L’Edito de Raphaël Legendre : La France malade de ses impôts de production - 09/04
·4 min
The episode opens with Raphaël Legendre introducing the topic of production taxes based on a new barometer from the Montaigne Institute and Forvis Mazars. He structures the discussion around good, bad, and very bad news. The good news is that production taxes are decreasing in Europe and France, with France's rate dropping from 3.8% to 3.6% of GDP. However, Legendre explains that this decrease is only due to the end of exceptional taxes on energy and bank contributions, not a structural reduction. The bad news is that France remains an anomaly in Europe, being the second most taxed country for production taxes behind Sweden. He contrasts Sweden's model, where production taxes fund social allocations, with France's double penalty of high production taxes and the highest social contributions in Europe. Legendre provides comparative data: France's production taxes are three times the European median of 1.2% of GDP, totaling 104 billion euros in collection. He compares this to Italy, which has about the same GDP per head but only 60 billion euros in collection, and Germany, which has four times less production taxes despite a larger GDP. The episode notes that production taxes in France comprise 135 different taxes, contributing to a tax burden on companies that is 15% of GDP in France versus 10% in Germany. Legendre links these taxes to financing local collectivities, transports, retirements, and social expenses, with 60% of next year's public expense increase tied to them. He concludes that without reducing these expenses, production taxes cannot be lowered, leading to the very bad news that investment decisions will be made elsewhere, harming France's competitiveness. The episode ends with an unrelated advertisement for Bellambra holidays.
