To check taxpayers’ returns, the French tax authorities need information. The French Tax Procedure Code (LPF) allows them to obtain it from third parties without opening a tax audit: this is the right of disclosure (droit de communication). Banks, businesses, notaries, insurers, online platforms and public bodies may thus be required to hand over documents and information.
This article explains in plain terms what the right of disclosure is, who it applies to, how it works, what it can reveal about accounts and transfers abroad, and the safeguards available to taxpayers. As every situation is different, the consequences of the use of such information generally deserve to be examined with a lawyer.
In brief
- The right of disclosure allows the French tax authorities to obtain documents and information from third parties: banks, businesses, public bodies, insurers, online platforms, etc.
- It is not a tax audit: officers may consult and copy documents, but not examine them critically.
- Banking secrecy cannot, in principle, be raised against the tax authorities; professions bound by professional secrecy benefit from certain limits.
- The taxpayer is not, in principle, notified; but if the authorities base a reassessment on this information, they must tell the taxpayer what it contains and where it comes from, and provide a copy on request before the tax is put into collection.
- A third party that refuses to disclose is, in principle, liable to a €10,000 fine per request.
Contents
- What is the right of disclosure?
- Who does the right of disclosure apply to?
- How is the right of disclosure exercised?
- The right of disclosure and accounts abroad
- Can professional secrecy be raised against the tax authorities?
- Is the taxpayer informed?
- What penalties for a third party that does not respond?
- FAQ
What is the right of disclosure?
The right of disclosure is the power of tax officers to examine documents and information held by third parties, and to take copies of them, in order to assess, check and collect tax (articles L81 et seq. of the LPF). It applies whatever the medium of the documents, paper or digital.
It differs from audit procedures as such, such as the desk audit, the accounting audit or the in-depth examination of personal tax situation (ESFP), presented in the article what are the forms of tax audit?. The right of disclosure is used to gather information: it is often exercised before an audit, or during one, to cross-check the taxpayer’s returns.
Who does the right of disclosure apply to?
The law lists a large number of persons and bodies required to answer the authorities’ requests. The main ones are shown in the table below:
| Third party | Examples of information | Provision (LPF) |
|---|---|---|
| Banks and credit institutions | Account statements, transactions, references of transfers of funds abroad | Articles L83, L85 and L96 A |
| Businesses, traders and liberal professions | Accounting books, invoices, registers | Articles L85 and L86 |
| Public administrations and bodies, including social security | Information held in the course of their duties | Article L83 |
| Insurance companies and intermediaries | Contracts, premiums paid, surrenders | Article L89 |
| Online platforms, internet access and hosting providers | Users’ identity, transactions, connection data | Articles L82 AA and L96 G |
| Judicial authorities | Indications suggesting tax fraud, passed on spontaneously | Article L101 |
The right of disclosure may also concern persons whom the authorities have not yet identified: these are known as “non-named” requests. Such requests must specify the nature of the legal or economic relationship concerned, the information requested, defined by objective criteria, and a period which in principle may not exceed eighteen months. They are decided by an officer of at least divisional inspector rank (articles L81 and R81-3 of the LPF).
How is the right of disclosure exercised?
The right of disclosure is exercised either on site, at the third party’s premises, or by correspondence, on paper or electronically. When it is exercised on site, a notice of visit is in principle sent beforehand, or handed over at the start of the visit if it is unannounced. Officers may consult the documents and take copies of them.
In this context, officers may not, in principle, carry out a critical examination of the documents, as they would during an accounting audit: the right of disclosure is used to gather information, not to check the returns of the person providing it.
An example
A French bank receives a request concerning transfers of funds made abroad in 2024 by one of its customers, a private individual. It discloses the date, amount and references of these transfers, together with the details of the beneficiary account. If these transfers reveal a foreign account that was not reported on form 3916, the authorities may, depending on the case, open an audit. If they then base a reassessment on this information, they must in principle tell the taxpayer where it comes from.
