France has amended its Book of Tax Procedures to remove the shorter deadline for withholding tax claims following a February 2026 Council of State decision.
France has published Decree No. 2026-692 of 27 July 2026, removing the shorter deadline for taxpayers to file claims concerning withholding taxes. The decree was signed on 27 July 2026 and published on 29 July 2026 in the Journal officiel de la République française. It follows French Council of State Decision No. 500909 of 16 February 2026, which found that the different claim periods breached the constitutional principle of equality.
The decree amends the Book of Tax Procedures and removes the specific one-year period that previously applied to withholding tax claims.
Previous deadline
Under the former Article R.*196-1 of the Book of Tax Procedures, taxpayers challenging withholding taxes had to submit their claims by 31 December of the year following the tax deduction.
This created an N+1 deadline for withholding tax claims.
By comparison, other general tax claims were generally subject to an N+2 deadline, allowing taxpayers to submit claims by 31 December of the second year following the relevant event.
The difference meant that taxpayers affected by withholding taxes had less time to challenge their tax liability.
Council of state ruling
The change follows the Conseil d’État decision of 16 February 2026.
The court found that the shorter period for withholding tax claims resulted in unequal treatment. It held that taxpayers should not have less time to contest their tax liability simply because the tax was collected through a withholding mechanism.
The decree implements the regulatory changes required following that decision.
Changes to the book of tax procedures
Decree No. 2026-692 repeals the provisions of Article R.*196-1 that established the reduced N+1 deadline for withholding tax claims. It also removes related provisions from the Book of Tax Procedures.
The fifth through eighth paragraphs of Article R.*196-1 have been repealed.
Article R.*196-1-1 has also been amended. The reference to the “third and seventh paragraphs” has been replaced by a reference to the “third paragraph”.
In addition, the fourth and fifth paragraphs of Article R.*196-2 have been repealed.
New framework
The amendments remove the separate shorter period that applied to withholding tax claims and bring these claims within the standard tax-claim framework.
The changes are effective from 30 July 2026, following publication of the decree in the official journal.
