Gabriel Attal completed a multi-day visit to the United States on Tuesday, February 28. For the French Minister of Public Accounts, it was a question of improving “the transfer of information” on both sides of the Atlantic, in particular in terms of tax evasion. In an interview with AFP, Gabriel Attal points out that “the ability to obtain information has become decisive and progress in this area is essential for all countries”.

The question of fraud as a whole must indeed be the subject of a control plan which will be presented by the Minister “at the end of the first quarter or the beginning of the second”. “I want to tackle tax, social and customs fraud. We tend too much to take care of one or the other, rarely of the third, we wish on our side to act on the whole, ”insisted the Minister of Public Accounts.

The plan must provide for quantified objectives “depending on the type of fraud”, added Gabriel Attal, but also an evaluation body “in order to better understand the levels of fraud”, which are currently “very estimated […]. I would like us to be able to equip ourselves with tools on the subject”.

“The big point today is VAT fraud, quantified by INSEE at more than 20 billion euros per year,” said Gabriel Attal, “a major project is electronic invoicing between companies, which will gradually come into force from 1 July 2024. In Italy, the only country to have implemented it, an additional 2 billion euros were collected in the first year”.

The visit to the United States also provided an opportunity to study how the United States Revenue Service (IRS) relies on “high-stakes fraud intelligence techniques to be able to substantiate and prove the things to then go to a judicialization of the files. It’s one of the things I watch.”

The Minister also took advantage of his visit to observe in practice the functioning of the American Customs and Borders Agency (CBP), launched in 2003 and from which France wishes to draw inspiration in order to launch “greater cooperation between customs and border police”.

“The idea is not to merge in France”, as has been achieved in the United States, “but to improve complementarity as we have been able to do in the field of the fight against drug trafficking, with a common umbrella while leaving autonomy to each entity”, detailed Gabriel Attal.

President Biden’s climate plan (IRA), which still arouses concerns in Europe, was also the subject of discussions, the minister insisting to his interlocutors on the risk “that a race for protectionism between the United States and Europe will only benefit one country: China. It is important to act to have a transatlantic green transition market benefiting everyone”.