A taxpayer who risks, with others, having to assume a tax adjustment, must receive, like others, notification of all procedural acts of the administration.
When some people do not receive letters from the tax authorities, this error can lead to the cancellation of the recovery notice and the definitive discharge of any payment obligation, explained the Court of Cassation.
The judges explain that this involves respecting the adversarial nature of the procedure, the fairness of the discussions and the rights of defense of all those who are likely to be impacted by the administration’s claim.
They were seized of an inheritance case in which the tax authorities accused the two heirs of having overestimated the liabilities, thus reducing the duties to be paid.
The administration only addressed one of the two heirs by rejecting his challenge to the notice of adjustment. The other had to intervene voluntarily later, when the case was brought before the courts.
The omission of a joint debtor in the rectification procedure results in its cancellation, the annulment of the adjustment notice and the definitive discharge of the taxes claimed as sanctions, explains the Court of Cassation. There is no regularization possible.
But on the other hand, she adds in a long ruling in the form of a law course, if the discussion is already at the tax audit stage, or in the hands of the courts, the omission of a taxpayer in the notification of ‘an act can perfectly be rectified by a new general notification. And there, no more relief from taxes or sanctions. This is the solution which prevailed in the case, the omission of one of the heirs having only occurred at the stage of contesting the recovery and not at the previous stage, of its preparation.
The obligation to respect this loyalty towards each taxpayer is beneficial for the State, explain the judges, because it guarantees the possibility of subsequently being paid by any of them.
(Cass. Com, 30.8.2023, M 21-12.307).