More than a fifth of French tax revenues could be lost to evasion, according to investigations carried out by an influential employee body based in the country.
The French Solidarity Public Finance union suggest that between €60bn (£50.8bn) and €80bn may be slipping through the coffers of President François Hollande’s tax department, which, if accurate, would mean lost revenues of €30bn more than France collects in income tax. This is in stark contrast to the UK where HMRC estimates that evasion accounts for £32bn of possible tax revenue.
Further still, the group claim that the shortfall is only increasing, citing equivalent figures for 2007 of €42-51bn – implying a rise of between 30 and 40%.
In its report, the union advocates the deployment of additional staff tasked with combating tax evasion by both individuals and corporations, although Vincent Drezent, general secretary of the union observes that the issue was primarily one concerning big businesses.
Drezent was also critical of the inaction of successive French governments, who consistently pledge to strengthen resources for tax officials, and yet are only recovering around €13bn every year.
Since Hollande moved into the Élysée Palace, his government has launched a major overhaul of the French tax system in the country, including a controversial ‘Google tax’ and a 75% tax rate for millionaires - that saw actor and French national treasure Gerard Depardieu take on Russian citizenship, in an effort to avoid the onerous tax.
The Socialist government has also had to suffer the embarrassment of its minister responsible for tax policy, Jérôme Cahuzac, facing an official inquiry into allegations of tax fraud
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