The Senate commission of inquiry into the use by the State of consulting firms denounced in its report published Thursday a "sprawling phenomenon", at a growing cost for public finances, and accused the French entities of McKinsey of tax optimization. , such that they would not have paid any corporation tax between 2011 and 2020.

"Emmanuel Macron must explain himself", immediately demanded on Twitter the candidate LR Valérie Pécresse: "how could he not know? The outgoing President must be accountable", she wished.

And Xavier Bertrand, one of his advisers, asks: "How could the government entrust around fifty missions to a firm that has not paid corporate tax for 10 years? Why has he not carried out these checks? Why do we have to wait for the Senate to take it up?

On the sidelines of an event at the French Olympic Committee, the environmental candidate Yannick Jadot denounced to the press "a total drift in the place of consulting firms, including Americans, which are at the heart of French public policies", and the links of Emmanuel Macron with "the lobbies".

"This government is clearly caught in the honeypot of American consulting firms and tax evasion," he added.

"Macronie prefers to send your taxes to Delaware", summarized in a tweet the deputy LFI François Ruffin.

The president of the National Rally Jordan Bardella estimated for his part that "between (the) dubious services (of the cabinet), its close links with the macronie and its tax optimization, it is yet another state scandal " .

In a document annexed to the report consulted by AFP, the senators write that "McKinsey is indeed subject to corporation tax (IS) in France but its payments have been at zero euros for at least 10 years, while its turnover on the national territory reached 329 million euros in 2020, of which approximately 5% in the public sector, and that it employs approximately 600 employees there.

In this regard, certain statements by Karim Tadjeddine, head of the cabinet's "public sector" division, during his sworn hearing before the commission on January 18, "are likely to constitute false testimony before a commission of inquiry" and " imply reporting the facts to the Public Prosecutor".

The senators recall in particular an assertion by Mr. Tadjeddine: "I say it very clearly: we pay corporate tax in France".

© 2022 AFP