France to Begin Examining Social Media for Tax Fraud

According to the French Budget Minister, France will be devoting 20 million euros to technology enabling the government to monitor and search social media accounts for indications of tax fraud.  
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The initiative is one of several France is undertaking to attack substantial tax losses due to fraud. According to the Budget Minister, fraud leads to tens of billions of revenue losses per year. An “anti-fraud” plan has been approved legislatively, which will include authorization for the government to publicly name those who avoid taxes.

The social medial initiative will involve looking at data voluntarily put on-line by taxpayers to detect possible cases of tax fraud. For example, data might indicate a lifestyle beyond a taxpayer’s reported income or suggest that the person is falsely claiming not to be a resident of France. The data will be used for further investigation. The government pledged that it will scrupulously follow data privacy regulations.

The new plan will be put into effect in 2019.

Related: France’s Wage Withholding Set to Begin in 2019

How This Impacts Mobility

French workers, including expat workers stationed there, must be aware of the increased scrutiny and avoid social media posts that could raise suspicion.

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