“The special law is not made to modify the tax scale” on income, believes Moscovici

The censorship of the Barnier government further disrupts France's credibility, but the country has not fallen into «chaos» : this is the message from the first president of the Court of Auditors. This Sunday, Pierre Moscovici returned to the political situation in the country, on the LCI set. He once again defended the need to restore the French public accounts, pleading for politicians to come to an agreement.

Censorship “is neither a disaster nor something trivial”noted Pierre Moscovici. This exceptional episode was received with caution by the markets, but the scenario of a financial crisis has not proven accurate for the moment. “Our credit is monitored […]. We are not threatened by a Greek situation, […] but too much debt prevents us from preparing for the future”he developed. The former minister of François Hollande's five-year term above all wishes to avoid seeing France sink little by little, inexorably, into “a form of depression”or climb “a progressive loss of credibility”.

If the objective set by Michel Barnier – reducing the deficit to 5% of GDP in 2025 – was “pupil”this one remains “necessary” and must be shared by the next government team, argued Pierre Moscovici. France cannot continue in its “collective preference for spending” : “When things are bad, we turn to the State, it’s the dad, the mom. […] Afterwards, we took a bad turn: every time there is a problem, there is a check”he then added. A posture “cultural” become overwhelming for public finances.

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Uncertainty over expected tax increases

To remedy this situation, the first president of the Court of Auditors suggested to future leaders to rebalance the balance between expenditure and revenue. “It is inevitable to do a little taxation”he judged, recalling however that the “fiscally fed up”which he denounced a decade ago, limited the room for maneuver. The new prime minister must, in all cases, “make as much savings as possible through smart spending”.

Pierre Moscovici also returned to the controversy surrounding the indexation of the income tax scale. The absence of a budget for 2025 risks leading to an increase in levies for «18 millions» of French people, according to the OFCE. “Others will pay for the first time because we were unable to include the planned reindexation in the finance law. It’s inevitable”judged Michel Barnier recently. A priori, “the special law [promise par Emmanuel Macron pour pallier l’absence de budget, NDLR] is not made to modify the tax scale”judged the former minister. She is not “not made for that”.

However, this law is only one “temporary solution”added Pierre Moscovici. It will therefore have to be supplemented by a new finance bill, at the start of 2025, which may contain the indexation of the scale to inflation. On the other hand, if this new budget is not voted on by the deputies, due to lack of agreement, “then the French would pay more” and nearly 400,000 of them would be taxable. What to bring back “three to four billion” euros to the public treasury, while weighing on household accounts. An additional argument to encourage elected officials to adhere to the text.