Warning over new income tax declaration scams in France

The director of public finances in France is warning of two new tax scams carried out via emails and telephone, following the opening of this year’s online income declarations.

Every year, new scams show up as soon as the tax declaration window opens. This year the service has been available since April 7.

Two scams have already been identified, the Direction générale des Finances publique (DGFiP) said.

These include scammers pretending to be from the DGFiP, and websites that show false numbers purporting to be for the public finance centre. These numbers will often charge high rates for calls. They [generally] start with 0 899 or 0 891.

However, it is always free to call the centres des Finances Publiques. The DGFiP warned that all valid numbers begin with 01, 02, 03, 04, or 05, depending on your department.

You can also call via a valid number that charges normal local rates, on 0 809 401 401.

Another scam has been identified, this time using email, and especially targeting companies. Email addresses that appear to come from the DGFiP are sending fake emails requesting personal data and bank details, often by requesting attachments.

Recipients are warned to stay alert to all communication about tax or other payments, and to watch out for any suspicious details, such as an unusual email address, extra hyphens or ‘.com’ addresses instead of ‘.fr’, and any spelling or grammar errors.

The DGFiP has also reminded the public that it can always be contacted to check if emails or texts received are genuine.

To understand more about French income tax declarations download our latest helpguide, Income Tax in France 2022 (for 2021 income). As a digital, downloadable guide, priced €14.90, it was last updated on April 8. Buy your copy here!

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