France was the first European country to join the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrators (currently Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations) in 1982 through the establishment of a permanent mission that was in charge of coordinating the relationships with this organization in Panama City.

France joined CIAT as Associate Member during the 25^th General Assembly held in Washington, D.C., United States of America in May 1991.

In 2002, the European countries were given the option of changing their status from associate member to full member of CIAT. France acquired said status in May 2002 at the 36^th General Assembly in Quebec, Canada.

The first CIAT/France tax cooperation agreement was signed on May 23, 1982 between the General Directorate of Taxes (currently the General Directorate of Public Finances DGFiP) and CIAT, which has been renewed periodically. The latest renewal of this Tax Cooperation Administrative Agreement was held on October 15, 2001, at the Sevilla (Spain) Technical Conference.

The DGFiP of France participates actively in the institutional affairs and international technical activities of CIAT.