🇫🇷 France vs 🇪🇸 Spain
Burden and rates
| France | Spain | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax-to-GDP (latest) | 46.1% (2022) | 37.5% (2022) |
| Tax-to-GDP in 2000 | 43.4% | 33.0% |
| Headline PIT rate | 45, plus surtax and social surcharges | Residents: 47 (*); Non-residents: 24 (**) (*) This is the maximum progressive scale of withholdings rate (final taxation will vary depending on the autonomous region where the taxpayer is resident; in some of them, the headline PIT rate reaches 54%). |
| Headline CIT rate | 25 | 25 |
| Standard VAT rate | Turnover tax: 20 | 21 |
| Individual CGT | 30, plus exceptional income tax for high earners at 4. | Residents: 30; Non-residents: Capital gains generated as a result of a transfer of assets are taxed at 19%. |
| Inheritance tax | 60 | 34% according to the state tax scale, which is applicable if the autonomous community has not approved its own tax scale. |
Headline rates as stated by PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries; tax-to-GDP from OECD Revenue Statistics (Global).
Enforcement powers
| France | Spain | |
|---|---|---|
| Social media & open-web monitoring | Yes — statutory power Article 154 of the 2020 Finance Law lets the French tax and customs administrations collect and algorithmically exploit freely accessible data published on social networks and online platforms; the CNIL reviewed the scheme and a 2021 decree set its operating rules. | Partial / committed The 2026 tax control plan (BOE) gives preferential enforcement attention to business models built on social networks — influencer marketing gets its own section (A.5.4) — but this targets social-media businesses rather than general monitoring of taxpayers’ accounts. |
| AI & machine-learning risk scoring | Yes — documented practice Self-reported in the OECD Inventory of Tax Technology Initiatives (2024 Global Survey on Digitalisation). | Yes — documented practice Self-reported in the OECD Inventory of Tax Technology Initiatives (2024 Global Survey on Digitalisation). |
| Automated bulk data matching | No — power absent Self-reported to ISORA (International Survey on Revenue Administration), FY2022. | No — power absent Self-reported to ISORA (International Survey on Revenue Administration), FY2022. |
| Digital platform reporting | Yes — statutory power As an EU member state, bound by Council Directive (EU) 2021/514 (DAC7) to require digital platform operators to collect, verify and report sellers’ income to the tax authority, applicable from 1 January 2023. National implementing law varies; this claim records the EU-law obligation, not a particular national statute. | Yes — statutory power As an EU member state, bound by Council Directive (EU) 2021/514 (DAC7) to require digital platform operators to collect, verify and report sellers’ income to the tax authority, applicable from 1 January 2023. National implementing law varies; this claim records the EU-law obligation, not a particular national statute. |
| Crypto-asset reporting | Partial / committed France is a signatory to the November 2023 CARF joint statement, committing to crypto-asset reporting with exchanges commencing by 2027 (DAC8 applies EU-wide from 2026). | Partial / committed Spain is a signatory to the November 2023 CARF joint statement, committing to crypto-asset reporting with exchanges commencing by 2027 (DAC8 applies EU-wide from 2026). |
| Exit tax on individuals | Yes — statutory power Transferring tax residence out of France triggers tax on unrealised gains (plus-values latentes) for qualifying shareholders — the French exit tax. | Not yet assessed |
| Citizenship-based taxation | No — power absent France taxes individuals by residence, not citizenship (PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries). | No — power absent Spain taxes residents on worldwide income regardless of where it is generated; non-residents only on Spanish-source income. |
| Controlled foreign company (CFC) rules | Yes — statutory power Recorded in the OECD Corporate Tax Statistics anti-avoidance rules dataset (2026). | Yes — statutory power Recorded in the OECD Corporate Tax Statistics anti-avoidance rules dataset (2026). |
| Interest limitation rules | Yes — statutory power Recorded in the OECD Corporate Tax Statistics anti-avoidance rules dataset (2026). | Yes — statutory power Recorded in the OECD Corporate Tax Statistics anti-avoidance rules dataset (2026). |
| Country-by-country reporting | Not yet assessed | Not yet assessed |
| Public naming of non-compliant taxpayers | Yes — statutory power Self-reported to ISORA (International Survey on Revenue Administration), FY2022. | No — power absent Self-reported to ISORA (International Survey on Revenue Administration), FY2022. |
Statuses: Law = Yes — statutory power · Practice = Yes — documented practice · Partial = Partial / committed · No = No — power absent · No evidence = No evidence found · — = Not yet assessed. Full evidence quotes and sources are on each country page.