Workshop: New Draft Bill on Tax and Social Fraud: A Harder Line Ahead?

On 6 November 2025, Syntaxe hosted a workshop in its offices to take a closer look at the draft law on strengthening the fight against tax and social fraud, introduced to the Council of Ministers on 14 October.

The discussion helped clarify how this new text fits into a broader trend toward increasing criminalization of tax and social risks in recent years.

Led by Michel Dayanithi and Margaux Niclout, the conversation brought together legal, financial, and strategic perspectives, with a focus on what this could mean in practice for companies, executives, advisors, and investors.

Context

The introduction of automatic criminal referral under the 2018 Anti-Fraud Law set the stage for a progressive and sustained strengthening of the authorities’ enforcement capabilities.

The new draft law goes a step further, with three explicit objectives:

• improving detection,
• strengthening sanctions,
• ensuring more effective collection.

This renewed push comes at a time when the volume of fraud detected by the French authorities has risen sharply (from €9 billion in 2020 to €20 billion in 2024), against a backdrop of growing pressure to restore public finances.

Four Key Directions

Despite the volume and variety of measures, four main priorities emerge:

• More data-sharing and stronger investigative powers across administrations.
• Tougher sanctions, including criminal liability for both actors and enablers.
• Broader compliance and reporting requirements, including new obligations for trustees.
• Stronger liability mechanisms in subcontracting and supply chains.

These orientations reflect a shift in risk allocation, enabling French authorities to intervene earlier, more rapidly, and across a broader range of actors.

Learn More

➡️ Read our overview of tax fraud enforcement

➡️ See the LinkedIn post about the event
➡️ See all our events