The tax audit must not deprive the taxpayer of the right to an oral and adversarial hearing

Unlike an audit, a tax review is a tax enforcement procedure that does not requireadministration visit the business. In fact,administration typicallyadministration the submission of the FEC and then communicate via email with the taxpayer, their accountant, or their attorney.

The Administrative Court of Nantes heard a case in which a limited liability company (SARL) subject to the partnership tax regime underwent an audit, following which the company’s partner was assessed additional taxes.

The Court notes that during this tax audit, the tax inspector sent only two emails to the company’s manager, first informing him that the audit concerned the application of certain tax provisions and, in the second email, setting out the findings of the audit for the company’s shareholder.

The Court emphasizes that these emails do not invite the kind of exchange that could have facilitated an oral and adversarial debate. It also notes that the company’s manager was not offered “at least a telephone conversation or a meeting at the company’s offices that would have allowed for such an oral and adversarial debate.”

The Court finds that the audit was improper and therefore overturns the tax assessment.

CAA Nantes, July 1, 2025, No. 24NT02747

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