Here’s how much this curse is costing the public finances

Undeclared work is a scourge that is costing France dearly. According to the HCFF Observatory, the public finance shortfall is enormous. Some areas are more affected than others.

A cleaning lady is paid in cash, a self-employed person “forgets” a share of their turnover, or undeclared workers on construction sites or restaurants, all practices that are very popular in France have a significant impact on public finances. Even if the shortfall remains difficult to quantify, it is estimated to be more than 10 billion euros, according to an observatory of hidden work presented by the High Council for Financing of Social Protection (HCFIPS) on Tuesday morning.

Urssaf distinguishes two types of fraud: the first concern is due to hidden work that causes a shortfall between 6.2 and 7.8 billion euros in 2022, the second concerns “errors” and “oversights”. In avoided contributions. ” And again, these figures are obtained based on the control of well-known companies, they do not take into account, for example, the underground economy connected to drug trafficking. », suggests Dominique Liebault.

Sectors with the highest rates of hidden work

Construction and the hotel and catering industry are the two sectors with the highest rates of hidden work. ” More than 50% of the adjustments are made in the construction sector

», suggests Emmanuel Delachery, Deputy Director of ACOS (Ursaf’s National Fund), asks ” Private or public principals should exercise utmost vigilance in selecting their service providers so that they are up to date with their responsibilities towards Ursaf. ” Regarding trade, the sector is average. For industry and other services, the rates of hidden work are even lower. As for the agricultural sector, the initial assessment shows fairly significant deficiencies, estimated at 345.7 million euros in contributions and 200 million in base accounting controls.

But it is micro-entrepreneurs working on collaborative platforms who have the highest fraud rates. According to the HCFIPS Observatory, their undeclared contribution rate is 42% (or 174 million euros), a rate that reaches 62% for VTCs and 70% for delivery platforms. Île-de-France and the South (former Languedoc-Roussillon region, Paca, Corsica) are regions that show significantly higher fraud rates than the national average.