French Tax Litigation Lawyer: Your Defence Before the Administrative and Judicial Courts
Alphard Law defends taxpayers, individuals, executives and businesses, at every stage of French tax litigation: tax audit and reassessment notice, administrative claim, then proceedings before the administrative court (tribunal administratif), the administrative court of appeal and the Conseil d'État for income tax, corporate tax, VAT and social surtaxes, or before the judicial court (tribunal judiciaire), the court of appeal and the Cour de cassation for registration duties, inheritance and gift tax and the French real estate wealth tax (IFI). The firm's litigation practice focuses on international tax disputes, wealth tax controversies and social surtax reassessments, including the emerging litigation concerning SASU companies taxed under the income tax regime, which the firm documents publicly.
French tax litigation, from the audit to the tax judge
The administrative phase shapes the outcome. A French tax dispute is often won before reaching the courtroom: the response to the reassessment notice (proposition de rectification), within a thirty-day deadline extendable upon request, frames the entire debate. We draft reasoned, sourced observations, challenge the legal characterisation adopted by the tax inspector, and pursue hierarchical recourse where dialogue with the audit team requires it. Every submission to the tax authority is drafted as a building block of the future court file.
The administrative claim and the suspension of payment. Once the reassessed amounts are collected, the administrative claim (réclamation contentieuse) opens the judicial phase. It may be coupled with a request for suspension of payment (Article L. 277 of the French Tax Procedure Code), which suspends both the enforceability of the contested amounts and the statute of limitations on collection until a final decision. We advise our clients on the trade-off between paying under protest, which avoids the 10 percent late-payment surcharge of Article 1730 of the French Tax Code, and requesting the suspension, depending on their cash position and the amounts at stake.
Before the administrative courts
For income tax, corporate tax, social surtaxes collected together with income tax, and VAT, disputes fall within the administrative court system: the tribunal administratif at first instance, the administrative court of appeal, and the Conseil d'État on final appeal. We draft the initial applications, reply briefs and appeals, and plead the cases that warrant it. French administrative tax procedure has its own rules, appeal deadlines, framing of the legal arguments, a burden of proof that varies with the audit procedure followed, whose command determines the outcome at least as much as the merits.
Before the judicial courts: registration duties, estates and the IFI
Registration duties, inheritance and gift taxes and the French real estate wealth tax (IFI) fall, by contrast, within the judicial court system: after the mandatory preliminary claim before the tax authority, the dispute is brought before the tribunal judiciaire, then the court of appeal and, on final appeal, the commercial chamber of the Cour de cassation. This duality of jurisdiction is a classic trap of French tax litigation, unfamiliar to most foreign taxpayers: a single wealth audit can generate parallel disputes before both court systems, each with its own procedure, deadlines and judicial culture.
Before the judicial courts, the firm handles valuation disputes (company shares, real estate, usufruct and bare ownership), challenges to Dutreil arrangements, territoriality disputes over French inheritance and gift tax (Article 750 ter of the French Tax Code), reassessments involving trusts and foreign wealth structures (Article 792-0 bis), outright taxation of unexplained foreign assets (Articles L. 23 C of the Tax Procedure Code and 755 of the Tax Code) and challenges to the IFI base, notably the valuation of real estate held directly or through companies.
Our litigation grounds
The firm handles the full range of French tax disputes, whatever the tax at stake: income tax, corporate tax, social surtaxes, VAT, registration duties, inheritance and gift tax, real estate wealth tax, local taxes and withholding taxes, and whatever the procedure followed, from a desk audit to a full personal tax examination (ESFP) or an accounting audit. Certain matters are nonetheless the dominant grounds of our practice, in line with our advisory work.
International taxation. Challenges to tax residence, permanent establishment assessments, withholding taxes, application of tax treaties, taxation of unreported foreign assets: international disputes are the core of the firm's practice.
Social surtaxes and SASU companies under the income tax regime. The firm defends the directors of SASU companies that opted for the French income tax regime against the recharacterisation of their profits as investment income, taxed at 18.6 percent instead of the 9.7 percent applicable to earned income. Our published analyses of this emerging litigation are a reference on the subject, and the firm also publishes a dedicated website, with a template letter to extend the response deadline and an alert service for the first court decision: redressement-sasu-ir.fr (in French).
