The Court of Auditors recommends the abolition of many low-yield taxes

These taxes, numbering 243 in 2024 and each generating less than 175 million euros, would have brought in 5,98 billion to public administrations in 2024, a minimal amount compared to the total compulsory levies (1.250 billion), it estimates in a report published Thursday.

117 of them did not even have "a known or estimated yield" last year, according to the document resulting from a citizens' initiative referral to the independent jurisdiction.

Low-yield taxes are "based primarily on production and consumption, rather than income" and affect "businesses more than individuals, in a ratio almost double," she emphasizes.

"According to economic theory, (...) the legitimate scope of low-yield taxes corresponds to specific situations," for example, taxes on polluting activities, those on sugary products or the need to finance a public service.

However, in practice, these taxes have often strayed from their theoretical objective and increased "the complexity of the legal and fiscal environment", placing "operations whose cost is difficult to quantify on thousands of collectors", the Court deplores.

Their number has certainly decreased since 2019, when the jurisdiction counted 305 for a product of 5,77 billion euros, but the reduction dynamic initiated by the public authorities in 2018 has since run out of steam.

The Court of Auditors therefore proposes to relaunch this rationalization process by staggering it over time.

Initially, 44 taxes already identified as "fragile or problematic" could be eliminated as early as the 2026 budget. Thirty others would be reviewed by 2027 in various sectors such as pharmacy and vocational training.

Finally, the Court proposes a "systematic" rationalization which "could be included in the next public finance programming law" and lead to a re-examination of 99 taxes.