What are the penalties for tax evasion?
Verified 01 January 2025 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
Tax evasion is the avoidance or attempt to evade taxes by any means. Tax evasion is punished by tax and criminal sanctions.
You commit tax fraud if you use deliberately certain methods of avoiding or attempting to avoid taxation.
This is the case if you make the following choices:
- Do not report on time
- Hiding taxable property or income
- Surrender insolvent.
You risk fiscal sanctions if you conceal taxable income or property.
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You didn't report your income on time
If you have not reporting your income within the timeframe, you risk penalties.
If the tax authority discovers the existence of a hidden activity, your tax will be increased by 80%.
Your return is intentionally incomplete
You risk a increase if your return is voluntarily incomplete.
For example, if you have not declared property or taxable income, or if you have undervalued the value of your wealth.
Depending on your situation, this increase will be one of the following:
- 40% in case of voluntary forgetfulness
- 80% in case abuse of rights, reduced to 40% if you are not the initiator or primary beneficiary of the initiative
- 80% in case of fraud.
Of interest on late payments can also be applied to you.
They amount to 0.20% by month of delay (either 2.4% over 1 year).
If the tax administration detects fraud, it can engage criminal proceedings after obtaining the opinion of the Tax Offenses Commission.
FYI
In the event of tax fraud, criminal proceedings may be instituted during 6 years from the year following the infringement.
In addition to tax penalties, you risk 2 penalties following:
- €500,000 fine
- Five years in prison.
The convicted person may also be deprived of his or her civil, family and civil rights.
This withdrawal entails, in particular, ineligibility, loss of the right to vote and the right to be guardian.
Sanctions are aggravated in the following cases:
- Acts committed in an organized band
- Opening accounts or signing contracts with organizations established abroad
- Interposition of screen persons or bodies established abroad
- Use of false identity or documents (or any other falsification)
- Domiciliation or fictitious or artificial act abroad.
In case of an aggravated penalty, you risk the following 2 penalties:
- €3 000 000 fine
- 7 years in prison.
Prison sentences are reduced by half if the perpetrator or accomplice of the crime participates in the identification of other perpetrators or accomplices.
In addition to these sanctions, there may be additional penalty deprivation of the right to reductions and income tax credits andIFI: titleContent.
This penalty may be imposed upon conviction in the following cases:
- Aggravated tax evasion
- Fraud concealment tax aggravated
- Fraud laundering tax aggravated.
It can be applied for a maximum duration of 3 years, from the taxation of income in the year following that of the conviction.
Example :
In the event of conviction in 2024, the deprivation of rights to income tax credits and reductions may relate to the following income:
- 2025 revenues (reported in 2026)
- 2026 revenues (reported in 2027)
- 2027 revenues (reported in 2028).
Please note
If you recognize the facts, the public prosecutor can offer you a appearance on prior conviction (sometimes called the procedure for plead guilty).
Who can help me?
Find who can answer your questions in your region
For general information
Tax Information Service
By telephone:
0809 401 401
Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 7 pm, excluding public holidays.
Free service + call price
To contact the local service managing your file (contact information is available on your tax notices and tax returns)
Department in charge of taxes (treasury, tax department...)
Insufficient reporting: tax sanctions
Criminal sanctions
Abuse of rights
Limitation period for prosecution
International tax evasion: compensation for whistleblowers