The amount of tax evasion broke records in 2022

According to Gabriel Attal, the government is preparing to recover the record sum of 14.6 billion euros for tax evasion.

By Jeanne Le Borgne with Agencies

Gabriel Attal welcomed the very good results of the fight against tax evasion.
© LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP

Published on 02/22/2023 at 10:19 p.m.

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IVAT irregularities, undeclared work, health insurance fraud, cigarette smuggling… The amount of tax evasion in France broke records last year, according to the Minister of Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal. In an interview given to Le Parisien, he was thus pleased that “in 2022, our fight against fraud has produced historic results”. Before specifying that, “On tax evasion, we broke a record with 14.6 billion euros in recovery, including almost 9 billion for companies”. This is 1.2 billion euros more than in 2021.

The so-called “serious” cases, files “which result in penalties of more than 40%”, are on the rise, specifies Gabriel Attal, as well as VAT fraud, estimated at 2.2 billion euros for last year. INSEE estimates that VAT irregularities amount to between 20 and 26 billion euros (based on 2012 data). Undeclared work and posted work led to 790 million euros in recovery in 2022.
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“Regarding health insurance, we detected and avoided 316 million euros of fraud in 2022 against 252 million euros the previous year, or 44% increase”, still welcomed the minister. Family allowances, housing allowances, RSA … fraud in CAF benefits is also in the sights of Bercy controllers with 49,000 cases detected for 351 million euros “detected or avoided”.

Towards a systematic verification of people

Gabriel Attal also returned to the ban on the payment of allowances to non-European bank accounts from 2024, announced on October 20 with the same objective of combating fraud. This will apply in particular to the solidarity allowance for the elderly (Aspa), family benefits, the RSA or the supplementary disability allowance.

“In the plan to fight against fraud that I will present at the end of the first quarter, I want to go further,” he explains in the columns of the daily, citing as an example the systematic verification of people for the payment of pensions. .

The smuggling of tobacco and cigarettes, finally, “explodes” according to the minister, “with a new record: more than 640 tons seized, against 400 tons in 2021”.

Gabriel Attal also took the opportunity to highlight the effectiveness of control, now helped by new technologies.