Finance: the executive goes on the hunt for public spending

Barthélémy Philippe, edited by Alexandre Dalifard 06h15, April 12, 2023

The executive is hunting for public spending. While the debt and the public deficit have exceeded the alert level for a long time, Matignon will send a scoping letter to each ministry. The aim is to gather ideas for reform that would reduce public spending. In particular to feed the review of public spending launched a few weeks ago. In concrete terms, will the state make budget cuts?

Management down to the euro

No more "whatever it takes" and make way for public finance management to the nearest euro. The executive targets certain costly tax expenditures and among the aid to companies, there is the research tax credit where 7 billion euros per year are redistributed by the State. There is no question of removing it but rather of greening it and better framing it. "We will evaluate the eligible expenses and see if it is really effective," announced a deputy close to Bruno Le Maire. The same logic applies to the personal service tax credit, which costs 6 billion euros per year and where no less than 26 activities are concerned. "It is necessary to sort," pleads the same deputy, who cites the tax advantage for the guarding of housing, in the absence of the owners.

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Another objective of budgetary rationalization is housing policy. The state spends 40 billion euros a year on it for mediocre results. Finally, Bercy wants to tackle tax expenditures that subsidize polluting energies. Such as the tax advantage of non-road diesel (RNG), which benefits construction players, which is in the hot seat.