2023-09-20 07:10:24
Published on September 20, 2023 at 7:10
This is a subject of consensus for the left: strengthening the fight against tax, but also social and customs fraud. Unconvinced by government announcements on the matter, representatives of Nupes presented their “Plan to combat tax evasion and fraud” . This paints a less than satisfactory picture of the current situation and makes 47 proposals.
The left-wing coalition essentially makes two criticisms of the government. The first is to fight the wrong battle, by putting tax fraud and social benefit fraud on the same level. According to Nupes, the first would represent 80 to 100 billion euros per year, or twenty times more than the amount of fraud at CAF and Health Insurance. It would therefore be appropriate to prioritize the fight against tax delinquents rather than leading, as LFI MP Charlotte Leduc denounces, “a hunt for the poor and the unemployed”.
Strengthen the workforce
In addition to maintaining this confusion, the government is timid in its fight, assures Nupes. Left-wing elected officials point out the weakness of the resources allocated to the administrations responsible for flushing out fraudsters. They highlight the reductions in staff, both in tax control (1,600 fewer positions between 2017 and 2022), Labor Inspection (1,952 control agents in 2021, or 240 fewer than in 2009) and the customs control (around 8,600 agents in 2022, or 6,000 fewer than in 1993).
The argument of technological advances, often put forward to justify these reductions in numbers, does not find favor in their eyes. “Data mining is very good, but it will never replace humans,” assures socialist MP Christine Pirès Beaune. The Nupes “Plan” therefore includes several measures to increase administrative staff, strengthen the attractiveness of these professions and strengthen the legal arsenal at their disposal.
Don’t wait for Europe
Nupes also wants to improve financial transparency and tighten the legislative framework in force to curb tax optimization. “We have 465 tax loopholes, for a cost that has soared in recent years. It was 72 billion in 2013. Today it is more than 94 billion,” notes socialist MP Christine Pirès Beaune, who points to the research tax credit: “Reports are piling up to say that this niche must be reviewed, particularly in relation to large groups. The consensus is there and we do nothing.”
The Nupes Plan calls for taking measures at the national level, without waiting for concerted movement – European or global. The taxation of multinationals, for example, must evolve considerably from 2024 under the impetus of the work of the OECD. But Eric Coquerel, the LFI president of the Assembly Finance Committee, says he is “very doubtful” about this progress. Nupes wants France to take the lead, on this subject as on that of the tax on very large fortunes.
The left thus proposes that the income of a holding company be imputed to its owner, in order to prevent French billionaires from having a very reduced effective tax rate, as pointed out a few months ago by a study by the Institute of public policies (IPP). “I asked this question during the Bercy Dialogues. Bruno Le Maire told me that I was right, explains Eric Coquerel. Except that he plans to deal with it at European level. It is obvious that if we wait for Saint-Glinglin’s Day, that will not solve the problems. »
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