“The year 2022 has once again seen the remarkable investment of public finance officials”. This Thursday, June 22, 2023, Jérôme Fournel, Director General of Public Finance, presented the 2022 activity report of his administration to the press. The tax authorities are pleased to have identified 20,000 undeclared swimming pools in 9 different departments in 2022. The regularization of these constructions brought in nearly 10 million euros.
However, this year, Jérôme Fournel wants to be more ambitious. The General Directorate of Public Finance (DGFIP) hopes to find between 80,000 and 100,000 undeclared swimming pools throughout the territory, which would represent a gain of 50 to 60 million euros. But that’s not all: the tax administration wants to use its artificial intelligence tool in a new campaign to track free riders.
The tax authorities use software to track down illegal constructions. This tool, developed by Capgemini and Google, detects “the outlines of buildings and swimming pools potentially subject to local direct taxes, based on public aerial shots from the National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information”, reports Capital. Once a swimming pool has been detected by artificial intelligence, a tax official is responsible for verifying its existence, or not, in the DGFIP file.
Now, the software could be used in a whole new campaign. “The idea is to make our new tool profitable until the end and to continue to levy the tax which is our DNA”, confirms the tax administration to Figaro. Thus, the DGFIP wishes to extend its controls to all undeclared constructions which increase the rental value of a property. What is it about ?
The new targets of the DGFIP are: verandas, extensions, small houses and outbuildings, garages or even garden sheds. In other words, all the closed, non-movable habitable constructions which “modify the structure of the dwellings”. “These are not shelters of less than 5 m² but rather 10/15 m² which could be used as an additional bedroom”, summarizes the tax administration in Figaro. However, according to the DGFIP, there would be between 1% and 10% of undeclared extensions, verandas and garden sheds.
To detect these constructions, tax officials will first focus on a test area of around ten departments at the start of 2024. “We will need a little time to ensure that the model is as qualitative as it should be. is today for swimming pools”, indicates Jérôme Fournel, director general of public finances. Once the tool has been tested, the system will be extended to the whole of France. What do you risk if you get checked?
Anyone who has not declared their garden extensions is liable to several penalties from the tax authorities. Here they are :
