PARIS - For those trying to offset France's increasingly sweltering summers by building swimming pools, the tax authorities have a message: If you're thinking of saving money by keeping your pool hidden from property tax collectors, we're watching - from above.
France's General Directorate of Public Finances said in a statement that"by optimising the process of detecting undeclared constructions or developments", the project aims to"fight more effectively against anomalies" and respond to demands for"fairness and fiscal justice". There are over 3 million private swimming pools in France, and over 240,000 were built in 2021 alone, according to France's Federation of Pool and Spa Professionals, an industry lobbying group.
"We have to be sure that the software can find buildings with large footprints, not the doghouse or the children's playhouse," Magnant said. To correct for any mistakes made by the tool, like a stretch of blue tarp accidentally flagged as a pool, humans verify each finding, authorities said. Philippe Laget, a union official at the General Confederation of Labour branch that represents public finance workers in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, said that the tool lumped together permanently built pools, which are taxable, with temporary ones that can be dismantled and are not taxable. Face-to-face interaction with taxpayers is key to untangling those situations, he said.