Tax fraud: a socially acceptable financial crime in France?
| Pages | 432-446 |
| Date | 05 October 2015 |
| Published date | 05 October 2015 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-09-2013-0052 |
| Author | Frederic Compin |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & Finance,Financial risk/company failure,Financial crime |
Tax fraud: a socially acceptable
nancial crime in France?
Frederic Compin
Department Sciences Humaines, Université d’Evry-Val d’Essonne, Evry, France
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to point out that tax fraud, recognized as a scourge by both
governments and responsible tax-payers, hits public nances hard with an inevitable knock-on effect on
general welfare. Based on this observation, key players interviewed for this paper, including
magistrates, a trade unionist and a high-ranking ofcial, will attempt to provide some possible solutions
to help understand why signicant sections of public opinion consider this very particular form of
nancial crime to be legitimate, largely inspired by the notion that tax fraud and evasion are socially
acceptable and even seen as a national sport in certain countries.
Design/methodology/approach – The survey was carried out among 20 tax ofcials, a trade
unionist, two magistrates and a high-ranking civil servant. The interviewees were carefully chosen for
their ability to provide valuable insights into the reasons behind the lenient treatment of fraudsters by
a state lacking the necessary means and structures to ght this crime.
Findings – The ght against tax fraud has clearly sparked numerous controversies around
evaluation, scope, criminal perpetrators and cooperation between services.
Social implications – Tax fraud, an offence committed with the aim of avoiding taxation or reducing
the amount of tax to be paid, ranges from low-level illegal activity, such as undeclared work to make
ends meet, to more serious offences, such as value-added tax carousel fraud. All the unpaid tax resulting
from such blatant outing of the law represent a serious loss of revenue for the state and local
authorities.
Originality/value – The ght against tax fraud is crucial in determining taxpayers’ acceptance of the
contribution required for state expenditure and investment. In a country such as France, where tax
fraud is almost a national sport, combating this scourge will help restore the state’s budgetary
sovereignty by making it central to people’s concerns about redistributive justice, tax equality and fair
access to public goods.
Keywords France, Sociology, Fiscal fraud, Tax justice network
Paper type Research paper
A sociological approach to tax fraud entails going beyond the traditional analysis of the
major functions of tax as proposed by Musgrave. The contribution to general well-being
is not simply a question of allocating resources for the production of public goods or the
redistribution and regulation of the economy. The scal system should thus be
examined from a political and social perspective, assessing both the redistributive
function of taxation as an instrument of a citizen’s contribution to the life of a nation as
well as its territorial function in reducing territorial inequalities (Leroy, 2007, pp. 95-97).
Tax fraud, an offence committed with the aim of avoiding taxation or reducing the
amount of tax to be paid, ranges from low-level illegal activity, such as undeclared work
to make ends meet, to more serious offences, such as value-added tax (VAT) carousel
fraud. All the unpaid tax resulting from such blatant outing of the law represent a
serious loss of revenue for the state and local authorities.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1359-0790.htm
JFC
22,4
432
Journalof Financial Crime
Vol.22 No. 4, 2015
pp.432-446
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1359-0790
DOI 10.1108/JFC-09-2013-0052
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