Budget: Chambers of trades say they are victims of "a tax heist"

The CMA, which expected to receive 156,4 million euros this year from TFCMA (tax for chambers of trades and crafts expenses), paid by craft businesses, discovered in the revenue section of the budget adopted Tuesday by 49.3 in the National Assembly that the payment was reduced to 150,65 million euros, they told AFP.

"In defiance of the vote of parliamentarians (National Assembly and Senate) who clearly expressed their support for respecting the trajectory negotiated with the State (-13,25 million euros compared to 2025, editor's note) the government has taken (...) unilaterally, the decision to impose on the CMA network an additional reduction in its resources under the 2026 budget," they deplore in a press release.

The reduction imposed on them this year exceeds what had been agreed for the period 2023-2027, a programmed reduction of 60 million euros of its resources over the period.

According to the CMA, this is an "unfair, incomprehensible and unacceptable decision that cannot remain as it stands, (...) a real fiscal heist, as well as a breach of trust in the word of the State."

"We are the last mile player, the one that craftsmen turn to in a particularly difficult economic context. The use of CMA services is also constantly increasing (...) With 94% of users declaring themselves satisfied with the support offered, why jeopardize what works and contributes to the resilience of our craft businesses and our territories?", asks the president of CMA France Joël Fourny.