The French are on the starting line. On April 13, the tax return campaign for the year 2022 will be launched. Depending on the area of residence, taxpayers will have until May 25, June 1 or June to finalize their declaration online.
But the taxes do not stop at this annual task. Indeed, a new tax could soon appear for some taxpayers. However, this would be very different from income tax since it would be a “universal transport contribution”.
For the moment this new tax, which would only concern Ile-de-France residents, is still far from becoming a reality since it is still only at the idea stage. However, Philippe Laurent, the president of the transport commission at the Ile-de-France Regional Council and mayor (UDI) of Sceaux, seems determined to establish it.
“We are in a financial impasse. The payment of a tax by employers – the mobility payment – and the assumption of 50% of the cost of transport of their employees added to the contribution of the communities and the payment by the users of their transport tickets (Pass Navigo) are not enough to finance the operation of public transport in Île-de-France”, he explained to Capital, specifying that a financial hole of 1.5 to 2 billion euros per year is looming.
So to respond to this problem, the elected official explains that if “about twenty avenues have been studied”, this contribution would be “the only lasting solution”. But what is it actually?
According to the words of Philippe Laurent reported by our colleagues, this new contribution “would take the form of a ‘CSG transports’ and which would be calculated on the total income of all the inhabitants of Île-de-France”.
It also specifies that the rate would be unique and “very low” or 0.1% to 0.2%. “With such a rate, we could raise 2 billion euros per year. I think that would represent an average effort of around a hundred euros per inhabitant”, he continues.
Asked about the unfairness that this decision could have, the mayor of Sceaux reveals that, without this contribution, the consequences could be felt in a completely different way.
Without this universal transport contribution, several solutions could be adopted to fill the financial hole. The effort could be requested from local authorities but, in this case, the chairman of the transport commission believes that this would rest on the municipalities and would therefore cause an increase in the property tax. However, in his eyes, this would be “a very bad solution because only the property owners would be involved”.
On the other hand, if no action is taken, the burden of this deficit could rest on the Navigo Pass and would then lead to a significant increase in the price of the subscription. It could thus be raised “between 170 and 200 euros”, whereas it is today at 84 euros, he explains to Capital.
