It’s foreclosure season! For taxes for the year 2021 that remain unpaid, the tax authorities proceed to the forced recovery of the debts of unscrupulous or recalcitrant taxpayers.
It’s the rule: the taxes must be paid before the deadline indicated on the notice. In case of delay, it is recommended to approach your tax center to prevent them. It may be possible to obtain a deadline and to pay in instalments. When the taxpayer does not pay and does not come forward (or does not respect his deadline), the administration proceeds to the forced recovery of the debt. For this, it uses seizure procedures provided for by law. The most common is the Administrative seizure third party holder (SATD). And it is always at the beginning of the year that the tax authorities increase ATD seizures from taxpayers to recover what they have not been able to receive.
The principle is simple: The SATD is a procedure allowing the administration to obtain payment of an amount that the taxpayer owes him and which has not been paid. It will contact a third party holding sums of money belonging to you to obtain payment. The most frequently screwed two-thirds are banks and employers. Indeed, the bank may hold funds which belong to the taxpayer and which it is responsible for keeping. The administration, via a SATD, can oblige the bank to pay it an existing sum in a taxpayer’s account. In the same spirit, the employer, when he pays the salary, may be forced to pay part of it to the tax authorities rather than to the employee.
A strict framework
These procedures are very supervised. In terms of wage garnishments, there are rules, the idea being not to leave the debtor destitute. The seizure can therefore be spread over several months, if the debt is too large to be collected at once. For a bank entry, there is a elusive bank balance (SBI), corresponding to the amount of the RSA, below which entry is not possible. A SATD can sometimes be addressed to other third parties, such as notaries or tenants, who then pay part of the rent to the tax authorities rather than to their lessor, if the latter has not paid his taxes. However, this is rarer.
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Up to 100 euros fee
Watch out for bank foreclosures, as banks often charge a fee to process these foreclosures. These fees are capped 10% of the amount of the seizure (with a maximum of 100 euros), which can represent a heavy additional cost for certain individuals. Whoever the third party is, he is required to remit the sums to the public accountant. Ownership of the sums is transferred to the state upon receipt of the SATD. If the third party is in default, it is liable to legal proceedings.
ATD entry: what are the charges for third-party notice holders?
When the SATD is not sufficient and the amount of the debt justifies it, the tax authorities have other solutions, and in particular their bailiffs, who implement more cumbersome recovery procedurest. Finally, you should know that the SATD is a procedure that can be used for most debts and not just taxes (fines, canteen or public hospital expenses, etc.).
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