French Banks Said to Challenge Tax Authorities After Raids
- Lobby lodges appeal at France’s highest administrative court
- Five French banks face €1 billion fines amid tax fraud probes
BNP Paribas branch in the Opera district of Paris.
Photographer: Nathan Laine/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
French lenders are challenging tax authorities’ view on some dividend arbitrage strategies, after a raid across banks in Paris this week.
The French banking lobby Federation Bancaire Francaise (FBF) lodged a lawsuit at the nation’s highest administrative court, to request tax authorities to clarify which dividend arbitrage strategies require the payment of taxes, according to a person familiar with the procedure. Lenders argue that French fiscal authorities didn’t provide a clear guidance in an advance tax ruling - a written interpretation of the law - published last month.