax assessment is well-founded may submit. The application must be addressed to the Minister of Finance and lodged with the applicant’s tax centre, together with all the supporting documents.
The application for remission may relate to taxes and duties owed by the taxpayer, with the exception of those actually withheld or collected, as well as the related penalties and taxes and duties regularised due to fraudulent manoeuvres.
Documents to be attached to the claim on pain of inadmissibility:
- Copy of the enforcement order;
- Proof of the tax effort made on the tax debt;
- Proof of financial difficulties;
The application may be made at any time but does not suspend recovery of the tax debt. However, in the event of a favourable response, the tax assessment departments are obliged to reduce the taxes in question so that all or part of the debt can be written off by the competent accounting officer.
❖ The hierarchical appeal
A hierarchical appeal may be lodged by a taxpayer who disputes the validity of a tax assessment made following a tax audit. The appeal must be addressed to the Minister of Finance or the director of Taxes and Domains:
- be lodged within two months of notification of the tax assessment;
- relate to questions of law;
- be supported by sufficient documentary evidence and copies of the elements of the contested procedure;
In addition, the appeal is inadmissible if the taxpayer: - Has indicated his acceptance of the amounts claimed;
- Has referred the matter to the court before lodging the hierarchical appeal;
The Minister or the DGID to whom the case is referred has a period of three months from
receipt of the request in which to notify the taxpayer of its response. Failure to reply within
this period is tantamount to an implicit rejection.
II. Legal recourse
Taxpayers may appeal to the competent court (Tribunal de Grande Instance) against a tax assessment within two months of the explicit or implicit rejection decision. The appeal may relate to:
- Taxes, duties, fees, interest, fines and penalties claimed from the taxpayer;
- The rejection of an application for relief or reimbursement;
- The rejection of any request for the issue of a document recognising a right;
This appeal is only admissible if the following conditions are met:
- It must be supported by proof of the explicit rejection decision or of the submission of the hierarchical appeal;
- The claimant must not have previously acknowledged the validity of the amounts claimed by the tax authorities;
The judicial appeal does not suspend enforcement and is lodged with the TGI in the place where the department responsible for collection is located.
In addition, in the event of a seizure, particularly a third-party debt collection notice (ATD), other appeals are possible and will be discussed in our forthcoming publications.