Business · Economy · 7 hrs ago
France’s tax breaks cost 42% more than 20 years ago
France’s Court of Accounts says oversight of tax breaks has failed.
The country still has 459 special tax measures, including tax credits and exemptions.
Their total cost has risen 42% in real terms over 20 years, despite repeated promises to control them.
The court says many measures have no proven effect, while their accumulation makes the tax system harder to understand.
It warns that this complexity could weaken public trust in taxation.
The court proposes changes, but the budget now under discussion is unlikely to deliver them soon.
France’s tax breaks and exemptions cost 42% more in real terms than they did 20 years ago, according to the Court of Accounts.
The country still has 459 tax arrangements that depart from the standard tax rules.
The Court says efforts to control their number and cost have failed, despite repeated official promises.
It says many tax breaks have not been shown to be effective and calls for action to address the problem.
- Who
- France’s Court of Accounts assessed the tax breaks.
- What
- It said their cost had risen 42% in real terms over 20 years. France still has 459 such arrangements.
- When
- The Court’s note was published on Monday, November 9. The article was published on November 9, 2026.
- Where
- France.
- Why
- The Court says repeated efforts to control the number and cost of tax breaks have not met their goals.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Economists Camille Landais, Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez criticized the accumulation of tax breaks in their book Pour une révolution fiscale.
France’s public finance programming law set a limit of 500 million euros per year on increases in the total cost of new tax measures.
The Court of Accounts published a note saying efforts to control tax breaks had failed.
- Increase in cost
- 42% in real terms over 20 years
- Number of tax arrangements
- 459
- Annual limit for new tax measures
- 500 million euros
- Programming law period
- 2023–2027
What people are saying
The management of tax expenditures is a failure
This weakens the very notion of a tax norm