The right of disclosure and accounts abroad
To find out about accounts held outside France, the authorities have several sources. In France, the right of disclosure with banks allows them to obtain the references of transfers of funds abroad made by individuals, associations and non-commercial companies (article L96 A of the LPF). In addition, every year they receive information sent by many States under the automatic exchange of bank data (CRS), and they may send requests for information to other States under the administrative assistance provided for by tax treaties and European Union law.
These international exchanges are not, strictly speaking, part of the right of disclosure, but they feed audits in the same way. The article do the tax authorities have access to your foreign bank accounts? presents them in detail. Where a foreign account has not been reported, the possible consequences are set out in the article on fines for not reporting a foreign account.
Can professional secrecy be raised against the tax authorities?
In principle, professional secrecy does not prevent the right of disclosure. This is the case in particular for banking secrecy: banks cannot raise it against the tax authorities, whose officers are themselves bound by professional secrecy.
There are, however, limits for non-commercial professions whose members are bound by professional secrecy, such as doctors or lawyers: the authorities may obtain their professional documents, but their request may not, in principle, concern the nature of the services provided to their clients (article L86 of the LPF).
Is the taxpayer informed?
The authorities do not, in principle, have to warn the taxpayer when they exercise their right of disclosure with a third party. The taxpayer may therefore only find out much later, during an audit.
However, when they rely on information or documents obtained from third parties to make a reassessment, the authorities must inform the taxpayer of their content and origin. They must also provide a copy, on request, before the tax is put into collection (article L76 B of the LPF). Failure to comply with these obligations in principle makes the procedure irregular and may lead to the cancellation of the adjustments based on those documents: this is one of the points examined in the article on the procedural flaws that may lead to the cancellation of reassessments. Where a proposed reassessment mentions information obtained from third parties, a request for a copy may be useful; whether and when to make it deserves to be examined with a lawyer.
What penalties for a third party that does not respond?
Refusing to disclose the documents or information requested, failing to keep those documents or destroying them before the end of the retention period are in principle punishable by a €10,000 fine, applied to each request as soon as all or part of the items requested has not been disclosed (article 1734 of the French General Tax Code). Refusing to disclose information on transfers of funds abroad is punishable by a fine in principle equal to 50% of the amounts not disclosed (article 1735 of the same code).
So that this right can be exercised, the books, registers, documents and records concerned must in principle be kept for six years from the last transaction recorded in the books or registers, or from the date on which the documents were drawn up (article L102 B of the LPF).
FAQ
Must my bank tell me when the tax authorities ask it for information?
In principle, no. Neither the authorities nor the bank are required to inform the customer that the right of disclosure has been exercised. The taxpayer usually learns of it later, when the authorities rely on this information to make a reassessment: they must then disclose its content and origin.
Is the right of disclosure a tax audit?
In principle, no. It is a procedure for gathering information from third parties. It may, however, precede or accompany an audit, such as a desk audit or an in-depth examination of personal tax situation.
Can the tax authorities find out that I have an account abroad?
In many cases, yes: they can obtain from French banks the references of transfers of funds abroad, and they receive information from many States under the automatic exchange of information. The consequences of an unreported account depend on each situation and deserve to be examined with a lawyer.
Can I obtain the documents the tax authorities gathered from third parties?
When the authorities rely on these documents to assess the tax, the taxpayer may in principle request a copy before the tax is put into collection. This obligation in principle covers the documents on which the authorities relied.
Can a third party refuse to answer the tax authorities?
In principle, no, subject to the limits laid down by law, in particular regarding the nature of the services provided by professions bound by professional secrecy. Refusal to disclose is in principle punishable by a €10,000 fine per request.
Read more
- Can the French Tax Authorities See Your Foreign Bank Accounts?
- Undergoing a Tax Audit in France: What Happens and How to Respond
- Tax Audit: Why Me? What Triggers an Audit?
- Tax Audit: 12 Procedural Defects That May Lead to Reassessments Being Annulled
- Time Limits for Reassessment: For How Long Can I Be Reassessed?
