Personalized tax support was introduced in March 2019 with the aim of offering SMEs greater legal certainty. Some forty new departments can now benefit from this service.
Responding to the specific tax issues faced by SMEs
The purpose of the SME tax support service is to provide answers to any tax-related questions that these companies may encounter, and to " secure economic operations that present significant stakes and high risks for them ", says the Ministry of the Economy and Finance in a press release published on June 6, 2023.
It is aimed at SMEs, i.e. companies with fewer than 250 employees and annual sales of less than €50 million or total assets of less than €43 million. These companies must be up to date with their tax reporting and payment obligations, and not have been subject to a penalty for intentional failure to comply with an audit within the last three years. Companies whose penalties have been waived by the tax authorities, or whose situation has been brought into line with the law spontaneously, can contact the support service without delay.
Eligible SMEs can take advantage of our free personalized tax support service to deal with tax issues or analyze the tax options available to them and the choices they have to make. Thanks to this support, companies can optimize their tax situation and keep their accounts under control.
As part of this service, the administration is bound by professional secrecy. Consequently, documents communicated to it cannot be used for a tax audit.
A service extended to 36 other departments
In a press release, the French tax authorities announce that the personalized tax assistance service, which until now has been located in the regional directorates of the Public Finance Department and in the Hauts-de-Seine directorate for the Île-de-France region, has been extended to 36 departmental directorates in order to make it more accessible.
#Entreprises | The personalized tax support service for SMEs is being rolled out across France with 36 new Departmental Public Finance Directorates.
- Ministry of Economy and Finance (@Economie_Gouv) June 20, 2023
More info 👉 https://t.co/KWutudfLHy@dgfip_officiel pic.twitter.com/PwHVlHGaan
Each department will have a dedicated team with a "tax contact for SMEs" to " guarantee the best possible legal certainty for companies, particularly when they are faced with developments likely to raise new tax issues ".
Bercy adds that, depending on the situation, the service can " provide one-off assistance or be a long-term solution". Foreign companies will be able to make use of the service, particularly when they wish to invest in France.
This deployment, which is in line with the target set by the "Agir contre les Fraudes" (Acting Against Fraud) plan to increase the number of SMEs receiving support from 1,500 to 8,500 by 2027, should enable business leaders to concentrate more fully on developing their company.