When can French state access your bank account and take money?

Reader Question: In reading your article about new anti-fraud plans, I was shocked to see the government can already access people’s bank accounts to take money out of it. Is this a common occurrence, and are we informed if this is going to happen to us? 

You are correct that there are plans to crackdown on social security fraud in France, and a bill consisting of several major proposals is set to be discussed this autumn. 

One measure included is the widening of powers related to seizing fraudulently-derived income from the bank accounts of social welfare fraudsters. 

However, the state already has some power in this area. 

A process known as Saisie administrative à tiers détenteur (SATD, administrative seizure from third-party holders) allows the government to recoup part of a debtor’s funds. 

The measure allows the government to seize funds held by a third-party – usually a bank – to repay part of a debt amount owed.

It is regulated however, and can only be used for certain payments and for funds derived from certain sources. 

Full seizure of certain redundancy payments, severance pay and profit-sharing bonuses is possible, and partial seizure of salaries, pensions, and certain work-related benefits or pensioners’ income support. 

Certain benefits are protected including disability benefits (AAH) and RSA income support.

The government cannot use SATDs as a general measure to seize funds during a time of economic difficulty for the government, and funds held in bank accounts are protected by legal guarantees, usually up to €100,00.

Debtors can contest the seizures.

How do seizures work? 

An SATD can be sent to the bank or other third-party holding funds in cases where an individual or company owes money to the government. 

This can derive from unpaid taxes or fines, unpaid penalties such as damages owed after a court judgement or unpaid fees for state-sector establishments, such as school canteen fees, hospital charges, etc. 

The amount has to be clearly stated on the SATD.

At the same time the SATD is sent out, the debtor is also informed of the request. 

The third-party must then send the funds over from the debtor’s account within 30 days. 

All accounts linked to the bank are frozen from the date of the request for at least 15 days (to prevent holders withdrawing funds). 

Banks may also charge a fee to the account holder, reaching a maximum of 10% of the amount debited up to a maximum of €100). 

A minimum amount of funds (currently €647) must be kept in the account following the transaction (to allow the account holder to be able to pay for essentials), and if the bank account is in negative balance money cannot be taken out by an SATD. 

A person who receives a SATD notice has two months to contest it, and can make the request to the Directeur départemental des finances publiques of the department that sent the notice out. 

This information can be found online – note the office is not always in the same location as the main tax office.