How do I respond to a tax adjustment notice?

Have you received an adjustment notice? How do you respond?

First of all, let us talk about the relatively short period of time allowed to respond to the letter you have received by recorded delivery: you only have one month as of the third working day following the dispatch date of the adjustment notice.

- Is it possible to obtain an extension of the deadline?

Yes, you have the option of requesting an additional period of time – which is often granted – to respond to the adjustment notice. So request a reasonable period, and give clear reasons for your request: in support of your arguments, you should obtain duplicates of invoices, copies of old bank statements, etc., and of course a commitment to provide the missing information as soon as possible.

- Content of the response: fairly simply, you have to indicate either that you agree, or that you do not agree, and then sign and date the document before returning it. Clearly, if you do not agree, then you have to provide an explanation and a clear justification of the reasons why not.

- The tax annexes and supporting documents should be carefully prepared. Pay particular attention if the adjustment is due to the fact that your tax declaration was incomplete or contained errors.

- Form of the response: your response must be sent by recorded delivery. We advise including a request for an acknowledgement of receipt. Keep an electronic or paper copy of all the supporting documents that you have enclosed with your dispatch.

And then? It is possible that the tax authorities may not accept your arguments and still wishes to adjust your tax declaration. This is their right. However, on penalty of rendering the procedure invalid, the authorities will have to send you a "notification of taxation", explaining the reasons why the tax official has upheld his decision to modify your tax calculation. But you are not powerless: you still have the possibility – within six months of the dispatch date of the adjusted notice of assessment – to submit an objection to your tax (see our article on this subject in the newsletter).