France remained second in 2022 for the weight of production taxes in its GDP, among other comparable European economies, and by far in the lead in absolute value, according to the 3rd edition of the Institut Montaigne barometer on this theme.
Production taxes weigh on a country’s means of production and are therefore mainly paid by companies.
Last year, this “European barometer of production taxes” noted a drop of 0.6 points in the weight of these taxes in French GDP in 2021 compared to 2020, the result of government reforms. But in 2022, it increased again, from 3.8% to 4% of GDP.
Of the eleven other countries studied, only Sweden does more (9.28%) but because it has decided to devote the proceeds of these taxes to social protection. In Italy, third, this rate is 2.87%, in Germany, 10th, 0.75%. The French figure is double the median of these twelve countries (2%).
A lack of visibility which “could harm companies’ investment decisions”
In absolute value, France exceeds everyone with 105 billion euros collected in 2022, compared to 29 and 55 billion for Germany and Italy.
These figures differ slightly from those of the European statistical institute Eurostat, because they are also based on the approach of the Mazars Société d’Avocats network of tax specialists, present in the twelve countries studied.
In France, the study observes, measures to reduce the burden of production taxes “are real, but deserve to be sustained”. The Montaigne Institute fears that “the obvious constraints weighing on our public finances – 111.7% debt/GDP at the end of 2023” – will transform production taxation into a “simple budgetary adjustment tool”.
He describes as a “regrettable signal” the postponement until 2027 of the total disappearance of the Contribution on added value of companies (CVAE) promised for 2024, after the elimination of the first half in 2023. “This lack of visibility and consistency in political choices could harm business investment decisionsyet essential to our competitiveness,” notes the Institute.
The share of certain production taxes is, however, sometimes increased for good reason, such as the contribution on apprenticeship, the result of a “proactive policy” of the government, with a number of apprentices doubled from 2018 to 2022, to 950,000. The study finally notes that in six of the eleven other countries studied, the weight of production taxes in GDP also increased in 2022.
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