Gabriel Attal, Minister Delegate for Public Accounts, was the guest of the 8:30 a.m. france infoFriday April 28, 2023. Tax cuts, fight against fraud, social protest … He answered questions from Céline Asselot and Neila Latrous.
Tax cuts: the government wants to “target” the middle classes
“Since 2017, we have made it a priority”said Gabriel Attal, as the government announced an upcoming tax cut for the middle classes. “The middle classes are the French who live from their work, not from social assistance, nor from a large heritage that would allow them to have an additional income.”
The minister wants better “target” tax cuts on the middle classes for their “give new air to have projects”. Several levers are possible for this. “We are going to work on it, I hope we can work on it with the parliamentarians.” These reductions could concern “Income tax, it can be employee contributions, the question of inheritance.”
Gabriel Attal promised this week in committee new tax cuts during the five-year term for the middle classes. These tax cuts would come at a time when the government has undertaken to increase public spending less rapidly than inflation over the period 2023-2027 in order to accelerate France’s debt reduction.
Taxes: Gabriel Attal proposes to Marine Le Pen to debate “on the question of the middle classes”
Marine Le Pen has accused the government of lying about tax cuts. She claims that the “taxes have exploded” and that they “penalize above all the working and middle classes”. Gabriel Attal defends himself and proposes a debate: “If she wants to talk about the middle classes, I suggest that we debate together. Let’s have a debate together on the situation of the middle classes where she can be accountable for the positions she has taken in recent years.”
For Gabriel Attal, Marine Le Pen “confuses tax revenue and the tax rate. Yes, tax revenue increased last year while we lowered the rate. We have an economy that has developed. When you have growth, it there is more tax revenue.
“Marine Le Pen is lying”, adds the minister. “She wants to believe that she is a defender of all the middle classes, but we see in all positions in the National Assembly” that the RN “does the opposite.”
Fight against fraud: “A priority project” for Gabriel Attal
INSEE recently carried out a study which estimates “around 20 billion euros per year” VAT loss. So it’s “a project, for me, a priority”explained Gabriel Attal, who intends “fight against all fraud”: “Social security contribution fraud is estimated at around 8 billion euros. It is an important deposit. Fraud on social benefits is around 2.8 billion euros.”
“I want to fight against all fraud”insisted the minister. “A euro subtracted from national solidarity, whether it is a euro of tax paid which is not paid or a euro of social allowance received which should not be received, it is a euro which is taken from the French who work and pay taxes for better public services.”
Gabriel Attal goes “announce a reinforcement of the agents on the tax control” which is not always done by agents. “Artificial intelligence is used for tax audits, especially on companies, but not only. We have agents who do it.” The Minister also announced that in terms of VAT, “electronic invoicing between companies will be implemented from 2024 for the largest companies and then gradually each year”.
Social protest: “Some things are not necessary”
“There is a dispute, we are in a democracy, I hear it and respect it, but I consider that certain things are not necessary”said Gabriel Attal, while many pot concerts have taken place in recent days, there are boos, or banners, during ministerial or presidential trips.
During a football match, the CGT cut off the electricity for 30 minutes. “On moments of fraternization, not everything must be, permanently, the object of conflictualization, of blockage.” We must not ban gatherings, but we must be careful “to political activists, trade unions, who seek to block the expression of ministers or the President of the Republic”. Gabriel Attal has nothing against these moves, but he insists that “what is legitimate is the protest that is expressed, but which does not prevent us from meeting the French.”
Power cuts when a minister travels to a district, which affect “restaurateurs, businesses, that there is sometimes collateral damage, I think it is not necessary.”
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Find the entire “8:30 am franceinfo” of Friday April 28, 2023: