It was a year ago, almost to the day. In the midst of a debate on financial superprofits, while the National Assembly was voting on support measures for households affected by soaring energy prices, the chairman of the finance committee Eric Coquerel promised a fact-finding mission on taxation large groups. “Total does not pay taxes in France, affirmed the deputy (La France insoumise, LFI) of Seine-Saint-Denis on France Info on July 29, 2022. It is not normal for SMEs [petites et moyennes entreprises] pay almost 25% tax in France, while the 300 largest companies pay 17% and CAC 40 companies like Total pay zero tax. »
The mission, co-piloted with the general rapporteur of the finance committee, the deputy (Renaissance) of the Gers Jean-René Cazeneuve, must present its conclusions on Wednesday July 19. And these invalidate in part this traditional distinction between large groups and SMEs, still very present in political speeches, including those of the Minister Delegate for the Budget Gabriel Attal in his plan to fight against fraud – “our priority: to make the ultra-rich and the multinationals who defraud pay what they owe”summarized the latter in May in the columns of the World.
This analysis has, it is true, been confirmed for a long time by the figures. Before 2015, the corporate tax rate (IS) actually paid by large companies and SMEs varied from simple or double to the benefit of the former, according to several studies from Bercy and elsewhere. This gap began to narrow significantly from 2012. The mission’s rapporteurs, who had access to Treasury data, show that the rate actually paid by large companies (the “implicit rate”) is now close to that paid by the smallest: in 2019, it amounted to 19.9% for SMEs, 21.3% for medium-sized companies (ETI), and 17.1% for large companies. That is a difference of 2.8 points between the first and the last, against more than 20 points in 2007.
The reduction in this differential is mainly due to the limitation, in France and at international level, of advantages enjoyed by large groups, such as the possibility of deducting the interest on loans to which they have more recourse than SMEs, and of deferring their losses from one year to the next to reduce and smooth taxes, which large companies are more willing to do.
Heterogeneity within the CAC 40
The convergence between small and large companies, however, masks a very wide variety of situations in each category, which is likely to fuel an ever-lively political debate on the taxation of multinationals. The rapporteurs obtained data from the tax authorities which reveal this heterogeneity within CAC 40 companies. average taxable income of 750 million euros, ie a corporate tax rate of 25%. But half of them declared a corporate tax amount of less than 18 million euros.
“For the year 2021, some of these companies are paying a corporate tax that is much lower than what could have been expected in view of their tax result”, note the rapporteurs, who point out that seven companies declared an IS of less than 10 million euros for a tax result of more than 100 million. Thirteen companies also declared paying a corporate tax rate representing less than 7% of their taxable income. Two of them show a tax rate close to zero while their profits exceed several hundred million, according to the report. Conversely, nine groups declare an IS greater than 25% of their taxable income.
The report takes a closer look at the case of the TotalEnergies group, which transmitted information to the rapporteurs and authorized them to publish it. The company has actually not paid corporate tax in France for six of the last ten years, due to losses in France that it has been able to carry over from year to year. In 2022, however, it generated a profit of 300 million euros on its distribution activities, benefited from 91 million euros in research tax credit and a tax reduction of 34 million related to its activities. of patronage. In total, it will pay for 2022, 612 million euros in taxes of all kinds in France, or 1.2% of the total taxes paid worldwide, namely 33 billion euros.
Twelve common proposals
Despite their ideological disagreements, the two rapporteurs make twelve common proposals, recommending, for example, to assess the mechanisms allowing companies to deduct their interest charges which, even if they have been tightened, continue to benefit primarily ETIs and larger groups. Same suggestion for the very advantageous “mother-daughter” regime, which allows a company not to pay tax on dividends received from its subsidiaries (in exchange for deducting a share), and costs 20 billion euros. euros per year to the State. They also question the effectiveness of the reduced corporate tax rate applying to SMEs – 15% against 25% for the largest – which costs 2.6 billion euros per year.
Finally, they suggest forcing companies to report on the public aid they receive and integrating tax policy into corporate social dialogue. For his part, Eric Coquerel proposes to think about a greater progressiveness of corporate tax, like income tax, an idea to which Jean-René Cazeneuve is opposed. Another point of divergence: the research tax credit, criticized by many reports, but to which companies and the majority are very attached.