What are the penalties for late payment of French taxes?

France applies both interest (intérêts de retard) and penalties (majorations) for late or incorrect tax filings and payments.

Interest on late payment accrues at 0.2% per month (2.4% annually) from the due date until the tax is paid. This applies whether you filed on time but paid late, or whether an audit identified unpaid tax. The interest is not a penalty as such; it compensates the state for delayed payment.

Majorations are additional penalties on top of interest. For late filing, a 10% surcharge applies to the amount due if the return is filed late but without a formal notice from the tax authority. Once the DGFiP sends a formal reminder (mise en demeure), the surcharge rises to 20% if the return is filed within 30 days, or 40% if still not filed after that.

For bad faith or deliberate omissions, the surcharge is 40%. For fraudulent intent (manoeuvres frauduleuses), it is 80%. These higher surcharges are applied after an audit, not routinely.

Filing on time but estimating incorrectly does not typically trigger penalties, provided you act in good faith. Voluntary disclosure of errors before an audit generally results in only the base interest being charged.