The same scenario is repeated every year in front of the public finance centers. A long queue of taxpayers - hundreds and sometimes thousands of people a day - waits on the sidewalks to get an answer from an agent of the Directorate General of Public Finances (DGFiP) and fill out their income tax return . According to the unions, 4.5 million taxpayers passed through the treasury and tax centers last year during the tax campaign.
“It is obvious that this year is a campaign in degraded mode, regrets Anne Guyot-Welke, of Solidaires Finances publics, the first tax union. We answer the phone and email massively, but the reception of the public remains marginal. "
With the coronavirus crisis, the tax centers remained closed, health security obliges, until May 11. Before the deconfinement, the Minister of Action and Public Accounts, Gérald Darmanin, still hoped that the agents could welcome the public, with or without an appointment, once the confinement was over. But his proposal, submitted to Matignon's approval, was refused.
"People who can't connect to the Internet"
Since May 11, a few taxpayers have been welcomed in the tax centers, but only by appointment. In front of the tax offices, this sometimes gives rise to some "misunderstandings by users who would still like to be received," said Olivier Villois, secretary general of the CGT Finances Finances.
Because taxpayers' questions are numerous. "It is true that some people are unable to complete the procedures at home," he explains. We hear, for example, people who cannot connect to the Internet or who, in past years, have been helped by their children. However, we can tell them to click in a certain place or to fill in a certain field, but, since these are procedures that require supporting documents, we cannot modify tax data without being sure of who we have on the phone. "
Maintain maximum service at the height
To deal with questions from the public, many civil servants welcome taxpayers behind plexiglass windows and masks. “The instructions are different according to the departments, and particularly according to the directors of centers, but in Seine-et-Marne, for example, the premises were reopened before May 11 and the schedules to accommodate the public by appointment have been significantly enlarged ”, list Olivier Villois.
The objective: to maintain the highest level of service. "We are well aware that some taxpayers may not be satisfied with a service that cannot be rendered, given the context," says Anne Guyot-Welke. We challenged the department on the risk of public discontent. "
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Already, at the end of April, a handful of taxpayers, in two departments, got angry behind the closed gates of the public finance centers. "We fear tension when traveling taxpayers realize that we cannot accommodate them," she said. And in any case, we anticipate a very complicated tax assessment campaign in September-October, when they will notice errors or omissions on their automatic declaration. "