What priorities for a tax reform in France?
The French government is currently cutting many taxes, th a nks to a change to some taxes in a way that sometimes may seem messy . What principles can guide a tax reform? Changing the progressivity of tax es ; as income inequality after redistribution is low in France, increasing the progressivity of taxes does not seem to be the most pressing need; Ensuring the universality of taxation , i.e. the fact that each citizen pays a tax; in France this was obtained by the introduction of the general social contribution; Improving economic efficiency, for example: Lowering the cost of capital to boost corporate investment (which has been done in France); Lowering companies’ social contributions and increasing VAT to boost the employment rate and replicate a devaluation (through a fiscal devaluation); Taxing CO2 emissions. Distributing purchasing power via a tax cut is, by contrast, dangerous if this tax cut is not financed by an increase in potential GDP.