2023-11-22 20:54:51
“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 will 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.
“She cried: Oh no, oh no, I will never be able to pay! »
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 out: Oh no, oh no, I will never be able to pay! » she says again.
“Excessive zeal” from taxpayers
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.
“This is not a design problem with the Manage my real estate platform,” the General Directorate of Public Finances (DGFiP) tells us. Concerning the notices sent to minors, this is indeed due to a declaration problem, let us rather say an excess of zeal: if the owner has declared all the members of his family indicating the same reason for occupation (occupied free of charge, rented…), in certain cases, at the time of issuing the notice, it is the FIP number (personal identification number) corresponding to one of the children which is taken out for addressing. » In short: the children were considered as “secondary occupants” of a home inhabited primarily by their parents and were therefore identified as occupants of a secondary residence.
“This is symptomatic of the lack of anticipation of the Manage my real estate declaration,” confides 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. »
Solidaires Finances publics, the first union of the DGFiP, even suggests that “the administration has noted a sharp increase of almost 70% in the number of secondary housing taxes”. That is, by doing a quick calculation based on the 3.83 million notices issued in 2022, some 2.7 million in housing tax which could have been issued in error! “Absolutely false” retorts the DGFiP, which indicates an increase of 3%, or some 160,000 additional opinions.
The tax authorities also assure that they have not noticed any peaks in complaints or appeals. If you are concerned, rest assured: “Our services were able to identify all the notices sent to minor children, they will be automatically reduced, the tax authorities tell us. Taxpayers therefore have nothing to do, they will be contacted by our services. » According to the DGFiP, each year there are between 250,000 and 440,000 disputes over housing tax on second homes, the vast majority linked to unreported changes of address.
#Housing #taxes #claimed #children #told #taxman #providing #good #accommodation #son #years