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In 2023, various frauds have cost the State dearly. “ For the first time, we have exceeded the mark of 2 billion euros of social fraud detected in one year ” declared Gabriel Attal, our Prime Minister in March. As for tax fraud, it is (strangely) more difficult to quantify since “Unlike many countries, France does not have any rigorous assessment of tax fraud.”
This is what the Court of Auditors stipulates in its report entitled The detection of personal tax fraud. It would be estimated between 60 and 80 billion per year, or even 100 billion according to the Solidaires Finances publique union. The executive wants to redouble its efforts in its fight against fraud by deploying new means. After hunting down undeclared swimming pools and verandas, the state arsenal is expanding a little more for this year.
Reinforcement personnel
First lever of support: the deployment of new agentsdedicated to tax fraud by 2027. Bercy plans to hire 1,500 additional people, including 631 who will already be in position at the end of 2024. At the same time, 1,500 people 000 other additional agents will also be there to track down social benefit fraudsters.
The government will also step up its game with the birth of & #8217;a new ONAF (National Anti-Fraud Office for Public Finances) on July 1, which will replace the SNEJF (Judicial Financial Investigation Service). Its scope of action will be wider and 80 officers will work there compared to around forty previously.
The human does not do everything, to the& #8217;AI air! The hunt for fraudsters will also be doped with algorithmsallowing automatic detection using satellite photos. Thomas Cazenave, the Minister of Public Accounts, explains: “ We will now do this to identify all undeclared buildings “. Swimming pools will therefore no longer be the only ones concerned. Monitoring on social networks (webscrapping) also continues to be developed.
Technologies and regulations: weapons of choice
From this summer, CAF will have access to airline passenger files, an effective asset for spotting people coming and going across the country's borders. To curb the estimated 800 million in under-declarations by microentrepreneurs, URSSAF wishes to impose withholding tax for those concerned by 2027.
On the regulatory side, it is also strengthening, in particular via the finance law for 2024, which empowers administrations to directly sanction cheaters who dare to defraud public aid. This, without having to go to court. Cazenave adds: “ We now demand reimbursement of social benefits by health professionals who defraud Health Insurance, as we demand for companies that practice illegal work “.
In short, times are tough for fraudsters, and the Government is tightening the screws. I look forward to seeing these same efforts to counter tax evasion, which, even if it is not necessarily illegal, still costs us several tens of billions of euros per year.
- The Government wants to strengthen the fight against social and tax fraud.
- This will firstly involve an increase dedicated staff, with the hiring of several thousand new agents.
- New resources will be given to public administrations and automatic detection by algorithms will be implemented. #8217;intensify.
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