It is exclusive to the newspaper Les Échos, the balance sheet of one of the flagship measures of the government to avoid the bankruptcy of thousands of companies is edifying. The latter consists in postponing their social and tax charges, and concerns more than 40,000 companies.
The figures that we were able to collect from the tax authorities and social security show the extent of the shock: 40,000 companies have asked for cost deferrals for more than 9 billion euros. That's as much cash as these companies should have gotten out there, right away. And that would have plunged many of them into default. So these are postponements for three months, the money remains due to Urssaf or taxes. But thanks to this unprecedented measure in peacetime, never seen since the Second World War, thousands of companies have been able to keep their heads above water. Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of Public Accounts, sums it up with a formula: "We preferred to go into debt rather than bankruptcy".
And in particular SME bankruptcies…
Yes 86% of requests for postponement of social charges come from SMEs. But there are also 20 large groups that have asked for a tax deferral, including two in transportation and five in the automobile. Large groups which, suddenly, will not be able to distribute dividends: this was the condition posed by Bercy. The sectors which have most requested load deferrals are air transport, catering, accommodation, clothing. It is confined France, the one that has seen its turnover collapse. Three-quarters of non-food businesses have requested charge deferrals. It costs the State and Social Security dear, in other words each of us. But without it, whole swathes of our economy would have collapsed.