Not to declare your income for several years, and if only for a single year is to run the risk of having to pay tax administrative penalties or sanctions, inflicted by the administration and to criminal sanctions.The cumulation between criminal and tax sanctions is possible “in the cases of the most serious fraud”, as confirmed by the Constitutional Council on November 23, 2018, seized in the context of an appeal of the former Minister of François Hollande,Thomas Thévenoud.

Indeed, fulfilling an annual tax return to taxes is a legal obligation, provided for in article 170 of the General Tax Code (CGI).Do not comply with this obligation is to commit an offense relating to the base of the income tax (its calculation base).

In the absence of a declaration, the taxpayer is inflicted a tax penalty (financial penalty in euros) provided for in article 1728 of the CGI, which aims for the lack of production of the annual income declaration, but not only.This penalty takes the form of an increase, proportional to the amount of the avoided tax, which is added to the amount of the tax due.The increase rate is set at 10%, 40% or 80% depending on the folded offense, as shown in the table below:

This scale applies regardless of the methods of regularizing the taxpayer’s situation:

• spontaneous (but late) shipment of a declaration by the taxpayer himself
• contradictory rectification procedure
• Taxation of Office.

In addition, since the entry into force of the law of October 23, 2018 relating to the fight against fraud (article 12), the tax administration may, within the framework of a tax audit on site, draw up a PV, toThe opportunity notes the reiterated absence (on several occasions) of filing income tax declarations, within the framework of the so-called tax flagration procedure (provided for in article L. 16-0 BA of the Book of Procedurestax).

The notification of the tax flagration PV has the effect of allowing the immediate realization of conservatory seizures, without prior authorization from the judge.

Different procedures for control, rectification and taxation of the Office are likely to apply, in the event of a income tax declaration:

• request for information by a public finance agent, in writing or orally (response from the optional taxpayer)
• Request for clarification and justifications by a public finance agent (response from the taxpayer required)
• Control on parts (agent office work)
• Procedure for evaluating the office for declarations of industrial, commercial profits (BIC), non -commercial profits (BNC), agricultural profits (BA)
• Office taxation procedure, which aims in particular the cases of production of production of the declaration of revenues (2042)
• contradictory rectification procedure
• contradictory examination of the personal tax situation (ESFP)

A citizen who intends to put himself in order with the taxman after several years during which he has not declared his income to taxes, must start by starting with complete your income tax return for the past year, the Declaration 2023 on income 2022 This year, which is performing in the spring.

The declarant who files his form 2042 paper or online in good and due form and within the time limits, will not pay any particular penalty under the previous year (2022) and will normally be submitted to income tax (income tax (income tax (income tax (income tax (Ir or IRPP 2023) during summer. Find out more about the calendar> Declaration of income: Limits by department

Then remains the question of the absence of declaration for the income affected in previous years.If some are tempted to hide them, the maneuver is risky since the penalties are highly increased (see box at the bottom of this article).For taxpayers who wish to regularize their situation, the simplest is to send directly to the services of tax administration (public finance center, Individual Tax Service).This approach tends to attest to the good faith of the taxpayer in the eyes of the taxman … but will not prevent him from paying penalties.

The tax administration has a right of recovery that it can exercise with a taxpayer who has never declared his income to taxes.This right of recovery offers him the possibility of repairing the damage suffered by the State under total declaration omissions committed by taxpayers.

But not all the past income is necessarily likely to be imposed retroactively as such.Firstly because some income is exempt.But also because the taxman applies the rule of the three -year prescription: the revenues of the three years preceding the current year will be affected.Precisely, the L169 article of the LPF (book of tax procedures) that “For income tax […] the right to resume the administration of taxes exercises until the end of the third year following that as the taxation is due”.

For the year 2023, this means that the taxpayer must declare his income from 2022 but that the tax authorities can also go back to those of 2021 and 2020. When not affected in 2014 and 2015 for example, the latterwill not be subject to the tax, except in the event of occult activities or tax control (cases where the right of recovery is applied for 10 years).

Conversely, the 2020 revenues declared in 2021 may be subject to the right to take over the taxman until December 31, 2023.

In usual time, the recovery period runs until the end of the 3rd year following the year of income perception, 2023 on the 1920s, 2021 and 2022.

Note: exceptionally, for the calculation of 2019 tax on 2018 income, tax agents have benefited from a An additional year To exercise their law within the framework of tax white year, a period of recovery which ran until the end of the 4th year following 2018. Administration will therefore have had the possibility of claiming its due (for example a supplementtax on Exceptional income 2018 not declared) until December 31, 2022.

• In 2026, the right of recovery may exercise on income from the 1920s, 2024 and 2025.
• In 2025, the right of recovery can be exercised over the income of the 1920s, 2023 and 2024.
• In 2024, the recovery right can exercise on the income of the 1920s, 2022 and 2023.
• In 2023, the right of recovery can be exercised on the income of the 2020s, 2021 and 2022.
• In 2022, the right of recovery could be exercised on income from the years 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

When a taxpayer regularizes his situation, he must normally pay his taxes, here on his 2022 income. If the income for previous years is taxable, he will also have to pay the tax from which he escaped and penalties equivalent to 10%of the amount of tax in the title of not declared income previously (collected in 2020 and 2021).

But it is not all: you must also pay late interest, calculated on the amount due to the legal rate of 0.2% per month or 2.4% per year (rate in force in 2023, source: article 1727of the CGI).

The right to error, established by ESSOC law (State at the service of a trusted company) of August 10, 2018, provides for the payment of delay interest reduced by half, or 0.1% per month and 1.2% per year, for any spontaneous amending declaration filed by the taxpayer.

However, this 50% reduction in late interest rate does not apply in the event of absence or forgetting the deposit of income or deposit after the deadline.

In some cases, the sums to be paid to the taxman (tax reminders + penalties + interest) may exceed the taxpayer’s reimbursement capacity.When you are in this case, you can try to request a spread of payments.A schedule may be proposed after examining the taxpayer’s financial situation.

Some revenues benefit from an exemption from income tax (they do not enter into the calculation of tax).And more than half of taxpayers are not taxable at the IR Because they declare income below the tax threshold.

If the past income which has never been declared do not make you taxable, you logically have no tax to pay.In this case, the offender must be paid for no penalty, the increase of 10%, 40% or 80% being in principle being calculated on the amount of tax due (or this is zero).The taxpayer is however likely to pay a fine of 150 euros, in application of article 1729 B of the CGI.

Furthermore, the absence of a declaration presents a major drawback: the omission may be a brake on the granting of certain financial aids granted under conditions of income, upon presentation of a tax notice or within the framework of the exchanges ofInformation between the Directorate General of Public Finance (DGFIP) in charge of taxes and social security organizations such as CAF.

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