“I want to say it with great seriousness, McKinsey will pay all it owes in taxes to the French Treasury”insisted Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy and representative of candidate Emmanuel Macron, this Thursday on franceinfo, the day after the opening, by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office, of a preliminary investigation for aggravated money laundering of tax evasion at the against the consulting firm McKinsey, which the government called on during its five-year term.
>> Presidential 2022: the article to read to understand the controversy over the McKinsey cabinet, which parasitizes Emmanuel Macron’s campaign
“It is up to the role of justice to take up cases which it believes it should take up. It has a suspicion of laundering tax evasion. It is leading the investigation. It is its role”, reacted Bruno Le Maire. The Minister also recalled that the tax administration, under his authority, “did the necessary” by engaging “a tax audit on McKinsey from November 2021”even before the senators produced their report, accusing the consultancy of not having paid corporate taxes in France between 2011 and 2020.
Bruno Le Maire, however, denied having knowledge of these facts. “I don’t know if they don’t pay taxes, we have a doubt and when there is a doubt, it must be removed”, he said to justify the tax audit ordered by Bercy last year. According to him, it is now “the General Directorate of Public Finance to establish whether or not McKinsey has paid its fair share of taxes in France”.
LIVE – PNF investigation against McKinsey ➡️ “I never comment on court decisions”, answers Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy. “The administration initiated a tax audit on McKinsey in November 2021. McKinsey will pay whatever it owes to the Treasury” pic.twitter.com/QQFLHPkSIp
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) April 7, 2022
The Minister of Economy said “understand emotion” of the French vis-à-vis this case, their questions about the suspicions of tax evasion by the firm McKinsey and the use of consulting firms in general. “We are going to check if there is not a way to employ these consulting firms less”committed Bruno Le Maire, while recalling that on certain missions they “may be useful”.
“On the other hand, the bad faith of the oppositions that fall on us, very often moreover on the part of political leaders who use these same consulting firms when they are local political leaders, that is not very honest, not very solid. and the string is a little big”, judged the support of candidate Emmanuel Macron. Bruno Le Maire denounced the bad trial of intention that is made to the president, considering that “if there is a President of the Republic who has committed himself against tax optimization, like no other majority so far, it is Emmanuel Macron”.
Too many consulting firms? ➡️ “We are going to check if there is not a way to use these consulting firms less”, says Bruno Le Maire who denounces the “bad faith of the opposition”. “These consulting firms can be useful” on certain subjects, he believes. pic.twitter.com/NCf0NAnitG
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) April 7, 2022