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Tax rescrit: obtaining a binding position

A rescrit is the tax administration's formal position on the interpretation of a tax provision or on your factual situation. It becomes binding on the administration: no reassessment may then rest on a contrary interpretation. The ordinary time limit is three months — but beware, for the GENERAL rescrit, silence does NOT mean agreement. Only the specific rescrits listed exhaustively carry tacit approval. There is no CERFA form.

Up to date for 2026 — verified on September 6, 2026ActioFin templateGuide: about 30 min

Deadlines

Before the filing deadline
The request must come first: filed before the return is due or, absent any filing duty, before the tax falls due. A position taken afterwards offers no protection.
Three months — from the COMPLETE file
Where the request is incomplete, time only runs from receipt of the missing items. A rushed request pushes the answer back accordingly, and nothing flags it.
Two months to seek a second review
From receipt of the answer, and without raising new elements — an improved file is not a second review, it is a new rescrit.

Documents to prepare

  • Applicant's full identity and address
  • Precise, complete and truthful account of the factual situation
  • Provisions relied on and your analysis
  • Supporting documents — time only runs once the file is complete
  • Access to the secure messaging of the professional account
See the procedure on the official site

No form is attached to this procedure: the link leads to the official page that describes it.

What you get

  • The document as a PDF, ready to print and sign.
  • The same document in Word (.docx), so you can edit it before signing.

Free, no account and no email address.

The generated document is written in French — the language the receiving French authority expects. This page is in English; the document itself is not translated.

Generate your document

Free. The document is generated on demand: your entries are not recorded in any of our databases and are only used to produce it. They travel in the request body, never in the page address.

All fields are required unless marked “optional”.

The applicant
Why we ask this

The doctrine requires the name or company name of the author of the request: they alone will benefit from the guarantee.

14 digits

Why we ask this

It ties the request to your tax file and lets the office check its competence; its check digit is verified before being written.

Why we ask this

Second particular required by the doctrine together with the name: the author's address, written in the opening sentence of the request.

Why we ask this

The request is written and signed: this name opens the document and identifies the person binding the applicant.

Addressee and tax concerned

The directorate your business tax office reports to — for example "Direction départementale des finances publiques du Rhône". An incompetent office forwards the request, but time only runs from receipt by the competent one.

Why we ask this

The request is addressed to the directorate your office reports to; it is written at the head of the document, as on a letter.

For example: "VAT — rate applicable to a training service" or "Corporate tax — eligibility for the research tax credit".

Why we ask this

It announces, from the opening sentence, what the requested position is about: the authority answers a question, not a file.

The request

The facts, dated and quantified, as they are — an inaccuracy defeats good faith, hence the guarantee. If several provisions are at stake, separate the information relevant to each.

Why we ask this

This is the condition of enforceability: a precise, complete and truthful account of the facts forms the first section of the document, and the guarantee only covers that situation.

The articles of the tax code (or of the tax procedures book) you rely on, and where relevant the BOFiP doctrine.

Why we ask this

Required particular: the taxpayer states the provisions they intend to apply. Without them the request is not admissible in form; they form the second section.

What you believe these texts imply for your situation: the authority rules on a question asked, not on a file to investigate.

Why we ask this

It states how you read the texts for your case: this is what the authority takes a position on, and the third section of the document.

A closed question, to which the authority can answer yes or no.

Why we ask this

It closes the request on a precise question to which an express answer can be given; this is the fourth section.

List every item: contracts, quotes, articles of association, accounting extracts. The three-month period only runs once the file is complete.

Why we ask this

The three-month period only runs once a complete file is received: the list of attachments, written in the document, states what you enclosed.

Second review, place and date

To be stated expressly in the initial request: it cannot be added later.

Why we ask this

Article L. 80 CB allows a hearing by the panel during a second review, provided it was expressly requested: the "Second review" section of the document states it one way or the other.

Why we ask this

The place of signature closes the document, the expected form of a letter to the administration.

On (date)
Why we ask this

It dates the request; time runs from receipt by the competent office, but the sending date is its first trace.

For example: 27 3 1990

A draft is a file you save wherever you like, just like the document itself: we keep no copy of it and nothing is left in your browser. When signed in, you can also save it to your space to pick it up later — only if you ask.

Document preview, updated as you type

DEMANDE DE RESCRIT FISCAL — ARTICLE L. 80 B, 1° DU LIVRE DES PROCÉDURES FISCALES

À l'attention de : ….

Je soussigné(e) …, agissant pour … (SIRET …), dont l'adresse est …, sollicite une prise de position formelle de l'administration fiscale sur la situation de fait exposée ci-après, au regard de : ….

Présentation précise, complète et sincère de la situation de fait

…

Dispositions dont le demandeur entend bénéficier

…

Analyse du demandeur

…

Question posée à l'administration

…

Pièces jointes

…

Second examen

En cas de désaccord sur la réponse, le demandeur sollicitera un second examen de sa demande (article L. 80 CB du livre des procédures fiscales) et demande expressément à être entendu par le collège.

