TLDR: Omissions or inaccuracies in tax documents that do not contain elements relevant to the assessment or collection of tax are subject to a fine of €15 per omission or inaccuracy (min. €60, max. €10,000 for simultaneous documents). For the declaration provided for in Article 242 sexies of the French Tax Code (CGI), the fine is increased to €150 per omission or inaccuracy. For documents with an impact, the surcharges under Articles 1728 and 1729 of the CGI apply. Specific rules exist for the TCA, transfer pricing, capital gains on intangible assets, registers, and the public audiovisual contribution.
General penalties for documents with no impact on assessment or collection
Omissions or inaccuracies in documents that do not contain elements relevant to the assessment or collection of tax (e.g., nil or credit declarations) incur a fine of €15 per omission or inaccuracy. The total amount of fines for documents submitted simultaneously cannot be less than €60 or more than €10,000. For the declaration provided for in Article 242 sexies of the CGI, the fine is increased to €150 per omission or inaccuracy.
Fines do not apply in the case of a first offence committed during the current calendar year and the three preceding years, if the person concerned has remedied the offence spontaneously or within thirty days of a request from the administration, or in the case of force majeure.
Penalties for documents with an impact on assessment or collection
Documents containing elements relevant to the assessment or collection of tax are subject to the surcharges provided for in Articles 1728 and 1729 of the CGI. In the event of an omission or inaccuracy in a document submitted late, the fines for these offences are in addition to the fine for late submission.
Specific penalties by type of document
Declarations mentioned in Article 1406 of the CGI and in Section XVII of Article 34 of Law No. 2010-1658
Failure to submit within the deadlines incurs a fine of €150. Omissions or inaccuracies in these declarations are subject to a fine of €15 per omission or inaccuracy, with a minimum of €60 and a maximum of €150 per declaration.
Transfer pricing (Form No. 2257-SD)
Failure to file within the deadlines incurs a fine of €150. Omissions or inaccuracies are penalised under Article 1729 B of the CGI (€15 per omission, min. €60, max. €10,000 for simultaneous documents).
Capital gains on intangible movable assets
Omissions or inaccuracies (e.g., address, identity of the beneficiary, account references) are subject to a fine of €15 per omission or inaccuracy, with a minimum of €60 and a maximum of €10,000 for documents submitted simultaneously. The fine does not apply in the case of a first offence remedied spontaneously or within thirty days, or in the case of force majeure.
Documents mentioned in Article 1725 of the CGI
Omissions or inaccuracies incur a fine of €15 per omission or inaccuracy, with a minimum of €150 for each omitted, incomplete or inaccurate document. The fine under Article 1726 of the CGI does not apply if the offences result in the application of the penalties under Articles 1729 or 1827 of the CGI.
Omissions in the declaration of account modifications
Omissions in the declaration of account modifications and inaccuracies or omissions in the declarations incur a fine of €150 per omission or inaccuracy, with a maximum of €10,000 for information submitted simultaneously.
Penalties for the Taxe sur les acquisitions de titres de capital ou assimilés (TCA)
For taxpayers and members
- Inaccuracies or omissions in the information transmitted: fine of €150 per omission or inaccuracy, with the total not exceeding 40% of the omitted tax.
- Failure to transmit information:
- Surcharge of 40% of the tax due (min. €1,000) if a tax amount is due.
- Fine of €1,000 per monthly declaration if no tax amount is due.
- Late transmission of information:
- Surcharge of 20% of the tax due (min. €500) if a tax amount is due.
- Fine of €500 per monthly declaration if no tax amount is due.
Penalties for failure and late submission are not cumulative: in the event of failure, only the penalties for failure apply.
For the TCA central depository
- Omission or declarative inaccuracy: fine of €150 per omission or inaccuracy.
- Failure to file a monthly declaration or failure to meet the obligation to provide information: fine of €20,000.
Penalties for registers
Omissions or inaccuracies in registers incur a tax fine of €3.75 per omission or inaccuracy.
Penalties for the public audiovisual contribution
Omissions or inaccuracies in declarations of the public audiovisual contribution (Article 1840 W ter of the CGI) result in the application of a specific fine per television receiver or similar device. This fine replaces the standard surcharges provided for in Article 1728 of the CGI and does not accumulate with them.