The Tax Man recogonizes that it is (sometimes) human to make a mistake...UPDATE August 2018

So, there is hope for us all… :hugs:

TBH I thought that this had already been the case for as long as I can remember of the French tax system and what a transformation over the HMRC.

The only caveat I recall was the need to justify your raison d’etre so best always to keep documents to show why you arrived at a particular decision. As an example, I keep a detailed spreadsheet recording our pensions received in both € and £ and recording what it actually translated to in Forex achieved rather than just taking the total in sterling and applying the given exchange rate at the year end.

I’ve never been challenged by the fisc over the figures on my tax return but in the event that sometime in the future they might, I have the evidence to show why I applied the rate I did.

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There has been a certain amount of compassion/understanding shown in some situations… but nothing official… and often, despite pleas… fines have been charged.

(I have previously quoted a situation from about 20 years ago… where a friend honestly thought they did not need to declare a Teacher’s Pension because it was taxed in UK :roll_eyes: . Said person was in fear and trembling (I thought a heart-attack was imminent)… but the French Tax folk who had issued the Summons…were very pleasant… once they understood it was an innocent mistake. Phew…)

Much better that there is some official leeway… not that we should slacken our efforts to get things right. And by now Everyone knows that Full Income must be declared… surely they do…?? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

You will only be allowed ONE mistake… after that they will go for the jugular…:scream_cat:

Is that once for the same error or for any errors in the future? Committing the same error twice is of course inexcusable after it has been pointed out to you but a bit hash if you make another unrelated mistake (with reasonable excuse) sometime in the future…

The first time, you may well get the benefit of the doubt… it would be up to the powers-that-be to prove that a deliberate mistake had been made (with a view to fraud etc).

After that… (roughly) … if you find the error yourself, late-payment charges will be reduced by 50%… if the Tax Police find the error (and judge it made in good faith) the late payment will be reduced by 30%.

It is clearly stated that Fraud will not be tolerated and will not go unpunished.

To Err is Human… new Law :thinking: