Referral to the departmental tax conciliator (France)
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This document is in French
The PDF you download is in French — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
For a taxpayer whose complaint, request for remission or request for time to pay was rejected in whole or in part by the tax office, and who asks for a fresh look. The referral is free and can be made by simple e-mail; the conciliator's contact details are usually given on the refusal and on impots.gouv.fr. This French letter recalls the request, the decision disputed and your reasons. The referral stops neither payment nor the deadlines for going to court.
- Made for use in France
- Last updated October 13, 2026
When to use this document
- The tax office in France rejected your complaint and you want someone to take a fresh look.
- Your request for more time to pay your taxes was refused.
- The tax office would not cancel penalties or reduce what you owe, despite your request.
- You want to refer the refusal to the departmental tax conciliator by letter.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Taxpayer
- Taxpayer's tax address
- Departmental tax conciliator (directorate and département)
- Conciliator's postal address (as on the refusal)
- City
- Date
- French tax number (13 digits, on the tax notice)
- Date of your first request
- Tax office that decided
- What the first request was about (e.g. complaint on 2025 income tax)
- Date of the tax office's decision
- What the decision did
- Why you ask for a fresh look (in French)
- Attachments
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- When can the French departmental tax conciliator be approached?
- After a first decision of the tax office that does not satisfy you: full or partial rejection of a complaint, refusal of remission of penalties or tax, refusal of time to pay. The conciliator does not replace the first request, which must always go to the office. Attached to the departmental public finance directorate, the conciliator re-examines the file; the address is usually given on the refusal. The conciliator undertakes to reply within 30 days, with a decision or an update on the file.
- Does approaching the French tax conciliator stop the deadlines?
- No. It stops neither payment of the sums claimed nor the two-month deadline for going to the administrative court after a complaint is rejected (article R. 199-1 of the French Tax Procedures Book). If that deadline is near, go to the court at the same time as the conciliator, so as not to lose your right of appeal. For a refused remission, the two-month deadline for the administrative court runs in the same way.
- What if the French tax conciliator upholds the refusal?
- For a dispute over the amount of tax, the administrative court remains, within the deadline running from the decision rejecting your complaint. You can also approach the mediator of the economic and financial ministries, free and online, who steps in after a first appeal to the administration. For a refused remission, a new request is possible if your situation changes: attach proof of the change.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
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