Don't Mess With Taxes

You thought the Internal Revenue Service was persistent. U.S. tax collectors can't hold a candle to their French counterparts.

France's Centre for Public Finances sent a tax bill to a grave.

To be fair, the French tax officials first sent the demand for tax payment to the taxpayer's home, in the Ile-de-France region outside Paris. It was returned to the Centre marked "Deceased."

That didn't deter the tax office. 

The Local website reports that a tax staffer in the agency's Vincennes office tracked the late taxpayer to his last known address, the cemetery in the village of Autheuil.

The original returned envelope was re-addressed by hand, according to Ouest-France, and sent to:

Autheuil Cemetery
Tomb 19
61190 Autheuil

So how did those of us still on this mortal coil find out about the collection letter?

No, his ghost didn't respond to the French tax authorities. The dunning notice was redirected to Béatrice Devedjian, mayor of Autheuil.

Devedjian told France's RTL radio she was shocked at the French tax collector's decision to "harass a person until his final resting place."

Autheuil officials, however, plan to track down the deceased man's family and deliver the tax bill to them.

Photo credit: Express Monorail via photopin cc

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