European champion

Nothing to do with PSG’s victory, nor Roland Garros. But France is still champion.

According to Tax Policy Associates, France has 348 different taxes, compared with 90 in the UK and only 60 in Germany. And this is not because Germany is a low-tax country. Germany raises more than 42% of GDP in taxes, close to France’s 45%, but with a much simpler structure.

This is an important point. A high-tax state does not necessarily need hundreds of small, specific and often historical taxes. Complexity is a political choice, not an economic inevitability.

For companies, this matters. Each additional tax means more reporting, more advice, more exceptions, more uncertainty and ultimately less efficiency. Very often, the problem is not only the level of taxation, but the complexity of the system around it.

France remains a remarkable country, with extraordinary companies, infrastructure, talent and innovation. But on tax complexity, it is indeed a champion one would probably prefer not to be.