Enforcement of Penalties: A divisional inspector’s signature alone is not sufficient

A company was subject to a tax audit, following which the French Public Revenue Service (administration ) challenged, among other things, the deductibility of a number of expenses. It further found that, by deducting these expenses, the company had committed a deliberate violation and, in some cases, even engaged in fraudulent practices, and applied surcharges of 40% and 80%.

The company challenged the assessment all the way to the Administrative Court of Appeals.

In particular, she believed that the requirement that the decision to apply the surcharges be made by a divisional inspector who signs the document had not been met.

The court then noted that the “ reassessment proposal ” document contained only one signature in the box corresponding to the one where the divisional inspector was required to sign the document.

It therefore ruled that the failure to include the name and rank of the person who signed the letter prevented compliance with the safeguard, as it did not allow the company “to verify that the official who made the decision to impose the penalties in question held at least the rank of divisional inspector.”

Furthermore, the response to the taxpayer’s comments—which listed only the divisional inspector’s rank—did not provide this information to the company.

The Court has therefore overturned the imposition of the penalties.

CAA Bordeaux, Sept. 23, 2026, No. 24BX00660

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