“It’s a major injustice” that there is no tax on superprofits, said Thursday, August 4 François Ruffin, LFI deputy for the Somme, guest of “8:30 am franceinfo”. He points in particular to the profits of Total “who does not pay corporation tax in France”.
“We have maximum profits from Total, including in the second quarter since we are at ten billion over the first six months, and what does the government decide to do? Nothing. Zero tax on mega profits”. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres denounced the “greed” big oil and gas companies making profits “scandalous” on “the back of the poorest” thanks to the crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, calling on governments to tax them. “This is what we don’t do in France”, said Francois Ruffin.
The tax rate for VSEs and SMEs is “15% to 24%”, affirmed the deputy of the Somme. “There we are at 0% on Total. We are in a kind of delirium, it’s as big as a cow in the middle of the corridor.”
François Ruffin hoped “that there would be at least cosmetic measures” against Total. “The injustice is so glaring. But even that they don’t do!”, he is indignant. “If we say that we celebrate the value of work, we must be able to live on our salary.”
The taken procedures “are not up to the stakes. The first five fortunes have tripled under Macron and we are not going to touch them”, said the rebel. The corporate margin rate has never been so high in our country. For 40 years we have been proceeding with wage moderation.
“The top five fortunes have tripled under Macron.”
Francois Ruffinat franceinfo
“We are proposing a tax on financial transactions”, recalled the parliamentarian, in favor of a tax at the global level. “We must be a driving force. When Total and Amazon do not pay taxes, should we continue to caress them in the direction of the hair?” A law against tax optimization “should be a priority today. Total, Amazon, Stellantis, need to make money here and they will stay here.”
François Ruffin answered questions from Jean-François Achilli and Céline Asselot. Find the full interview.