Wealth tax controversies. Personal tax examinations (ESFP), exit tax disputes, valuation litigation, Dutreil arrangements, trusts and foreign structures, IFI assessments, before the administrative or judicial courts depending on the tax concerned.
Beyond these dominant grounds, the firm takes on any French tax dispute involving a genuine stake for the taxpayer, including in less frequent matters: the litigation method, review of the procedural regularity of the audit, prioritisation of the legal arguments, command of both court systems, is the same whatever the tax.
Our litigation method
Every case begins with a review of the procedural regularity of the assessment, which is often decisive, before turning to the merits. We only litigate where the balance between the prospects of success, the stakes and the cost justifies it, and we say so candidly when it does not: a settlement or a global agreement with the authorities is sometimes preferable to a trial. Where litigation is engaged, it is conducted with the technical rigour that specialised courts demand, sourced briefs, prioritised arguments, and systematic anticipation of the next level: every first-instance brief is written with the appeal in mind, and every appellate ruling is analysed through the lens of a final appeal.
What we do not publish
This website contains no case examples, no figures for tax relief obtained, and no client names. A French lawyer's professional secrecy is general, absolute and unlimited in time, and the clients we serve place at least as much value on confidentiality as on the outcome.
We can, however, describe the framework of our practice: the firm acts in procedures conducted by the French national audit directorates, including the Direction nationale des vérifications de situations fiscales, on matters whose stakes range from several hundred thousand to several tens of millions of euros, in advisory work as well as in defence. Clients who wish to describe their experience do so freely in their public reviews, the one account we neither control nor seek to control.
Frequently asked questions
What is the deadline to respond to a French reassessment notice?
The taxpayer has thirty days to submit observations, extendable by a further thirty days upon a request made before the initial deadline expires. This first submission is strategic: it frames the terms of the debate for the entire procedure, including before the courts.
Which French courts decide tax disputes?
The administrative courts (tribunal administratif, administrative court of appeal, Conseil d'État) for income tax, corporate tax, VAT and social surtaxes collected with income tax. The judicial courts (tribunal judiciaire, court of appeal, Cour de cassation) for registration duties, inheritance and gift tax, and the real estate wealth tax (IFI). Alphard Law appears before both court systems.
Does an IFI or inheritance tax dispute follow the same procedure as an income tax dispute?
No. Both begin with a preliminary claim before the tax authority, but the paths then diverge: income tax disputes go to the administrative court, while IFI and transfer taxes go to the judicial court, with different procedural rules, evidentiary standards and practices. A single wealth audit can thus open two parallel disputes before two court systems, which must be conducted in a coordinated way.
Do I have to pay the reassessed amounts while I contest them?
Not necessarily. The administrative claim may include a request for suspension of payment (Article L. 277 of the Tax Procedure Code), which suspends the enforceability of the contested amounts until a final decision; guarantees may be required above a regulatory threshold. The alternative is to pay under protest, which avoids the 10 percent late-payment surcharge, and then seek a refund. The choice depends on your cash position and the amounts at stake.
How long does French tax litigation take?
The administrative phase (observations, hierarchical recourse, claim) is measured in months. Before the tribunal administratif or the tribunal judiciaire, twelve to twenty-four months are typical, to which appeal and any final appeal must be added. Many cases are nonetheless resolved before judgment, through relief granted by the authority or a settlement, where the defence was solidly built from the administrative phase onwards.
Does the firm plead cases itself?
Yes. The firm's lawyers draft the briefs and represent their clients before the administrative and judicial courts, at first instance, on appeal and in cassation, instructing specialist counsel (avocat aux Conseils) where the procedure before the Conseil d'État or the Cour de cassation requires it.
Can you give me examples of cases won and amounts obtained?
No, and no lawyer should do so without the express consent of the client. Professional secrecy covers the very existence of a matter, its content and its outcome. In a meeting we can discuss situations comparable to yours in terms general enough to disclose nothing, set out the arguments we typically deploy in that type of procedure, and give you a candid assessment of your prospects. Our clients' accounts of their own experience appear in their public reviews, where they speak freely and on their own responsibility.
Are you facing a French tax audit or reassessment? Contact Alphard Law for a confidential initial discussion.