Taxation mess - who to turn to when Impots ignore you???

[Wendy]

Thanks to our accountant in France who totally screwed up our taxation issues over the course of five years we were vastly overcharged certain taxes and social security to the tune of over 10,000 euros. In some cases mal-administration saw us paying some taxes twice. We have been trying for three years to sort this situation out and despite having sent dozens of recorded letters and emails to Clermont Ferrand and Montpellier we have had zero response. Nothing.

We finally sacked the accountant who basically sat on her derriere for the first two years before filing a 2005 tax return in 2007 and as a result she filed all following returns late and so we were taxed on 'assumed' income which was nowhere near the correct mark. Impots say we owe seven grand when in fact they owe US over ten grand! all because of an incompetent accountancy firm. Had we not signed a contract with them at the off (they had been highly recommended) we would have gone elsewhere at the first sign of trouble. Why did they do this...? because their one english-speaking accountant left and the rest of the staff did not know how to deal with our work...but we were under contract to them.

The local tresor (from whom all the tax demands come) has been useless, all correspondance we send (three years worth to date) gets no reply and we just do not know where to go to next. Who does Impots answer to...? and is there a body to appeal to so we can sort out this farcical mess? It seems like a faceless heedless wall of bureacracy whose only function is to clean out your bank account!

[cooperlola]

From memory, if the accountant is under contract to you, then they are liable for any over-charge, not you, if it is due to an error on their part (which it sounds like is the case here). I believe they have a professional body and that it is them to whom you should go. 

Edit  : I think it's this bunch:

http://www.experts-comptables.fr/

[BJSLIV]

Its pointless  talking to the Tresorie they are only the collections agency. Its like talking to UK Post Office counter staff about how much you owe the Inland Revenue.

You need to discuss your problems with whichever Hotel des Impots deals with your paperwork.

 

[parsnips]

Hi,

      You should obtain the details of the "Conciliateur Fiscal" for your department , write a covering letter explaining what has happened and enclose copies of all relevant correspondence and take or send it to his office. The address etc. of the Conciliateur is usually on some of the correspondence you have received from the tax office.

      I have had very successful outcomes after appealing to the Conciliateur.   If he does not solve the problem you can go to the "Tribunal Administratif" for your area, using all the same paperwork, but sending 4 copies of everything ( address details again usually given on tax office correspondence).  All these procedures are free and do not require an avocat.

[Wendy]

Thanks to all above for your advice - we have been banging our heads against walls for such a long time now so it is great to have some suggestions as to where to go.

The situation with the accountants was unbelievable and still is - they sat with our stuff placed to one side for so long and did nothing with it and got us into this mess. And wait for this - they have sent us a bill...! they can whistle dixie for their money until we get our reclaims sorted.

Thanks again :)

[dragonrouge]

Of course good bad and indifferent accountants and lawyers(I am one) wherever you go.

You do appear to be in some form of mess.

Whilst living in Normandie had a great accountant who spoke first class English and then he retired but by then had sufficient knowledge of the language to 'know' what to do.

Again here in the Vendee another good accountant but with no English whatsoever (and should they have to speak English?) but we can communicate and yesterday they intervened with the Impot guys and its all sorted.

However there is a French lady in our region and whose hourly rate is somewhat low and she has wonderful English. Surely there is this sort of 'assist' service in your area? If so grab hold of him or her invest say 100 euros and then at least you will understand what is going on with the Impot guys

Your money is better in your bank account than theirs.

However do not take your eye of your current accountants for you could find a nasty surprise landing on your door mat one morning.

[Wendy]

Well, thanks to advice here we are starting to get a result and have had some response - it turns out the accountant was submitting the wrong paperwork to impots for four years...fortunately we can start to sort it and have a name to put to our correspondence at last. I dont understand how supposedly 'expert compatbles' can get it soooo wrong!

We only went with them because the company had an english speaking accountant who was very familiar with british accountancy practice and we needed that at the time...not so much her english speaking skills. However she took off on maternity leave 3 months after our first meeting and never returned..the firm put our paperwork to one side for almost two years not knowing how to deal with until we started with the threats and then they passed it from accountant to accountant within the firm. A total mess - and something interesting; out of the five accountants there when we signed with them in 2004 only one original member of staff remains. They have a high turnover we have since learned...

Thanks again for your help!

[Panda]

Hello

I had exactly the same problem, went to a firm because they had an english speaking accountant, he took on loads of work from Brits and then failed to make returns on time and generally messed up lots of peoples tax situation.  He then left!  I got a big bill and had to go to the impots myself to sort out the mess.  I did not pay the accountants bill, when threatened I told them to take me to court, they backed down and I paid a portion of the bill as some work had been done but not the days he tried to claim.  I think I was drawn in by the chance to speak in english on a subject that you want to understand every word of, his ability as an accountant was assumed...wrongly!!

Good luck with getting it sorted, the impots are actually very understadning in my experience.

Panda