Taxpayer takes his revenge
A foreman from the Dordogne with a grudge spent three years plotting to annoy his tax office by paying in small change
A DISGRUNTLED taxpayer from the Dordogne has taken revenge on his local tax office by paying his latest income tax instalment in 50kg of small change.
A site foreman in his 50s, Patrick Fénelon, settled a demand for €429 in coins of one, two and five centimes, which he had spent three years collecting from customers, friends and local businesses.
His office assistant acted as his “treasurer”, receiving the coins. He told radio station France Bleu Périgord: “A lot of people helped me... because when I told them about it, it made them laugh, so a lot of people started getting rid of their coins, bringing them to me.”
He dropped in the payment – which by law the tax office was obliged to accept – and received a “rather lukewarm welcome”, he said. Two officials reportedly spent an afternoon counting it, but had still not finished at the end of the day.
Mr Fénelon was upset after being forced to pay a penalty of extra tax four years ago when, he says, he was accused of an administrative error after having tried to settle several different tax bills with a single cheque.
It is possible to pay income tax in cash as long as the amount is not more than €3,000.
