French minister for public spending Gabriel Attal promised on Tuesday to tighten tax controls on the "ultra-rich" and multinationals and to ease the pressure on the middle classes as part of an anti tax fraud plan.
"My plan is to pile pressure on the ultra-rich and the multinationals but also to alleviate the pressure on the middle classes and small business owners, to give them a breather," Gabriel Attal told France Inter radio on Tuesday.
"There is an overwhelming majority of French people who work, who pay taxes and who are the victim of this fraud," he added.
Experts estimate lost revenue for government coffers due to tax fraud anywhere between €30 to 100 billion.
Attal outlined the government objectives for tackling this thorny issue by announcing a 25 percent increase in tax audits "on large estates" by the end of President Emmanuel Macron's five-year term.
Tax audits every would also be carried out for the 100 largest companies on the stock market two years.
Attal says he wants to "tackle the gray area, to what is sometimes called tax optimisation".
For goods and services tax (VAT) fraud alone, a detailed study estimated the amount at €20 billion per year, Attal pointed out, adding that he would introduce mandatory electronic invoices for transactions between companies.
Punishment is to be stepped up "for the most serious faults" such as concealment of assets abroad, Attal warned in an interview with Le Monde newspaper on Monday.
To ensure these checks, Attal said 1,500 new jobs for agents tax audits would be created by 2027 - there are currently around 10,000 and the staff of the finance judicial investigation service will be doubled.
Elite agents for international fraud
A new tax intelligence service is to be set up, with a hundred "elite agents" dedicated to the fight against major international fraud.
The new service will be able to use "eavesdropping and data recuperation" to seek information "in non-cooperative states or territories" such as Panama or the Bahamas.
"Our priority: to make the ultra-rich and the multinationals who defraud pay what they owe," Attal said.
The Minister also insisted on "alleviating the pressure on the small taxpayer" by simplifying the declaration system and establishing "a automatic penalty waiver for the first error".
Another gesture towards modest-earning taxpayers: the creation of an "automatic reverse penalty" in favor of the taxpayer in the event of an error by the government.
The minister will later this month present a plan to combat social benefits fraud.
