Factors influencing tax compliance in France. Analysis of the 2021 survey by the Council on Compulsory Levies

This article presents the results of a survey conducted in September 2021 amongst a representative sample of French people on tax acceptance. Several measures of consent are defined and compared with socio-economic characteristics, the level of knowledge of the tax system, trust in institutions, satisfaction with the use of public funds and wealth taxation, and respondents’ perceptions of the fairness of the current system. Following a descriptive presentation of the responses, an econometric analysis reveals that the socio-economic determinants of consent vary from one measure to another, but that the other determinants are similar in both sign and magnitude. Knowledge, trust and the perception that public money is being put to good use are strongly correlated with consent to taxation. The issue of tax fairness also plays an important role, as the perception of ‘fair’ redistribution and a ‘fair’ contribution from different income groups is positively correlated with tax consent. Conversely, the impression that certain groups are asked to contribute too much whilst others are asked to contribute too little is negatively correlated with tax consent.