On RMC, the boss of Cooperative U pointed out the giant Shein who, according to him, pays less taxes in France than a “medium super U” store despite a turnover of 1.6 billion euros.
Dominique Schelcher wants to “fight in fairness” with the great actors of e-commerce. Invited on RMC this Tuesday, the boss of Cooperative U deplored the low tax level paid by the Chinese Shein in France, namely “273,000 euros for 2023 on 1.6 billion turnover”.
“This is what is no longer going,” denounced the manager, when “trade, for example, ours is 100 taxes and taxes to which we are subject”.
“We do not complain about it, we live with it, we pay them”, but “273,000 euros is less taxes than a super U medium. A super U at the bottom of France pays more tax on the year than the big brand Shein. (…) That all forms of commerce can flourish, of course, but under the same conditions,” he asked.
The amount of taxes paid by Shein indeed appears quite low with regard to its volume of activity in France and compared to the tax paid by companies installed in France, such as supermarkets.
Take for example the case of a super U located in Vitry-en-Artois (Pas-de-Calais). According to the Pappers site, the supermarket had paid 272,000 euros in taxes in 2023 for a turnover of 34.3 million euros. Other comparable brand brand stores pay less tax but all the same more than 100,000 euros per year, which in proportion to their results is much higher than the tax paid by Shein. Some hypers like the hyper U of Pont-de-Bauvoisin (65.3 million turnover) even pay more than 500,000 euros in taxes and taxes.
-In other words, a hyper U which achieves a turnover 25 times less than Shein in France will however pay twice as much tax.
The boss of Shein on BFMTV – 04/29
Tax optimization
“We do not work on equal arms,” said Dominique Schelcher. And for good reason, if Shein pays so few taxes in France, it is because the company uses a skilfully thought -out tax optimization scheme which allowed it to declare only 9.9 million euros in turnover in 2023 and a profit of 301,000 euros, as revealed the informed at the start of the year. However, the turnover of the Chinese giant is estimated at 1.64 billion euros in France.
According to the investigation media, the shein subsidiary in France actually declares only the marketing and communication activities of its Parisian office which employs 20 people. The purchases of its French customers on its marketplace are invoiced in Ireland where its parent company is located. There, the corporate tax rate is 12.5%, compared to 25% in France. The Irish structure of Shein belongs to a holding company based on the Singapore which it belongs to a holding company … in the Cayman islands.
Beyond taxation, Dominique Schelcher denounced the “600 planes coming from China every night (…) to Europe” to pour in the market of products “which are not always controlled in the same way” as local products.
Last week, the government announced a series of measures to regulate the influx of Chinese packages. He notably proposed to charge “management fees” on each small package entering Europe, from 2026, to finance the controls. The Government also supports the abolition of the customs tax exemption on packages worth less than 150 euros. A measure that could be integrated into the customs union reform in 2028.
