As a result of the automatic exchange of banking information, the tax authorities have access to certain information about foreign bank accounts.

Every year, foreign banks located in countries that are parties to the international agreement automatically send banking information, i.e. without the French tax authorities having to request it from them.

This information broadly consists of: the account balance, the income generated by the account (interest, dividends, etc.), the name and address of the account holder, and the date the account was opened.

Strictly speaking, the French tax authorities do not have access to foreign accounts (as would be the case with French accounts), but they do have access to a certain amount of important information.

This is the French tax authorities’ myPOS system.

More precisely, the French tax authorities do not have access to foreign bank statements, but only to the key account information (balance, holders, etc.).

They may, however, ask foreign banks to provide them with the bank statements.

Such requests nevertheless remain relatively rare, as they involve a certain procedure, and the banks’ responses sometimes take a long time.

In general, it is only when dealing with an uncooperative taxpayer that the tax authorities request foreign banks to provide bank statements.

To sum up:

• The French tax authorities do not have direct access to foreign banks: in other words, they do not have direct access to bank statements
• The French tax authorities do, however, receive every year, automatically, i.e. without having to make a request, the main information relating to foreign bank accounts (balance, etc.), provided that the bank is located in a country that is a member of the international agreement on the automatic exchange of banking data
• In certain rare cases, the French tax authorities may request a specific taxpayer’s bank statements from the foreign bank: for example, during a tax audit, when the taxpayer refuses to cooperate with the tax authorities (refusal to provide their bank statements to the tax authorities, etc.)