Make life harder, tax officials told

TAXPAYERS in the Alpes-Maritime were left fuming by a leaked internal tax office memo which told officials to make things difficult for them if they visit the tax office in person instead of using internet-based services.

The memo advised tax workers to “very strongly limit any direct dealing with complaints” and “avoid making it easy to supply paper documents without having to wait for them”.

It said the aim was to “limit the influx of people coming for help” and steer people towards using online services. People should be made to “be aware that their requests are not dealt with faster by coming in person”, it said.

Interviewed by TF1, people queuing at the tax office said they preferred human contact and not all older people had access to the internet.

The local leader of tax workers’ union Solidaires Finances Publics, Pascal Mandine, said: “The internet is good for buying socks, but for help with your taxes, it isn’t. The users pay their taxes and have a right to a quality public service.”

However the head of the Alpes-Maritimes tax office, Christian Guicheteau, said: “The aim isn’t to discourage users from coming to the offices but to explain to them that, rather than coming and queuing uselessly, they now have other means at their disposal for their procedures.”

The Nice tax office sometimes had more than 2,000 visitors a day, he said. “If a bit fewer people came, we would have more time to inform those who don’t have access to the internet or who have a real question that needs dealing with.”