Tax. Collection at the source: "The new world is afraid of obstacles" according to Jean-Marc Ayrault

The deduction at source must be put in place in January. But the government is reluctant to launch the reform. Former Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who was in the initiative in 2013, denounces these hesitations.

A meeting is taking place on Tuesday at the Elysee Palace regarding withholding tax. Emmanuel Macron could decide whether or not to maintain the project planned for January. For Jean-Marc Ayrault, Socialist Prime Minister from May 2012 to April 2014, a renunciation would be "a serious mistake" .

Interview

Should we forgo the withholding tax?

It would be a big mistake. This reform has been extensively matured and prepared. I started the work of rebuilding the tax system in 2013. When I left the government in April 2014, this project was not immediately extended, I regret it. Withholding tax was however taken over in 2016 by Michel Sapin and Christian Eckert. They had planned a reform in January 2018. But the new majority gave themselves another year to make sure everything worked. Deadlines have ensured a clear, effective and progressive reform.

However, it poses technical problems. It has been postponed for private employers.

That is true. But this remains a useful reform, which is in the long term. Today, the succession of declarations seems to prepare the minds not for a new postponement but for the pure and simple abandonment of the withholding tax. It would be above all political. This burial would be an admission of weakness. The old world has been able to launch this reform. The new is afraid of the obstacle ...

Your government had considered a merger of the income tax, which is not withheld at source, and the CSG which is already. To the extent that this has been abandoned, why persist in taxing income tax at source?

This reading is not accurate. I had launched a project to review the tax system as a whole: direct, indirect, local, ecological. This included the reconciliation of income tax and the CSG, two major payroll taxes. A first step was decided: the tax at source. It is a reform in itself, which makes the levy fairer. It takes into account current income and more than the previous year.

We still feel that lack of substantive reform, we made a technical reform ...

This is not a simple technical reform. It is first of all a measure of equity that simplifies the life of the French: it offers for example a levy over twelve months and not more than ten for those who are now monthly. It is no coincidence that almost all countries have adopted it.