Fraud social contributions exceeds 20 billion a year – Le Figaro

Fraud social contributions exceeds 20 billion a year – Le Figaro

Fraud social contributions reached between 20 and 25 billion euros in 2012, according to estimates released by the Court of Auditors. This spectacular amount almost doubled in eight years and represents about 5% of total contributions.

This is a huge shortfall for finance public, at a time when the government is desperately trying to stem the slippage in the fiscal deficit. And the worst is that it is increasing. The amount of fraud in social security contributions has reached between € 25 billion and 20 in 2012, about 1 percentage point of GDP, according to a study by the Central Agency of Social Security (ACOSS) at the request of the Court of Auditors, which reported in its annual report released Wednesday morning.

This amount “substantial”, which includes the deliberate concealment but also irregularities, has almost doubled since 2004 and is about 5% of contributions and social contributions (including CSG-CRDS, unemployment insurance and supplementary pensions). The main sectors responsible for volatilization are construction and trade, to the amounts subtracted from 3.8 to 3.3 billion euros. This corresponds to high levels of fraud by 22% and 12%

Despite the financial challenge “major”, this escape -. That comes “essentially” the clandestine work – remains largely underestimated, said the Court, for lack of “regular assessments” and “because of the rapid turnover of its forms.” More generally, the task of inspecting officers is complicated by the “globalization of trade,” that coexist within the single European market levels of social protection “very uneven”, but also by the proliferation of “dematerialized transactions” .

The new forms of fraud involves in particular the use of posted workers. The latter being subject to social contributions of their country of origin (often well below those of France), some employers may be tempted to present employees as such. This may explain why the number of posted workers has passed in France in 7500 in 2000 to 170,000 in 2012, suggest the Rue Cambon Wise

Another “trick” recent. Disguise as an employed person under the as an independent contract. To this, add more conventional practices, but “often just as difficult to detect,” as underreporting of business or working hours.

proof of their inefficiency, controls not possible to recover only a pittance, peaking at about “1.5% of the fraud in the concealed work under Social Security” against more than half off illegal work. Together, these operations reported under $ 1 billion last year, of which only 291 million related to illegal work. Also, note the senior judges, “some contributions, like those of supplementary pension schemes of employees do still under no control, the fight against fraud to contributions due social system remains independent non-existent” while the “underreporting” of income from this asset class remains “important.”

To curb this, the Court therefore recommends “strengthening the means of action of social organizations” including “strengthening their powers of investigation” by providing them with tools covering more “efficient” and raising the penalties. There are more urgent than ever.