Le demandeur atteste que la présentation des faits ci-dessus est précise, complète et sincère, et s'engage à signaler tout changement de sa situation.

Fait à …, le …

Signature

Document drafted by ActioFin; it carries no legal standing before the tax authorities. Read it through and adapt it to your situation before signing.

This document is signed by hand, after printing: we do not offer electronic signature. Only a qualified electronic signature, issued by a certified provider, carries the same weight as a handwritten one (eIDAS regulation). A mere click would not — and letting you believe otherwise would expose you the day a body challenges it.

Who this applies to

  • Any individual or legal entity: company, private person, association, local authority, on any tax or duty provided for by the French tax code.
  • In practice, directors and their advisers, ahead of a transaction whose tax treatment is uncertain: a structure, a reorganisation, eligibility for a scheme.
  • The applicant alone: the protection is personal. It does not benefit a third party in the same situation, unless the rescrit is published in anonymised form in the official doctrine.

Worked example

Example: SAS Aubert secures its research tax credit eligibility

SAS Aubert starts a development programme whose eligibility for the research tax credit is arguable. It files a rescrit request through the secure messaging of its professional account, setting out precisely the nature of the work and the provisions relied on. Two calendar traps await: the request must be filed at least six months before the deadline for the special return, and the three-month period will only start once the file is complete. In exchange, this particular rescrit carries tacit approval: after three months without an answer, eligibility is acquired.

How to fill it in, step by step

  1. First decide whether yours is a general or a specific rescrit: that choice governs the effect of silence, and in practice it cannot be undone.
  2. Write a precise, complete and truthful account of the factual situation — the condition of good faith, hence of enforceability.
  3. State the provisions you intend to rely on and your analysis: the administration answers a question, it does not investigate a file.
  4. Attach every useful document: time only runs once the file is complete.
  5. File through the secure messaging of your professional account, or by any means providing proof of receipt. An ordinary email is not, in principle, treated as a written and signed request.
  6. If the answer does not suit: seek a second review within two months, stating expressly whether you wish to be heard by the panel.

The form, line by line

Identity and factual situation
Name or company name and address, then a « precise, complete and truthful » account of the situation. An inaccuracy destroys good faith, hence the protection.
Provisions relied on
The provisions you intend to benefit from, and your analysis. Without them the request is formally inadmissible.
Request to be heard by the panel
To be stated expressly if you want to be heard at any second review — it cannot be added later.

Good to know

  • The protection assumes the situation remains STRICTLY identical to the one described, and that you actually apply the accepted solution. A change of situation removes it.
  • The position must be explicit, precise and unambiguous, come from an officer of at least inspector grade, and predate the expiry of the filing deadline.
  • Since decree no. 2025-366 of 22 April 2025, no model is imposed by order, and registered post is replaced by « any means providing proof of receipt ». Pages still requiring registered post on an official model are out of date.
  • Indicative models exist — general rescrit, sponsorship, research tax credit — but they are conveniences, not compulsory forms.

Common mistakes

  • Believing that silence means agreement after three months: true for SPECIFIC rescrits, false for the general one, where silence amounts to a refusal.
  • Filing an incomplete request: time does not start, and the filing deadline arrives with no answer.
  • Sending an ordinary email: it is not, in principle, treated as a written and signed request.
  • Seeking a second review while adding new elements: the request is then inadmissible as a second review.
  • Filing after the return was due: the request must come first to produce the protection.

Frequently asked questions

Does the administration's silence mean agreement?

It depends on the rescrit, and this is the most misunderstood point of the subject. For the GENERAL rescrit of article L80 B 1°, only an express answer binds the administration: its silence after three months amounts to a refusal. For the SPECIFIC rescrits listed exhaustively — exceptional depreciation, research tax credit, young innovative company, absence of a permanent establishment, classification of professional income among others — the absence of an answer within the period amounts to enforceable tacit approval.

What are the time limits by type of rescrit?

Three months in the general case and for most specific rescrits. Six months for the absence of abuse of law (article L64 B), for the anti-abuse clause applying to mergers, demergers and partial asset contributions, for bodies receiving donations (article L80 C) and for the valuation rescrit (article L18).

Is there a CERFA form?

No. There is no CERFA rescrit form. Indicative models are published — general rescrit, sponsorship, research tax credit — but since the decree of 22 April 2025 no model is imposed by order.

What if the answer does not suit?

Seek a second review within two months of receiving the answer, without raising new elements. The review is collegiate, by members who did not take part in the first answer, and you may ask to be heard. The new answer replaces the first; there is no third review.

Is the second review open to every rescrit?

No. It is reserved to an exhaustive list of rescrits under article L80 B, plus articles L80 C and L18. Notably excluded are the advance pricing agreement and the abuse-of-law rescrit of article L64 B — that is, the heaviest files.

Go further

Compute the related amounts

Understand this form: the related course

Related forms

Official sources

Read in French

Guide and document provided for information purposes only; they do not constitute personalised legal or tax advice. Check the recipient organisation's requirements and consult a professional if needed.