Laurent Pouille | Partner Attorney
Published October 25, 2025 • International Tax Law
Foreign Tax Refunds: What to Do When Administration Delays
Paid too much tax abroad and waiting for a refund? Discover your rights when facing administrative delays and how to protect yourself effectively.
Your Situation: A Common Case
You live in France and receive dividends from a Swiss company. The Swiss tax authorities automatically withhold 35% tax on your income. But thanks to tax treaties between France and Switzerland, you should only pay 15%.
Result: you're entitled to a refund of 20% of your dividends. An amount that can represent several thousand euros depending on your investments.
The Problem: Administrative Delays
To get this refund, you must have your French tax residence certified by the administration. This certification is essential for Swiss authorities to refund you.
Watch the Deadlines!
No residence certificate, no refund.
This formality can take months, even years. File it as early as possible and keep all proof of filing. In case of administrative delay, this is your safeguard.
What the Courts Say
The French Council of State just rendered an important decision for taxpayers. In a recent case, the French administration took 3 years to certify a taxpayer's residence, causing the loss of their refund right.
Decision: Even if the request was filed late, there was enough time for the administration to issue the certificate. Since the administration delayed too much, the refund right was lost. The Council of State found the State liable. Additional reproaches to the taxpayer (lack of follow-up, late submission) are therefore deemed without merit.
Where Refunds Are Won
A foreign tax refund is won on three points: qualifying the income under the treaty, choosing the right path (refund at source or tax credit), and filing a valid residence certificate.
→ An incorrect qualification, an inadequate form, or a non-compliant certificate are enough to break the chain, even when the request was filed on time.
→ If the request has failed, it becomes a work of argumentation and proof: documenting causality to show that the failure results from administrative delay, not taxpayer negligence.
Underlying this is a work of qualification, documentary alignment, and reasoning construction: a case won by its structure.
Are You in This Situation?
Do you wish to obtain a refund at source or the application of a foreign tax credit?
LS2P Avocats assists companies and individuals with their requests.
Laurent Pouille published a technical analysis of this decision in the legal review Doctrine.
Publication Excerpt
Publication on Doctrine • Reference: Doctrine-Tax-2025, comm. 189, L.Pouille