Exemptions from employer social contributions on salaries above 2.5 SMIC should be abolished, for lack of impact on employment and the competitiveness of businesses, argue in a transpartisan report two deputies, from the presidential camp and the opposition from the left.
We must have the courage to reduce, or even eliminate inefficient spendingjudges Renaissance deputy Marc Ferracci, in a context where the cost of exemptions has exploded while resources are lacking, adds socialist Jrme Guedj, in this document consulted Tuesday by AFP.
Their report is the result of a series of hearings carried out jointly on the question of the effectiveness of exemptions from employer social contributions. It must be examined on Wednesday by the Social Security Budget Evaluation and Control Mission (MECSS) of the Assembly’s Social Affairs Committee.
The various existing reductions, which concern salaries up to 3.5 SMIC, cost nearly 80 billion euros in 2022, going from 1.1 points of GDP in 2004 to 2.8 points in 2022, underline those read. No other public policy tool will have been mobilized with such scale and such persistence, underlines Mr. Guedj.
Creating room for maneuver for social policies
The amounts in question are not in themselves problematic, Mr Ferracci believes in the report, provided they are effective. However, the hearings showed thatreducing labor costs on the highest salaries does not effectively support employmentnor the competitiveness of companies, he notes.
The deputies therefore make a common proposal: the elimination of the family band above 2.5 SMIC, a reduction of 1.8 points in family contributions currently covering salaries up to 3.5 SMIC. The resources released would amount to nearly 1.6 billion euros for the benefit of the State budget and which the two deputies would like to use differently.
Marc Ferracci, who tells AFP that he has no excessive hope that the government will support their proposal, therefore recommends reducing levies on more efficient companies. I consider that it allows create room for maneuver for social policies which are currently underfundedsuch as the care of people losing their autonomy, indicates AFP Mr. Guedj.
Regardless, this report allows us to get a foot in the door and say that exemptions are no longer an untouchable mantra, he congratulates himself. The two deputies emphasize that they do not question the effectiveness on employment of the exemptions relating to the lowest salaries.
Reproduction forbidden.