2023-12-27 13:40:00
But where do our taxes go? Recurring question… And which will be even more central in 2024, the year when the government is supposed to cut spending if it wants to achieve its objective: to get back below 3% deficit by the end of Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term. To answer this, it is possible to delve into a note entitled “What money was used for in 2022” published last week by public finance expert François Ecalle on his site Wickedness.
Thanks to data published by INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies), this former magistrate of the Court of Auditors calculated what 1,000 euros of compulsory deductions were used for last year.
247 euros for pensions
Result: social protection is the largest expenditure item: 563 euros out of 1,000 euros of taxes. Of these 563 euros, expenses for pensions and health represent almost the entirety (247 euros for pensions and 209 euros for health and disability expenses, including 64 euros for hospital services, 54 euros for compensation such as sick leave or 54 euros for outpatient health services).
“In France, we choose to spend a lot on the elderly, for whom retirement expenses are intended, and a significant part of those on health, and less for the active or the young and less for the young, analyzes François Ecalle. This is of course due to the evolution of our demographic pyramid, but we do not put much effort into countering this trend. »
90 euros for teaching
Another important item of expenditure, that devoted to “support of economic activities” (116 euros). Behind this somewhat catch-all term hide a wide variety of aid and subsidies to businesses and households (aid for employment, agriculture, renewable energies, etc.). But also expenses linked to transport, such as subsidies to the SNCF and RATP or the construction and maintenance of roads. Then comes education, which represents 90 euros out of 1,000 euros of taxes, including 38 euros for middle and high schools, 24 euros for elementary and primary schools, and 11 euros for higher education.
Followed by general services (which include the presidency, Parliament, the Prime Minister’s services, human resources management, representation functions, but also external economic aid), which represent 67 euros out of 1,000 euros of taxes. . Finally arrive the interest on the public debt (34 euros), defense (31 euros), internal security and justice (30 euros, including 16 euros for police services, 5 euros for civil protection, 4 euros for courts and 3 euros for the prison administration), leisure, sports and culture (25 euros), stone aid and collective facilities (21 euros), environmental protection and fundamental research (5 euros).
Another interesting fact that emerges from this note: since 1995, the structure of our public spending has changed. We are now devoting more money to pensions, health, support for economic activities (excluding transport), leisure, sport and culture, the fight against exclusion and environmental protection. On the other hand, we spend less on defense, basic research, transport, general services, family policy or education. And compared to our neighbors? We will have to wait until the start of the year and the delivery of Eurostat data to answer this question.
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