Canceling two decisions of the Administrative Courts of Appeal of Paris and Lyon, the French High Court has just decided that it is relevant, for the computation of the penalty provided by Article 1768 of the French General Tax Code, in case of absence of withholding tax on the sums paid to people residing out of France (French General Tax Code, art. 182 B), to take into account the advantage resulting, for the beneficiary of the payments, from the undertaking of the withholding by the payer. Those decisions are thus confirming that the administrative doctrine (linked as much to the computation basis of the withholding tax as the computation basis of the penalty, in case of undertaking by the debtor), which had been challenged by the decisions of the Courts of Paris and Lyon.

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