According to the results of the Paying Taxes 2020 study carried out jointly with the World Bank, which compares the tax situation of medium-sized companies in almost 190 countries each year, particularly in terms of tax pressure and reporting obligations, France has slipped back in the overall rankings, from 55th to 61st place. Explanations.
The tax burden on French companies remains steady
The tax burden remained stable for companies in France, with the levy rate rising from 60.4% in 2017 to 60.7% in 2018. France thus moves up to 61st place in the overall ranking. This drop is mainly due to a high rate of social contributions compared with other countries. The assessment does not take into account the reduction in social contributions linked to the abolition of the CICE.
The study also shows that France retains its position in terms of accelerated declaratory processes (index of 92.4 out of 100). In fact, the tax authorities are particularly efficient when it comes to simple claim procedures (VAT refund claims, correction of tax returns, etc.).
Finally, according to the results of the Paying Taxes study, relations between companies and tax authorities are becoming increasingly fluid. This desire to improve dialogue between the tax authorities and SMEs has resulted in the introduction of personalized tax support for these players, and greater legal certainty.
Efforts to reduce the administrative burden on taxpayers
Globally, the time spent by companies in fulfilling their tax obligations has fallen by 27 hours compared to 2012, and the number of tax payments has fallen by an average of 4.4. These results are linked to technological advances that enable tax authorities to improve the efficiency of their procedures.
Another finding of the study is the improvement in the "Post-Filing" index, which measures the administrative effort involved in VAT refunds and post-filing corrections to income tax returns. On a worldwide average, SMEs improved to 60.9 points out of 100 (versus 59.6 points the previous year). Among the most noteworthy developments, Egypt and Armenia enabled their companies to benefit from VAT refunds, while Turkey decided to exempt expenditure linked to the acquisition of real estate from VAT.
The stability of the overall average total tax and contribution rate (TTCR), at 40.5%, is explained on the one hand by the increase in indirect taxes applied in certain countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and on the other hand by the decrease in the corporate income tax rate observed in other countries, notably the United States, China and Morocco.