Yes, Bercy can tax food manufacturers

YES, BERCY CAN TAX AGRI-FOOD MANUFACTURERS

Welcome to the era of sectoral taxation

Excerpts from the article by Alexandra Milleret, Wansquare - Friday, June 2, 2023: quotes from Vincent Renoux

 

While manufacturers in the agri-food sector would drag their feet to renegotiate their prices with distributors, Bercy would therefore now wave the tax threat. A surcharge which, for tax experts, would not only be entirely applicable but which would also be the sign of a new attitude in the tax policy of the public authorities.

An exceptional tax on turnover would thus be in the pipeline and could be examined within the framework of the next finance bill in the fall….

Legally indisputable

« There will be no legal way to challenge it because if one can naturally ask the question of its constitutionality under the principle of equality before the tax burden, it will probably be validated by the Constitutional Council which could judge it valid on the grounds of the general interest. Especially since this tax would include objective criteria and an indisputable triggering event », Estimates Vincent Renoux, partner at the firm Ginestié Magellan Paley-Vincent.

Punitive taxation

« The Gafa tax has not been challenged by anyone. Even Europe got into it by specifically taxing energy companies and the refining activities of TotalEnergies last year due to the energy crisis. “recalls the lawyer for whom taxation is now becoming sectoral. " We are entering a system of punitive sectoral taxation where moral reasons guide the payment of tax. This is a misappropriation of the initial role of the tax. It is not morality that should determine its existence regrets Vincent Renoux.

« Manufacturers affected by this threat already pay corporate tax in France. It is therefore an exceptional surcharge for a question of the margin achieved”, notes the partner at the firm Ginestié Magellan Paley-Vincent.

A delay between the course and the cost

« The margins of agri-food manufacturers are fluctuating. They depend on the price of raw materials on world markets. These prices increase or decrease according to their availability and then affect the sale prices in a staggered manner. Scissor effects are therefore important. There is a difference between a price going down and a cost going down immediately “, explains Vincent Renoux.