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Permissive software: new obligations for publishers in the PLF for 2016

PLF
9 Feb 2017
0 minutes reading

Law no. 2013-1117 of December 6, 2013 on the fight against tax fraud and serious economic and financial crime introduced new obligations and penalties for manufacturers and distributors of so-called “permissive” software used to set up shadow accounting or cash management with the aim of concealing certain revenues and evading tax.

Article 38 I. A. of the draft Finance Law for 2016 “Measures to combat the concealment of VAT receipts: compulsory use of a non-fraudulent cash register software or system” proposes to introduce an additional obligation for software publishers: the provision of an individual certificate to each software holder, conforming to a model set by the administration.

While software publishers and ESNs support the fight against tax fraud, they regret that in this area, the supplier of a good is jointly and severally punished for any fraudulent use made of it by the customer, and wish to outline the practical difficulties associated with this new provision:

  • Materially, it is impossible for some publishers to issue an individual certificate, as in some cases (sales through intermediaries, through an integrator, etc.) they do not have a list of customers.
  • The publisher can guarantee the conformity of the software “out of the factory”, but cannot certify that it has not been subsequently altered or that its use complies with legal requirements.
  • The publisher cannot guarantee that software sold prior to the 2013 law complies with the new obligations arising from this law.

To facilitate the work of the tax authorities and give their customers greater security, while taking into account the constraints of software publishers, instead of issuing an individual certificate, software publishers offer to certify software compliance with the law applicable at the time of design in the general license for use of the software.

Syntec Numérique has taken up the issue and taken the necessary action to defend the interests of its members.