aerial photography
10 million euros collected: France finds thousands of illegal pools with Google’s help
Caught! Anyone who owns a pool in France but has not registered it can expect to receive mail.
© jacoblund / Getty Images
With the help of new software, French tax authorities have managed to identify illegal swimming pools and issue invoices to the owners. After the great success, the government is planning further searches.
The cash register rings at the French tax authorities. With new software, it was possible to discover more than 20,000 undeclared private swimming pools in nine test regions and subsequently demand higher property taxes. The total sum of the funds amounts to around ten million euros, as the French daily newspaper “Le Parisien” reports. The project is now being expanded across the country.
Google gets involved
Authorities uncovered the illegal paddling pools using a technique called “Foncier innovant,” which stems from a collaboration between Google and the consulting and services firm Capgemini. It enables the automatic comparison of houses and extensions with the tax register – and checks whether the property tax paid matches the equipment.
In France, certain additions to the home, such as pools or terraces, are declarable and taxable. This is because the amount of property tax is based on the features of the property – not just its size. A pool of 50 square meters costs according to the manufacturer Piscinelle for example around 425 euros per year.
In addition, the construction of pools above a certain size also requires approval from the respective municipality, it is said. Corresponding violations are also easier to find with “Foncier innovant”.
Look for illegal extensions by aerial view
Searching for illegal crops on aerial photographs is not new. In forum discussions from 2009 there are indications that it has long been common practice in France to compare the tax paid with the respective equipment. What is new is the relentless investigation of a software whose error rate for being very new is relatively low at only 30 percent.
Expansion to other buildings planned
Antoine Magnant, deputy director general for public finances, therefore disclosed his plans to “Le Parisien”. Accordingly, further steps are already being planned with the software, such as the search for terraces or porches that have not been reported to the office. For this, it is said, the accuracy of “Fonvier innovant” has to be improved and the software has to be taught what a house is and what a kennel is.
According to the authorities, the pools were not just about money – even if the expansion to all of France is expected to generate more than 40 million euros in additional income. A prolonged drought in France has sparked a debate about the private use of water, including the pros and cons of private pools.
source: Le Parisien