Deferral of payment: Be careful when drafting the guarantee proposal

administration issued a tax assessment to a company, which contested it and, in order to avoid paying the assessment, requested a payment deferral.

In response to the public accountant’s inquiry regarding the guarantees that could be provided to fully benefit from this payment deferral, the company stated that it “was considering providing a bank guarantee to secure the amount of the disputed taxes.”

The accountant then rejected this guarantee. This rejection was challenged before the Administrative Court of Appeals, which ruled that the proposal amounted to nothing more than a "mere declaration of intent."

The court therefore ruled that, in the absence of evidence demonstrating that steps had been taken to provide such a bond, the public accountant was entitled to refuse the guarantee.

CAA Toulouse, May 13, 2026, No. 26TL00968

This legal watch produced by Mispelon Avocat, a law firm specializing in French tax audit and French tax litigation. You can follow this legal watch subscribing to the newsletter via this link.