It was the Court of Auditors which sounded the alarm: in a (sensitive) report published this Monday, September 5, 2016, the legal institution denounces the effects of a “tax privilege” granted to Corsica.
In fact, on the Isle of Beauty, taxes on tobacco are 25% lower compared to the rest of France: as a result, the cigarette pack costs around 30% less – around € 5 depending on the brand, compared to € 7 in the rest of the country.
Where does this privilege come from? Difficult to say: “at the time of the adoption of European directives (…) in 1992, France had been authorized to maintain differentiated taxation on tobacco released for consumption in Corsica”, one can read in the report. These “derogatory tax regimes” were to disappear completely in 2009: this did not happen. In December 2015, a new attempt: an amendment on the alignment of the tobacco price between Corsica and the rest of the country was adopted in the Assembly … without effect.
Financial loss, medical danger
On the economy side, it is first of all a considerable financial loss: “the Court assesses the loss of tax revenue at 27 million euros per year” explain the Wise Men.
But for some doctors, the problem is above all medical: thus, on Twitter, the pulmonologist Bertrand Dautzenberg (president of the French Office for the fight against tobacco) declared “The taxation of tobacco protects against lung cancer. The proof in Corsica: – 25% tax, + 25% lung cancer ”.
Indeed, according to the local Regional Health Agency (ARS), the prevalence of lung cancer and the mortality linked to this pathology are particularly high on the island: + 26% on average (+ 25% in men and + 22% for women).
Conclusion of the Court of Auditors? “The next finance law must be an opportunity to bring practice into line with Community law in order to achieve full alignment no later than January 1, 2017”. We are waiting to see.
To read: A simple blood test to detect lung cancer?
