Cette étude contribue aux connaissances sur l’évasion fiscale et sa prévention en analysant des stratagèmes de dons à partir d’une méthode s’inspirant de l’approche des scripts.

Les conduites d’évasion fiscale engendrent des pertes fiscales importantes pour les gouvernements pour qui ces sommes d’argent sont nécessaires afin d’appuyer les programmes sociaux et les infrastructures. Ce crime complexe englobe plusieurs conduites de contournements ou de détournements de l’impôt.

À ce jour, peu d’études se sont intéressées spécifiquement aux stratagèmes de dons, alors que les organismes de bienfaisance sont connus pour être vulnérables à ce type de pratique. Ces stratagèmes permettent de réclamer des crédits d’impôt majorés de la somme réellement déboursée sous la forme de dons et d’empocher des bénéfices.

Comprendre les différentes étapes derrière les stratagèmes est essentiel pour proposer des mesures de prévention adéquates et éviter la manipulation d’organismes qui ont initialement des visées de bienfaisance. 

À l’aide d’une analyse thématique de 50 documents judiciaires associés à 36 cas, un script général a été développé, celui-ci est composé de cinq étapes communes aux 36 cas pour accomplir la pratique frauduleuse :

1. trouver des organismes de bienfaisance,
2. trouver des investisseurs,
3. produire la déclaration de revenus,
4. faire le don et recevoir le reçu pour don et,
5. empocher l’argent.

De plus, trois étapes supplémentaires au script ont été identifiées, cette permutation permet d’étendre le script de cinq à huit étapes et d’empocher des bénéfices plus importants. Les étapes supplémentaires sont :

1. obtenir un numéro d’abri fiscal,
2. recruter des conseillers et,
3. les transactions « papier à papier ».

Les actions, les acteurs et les conditions nécessaires ou facilitantes sont également mis à jour. Les résultats permettent de formuler des pistes et des mesures de prévention, dont la surveillance des organismes de bienfaisance en situation de précarité, puisqu’ils sont jugés plus à risque.

Ce rapport examine l’effet de la bonification du Régime de pensions du Canada (RPC) de 2019 à 2025 sur le régime de retraite de la fonction publique (RRFP). Le directeur parlementaire du budget (DPB) a chargé le Bureau de l’actuaire en chef (BAC) de comparer les taux de cotisation réels du RRFP avec un scénario hypothétique intégrant pleinement chaque étape du RPC bonifié.

Le RPC a été bonifié de 2019 à 2025 en augmentant les taux de cotisation et en élargissant les gains ouvrant droit à pension afin d’offrir des prestations de retraite plus élevées. Le RRFP, quant à lui, n’a pas ajusté ses taux de cotisation et de prestations en conséquence.

Dans un scénario hypothétique du Bureau de l’actuaire en chef, selon lequel les taux du RRFP ont été ajustés pour tenir compte de la bonification du RPC, la différence touchant les cotisations annuelles au RRFP augmente au fil du temps, pour atteindre, selon les projections, 9 % des coûts du service (environ 616 millions de dollars) en 2025-2026; au total, de l’exercice 2017-2018 à l’exercice 2025-2026, ces différences s’élèvent à environ 2 milliards de dollars.

Si les cotisations réelles au RRFP ont été plus élevées qu’elles ne l’auraient été dans un cadre pleinement intégré, les prestations accumulées par les participants l’ont été également. Étant donné que les cotisations perçues correspondent aux prestations accumulées, il n’y a pas d’incidence sur la situation de capitalisation du RRFP.

Dans ce texte, les auteurs suggèrent que, puisque le Canada se trouve dans une situation déficitaire similaire à celle d’il y a trente ans, il pourrait s’inspirer de la réforme du gouvernement Chrétien de 1995 pour réduire ses dépenses. Ils préconisent une approche axée sur la réduction des dépenses, plutôt que sur une hausse des taxes, pour redresser la situation économique actuelle.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1995 federal budget, one of the most important in Canadian history. After decades of deficits and debt accumulation brought Canada to the brink of a fiscal crisis, the 1995 budget restored a sound approach to fiscal policy that helped usher in nearly a decade of unparalleled prosperity. However, Canada is repeating the mistakes of the past and is on a similar fiscal trajectory as it was prior to the 1995 budget. Therefore, to improve the current state of federal finances, the federal government should apply key lessons from the 1995 budget to its upcoming 2025 budget. Similar to the commitment by the Chrétien government in 1995, the current government should set out a plan to balance the budget. This will help reduce or halt the incessant debt accumulation that is burdening the nation. When balancing the budget, the federal government should utilize spending reductions as opposed to increasing taxes. Empirical evidence shows that fiscal adjustments based on spending reductions are more effective and less costly to the economy than those based on tax increases. Finally, spending reductions should be achieved through a comprehensive review of all federal programs and agencies— without exception—and based on clear criteria that evaluate both value for money and the role of government itself. This will help ensure smaller, smarter, and more efficient government spending in the years to come.

Ce texte démontre que diminuer la dette publique réduit le coût fiscal lié aux paiements d’intérêts, limitant ainsi la nécessité d’augmenter les impôts ou de couper dans les programmes publics. 

This paper examines whether reducing Canada’s federal debt is a worthwhile policy objective, in light of economists’ advice and public opinion favouring debt reduction. As well, the federal government has projected a gradual decrease in its debt-to-GDP ratio over the next 30 years. Reducing the public debt means that governments have to adopt a policy of fiscal austerity. This paper focuses on the trade-offs of fiscal austerity — short-term sacrifices for long-term benefits. Debt reduction requires governments to maintain a higher primary budget balance in the short term, often through reduced public spending or increased taxes. Initially painful, this fiscal austerity yields several long-term benefits: lower interest payments, improved economic growth, reduced fiscal risks from future economic shocks and greater flexibility for public spending or tax cuts once the debt ratio stabilizes at a lower level. Reducing debt also acts as fiscal insurance, mitigating the burden of stabilizing debt ratios during future economic crises. The benefits of debt reduction depend on factors such as the discount rate society applies to future gains and the extent to which lower debt levels will reduce interest rates, boost growth and diminish risks of debt crises. Using a Monte Carlo model of debt dynamics, the study evaluates a 12-percentage-point reduction in Canada’s federal debt-to-GDP ratio over 10 years. The analysis finds that such a policy would pass a cost-benefit test if a discount rate of four per cent or less is applied. The biggest benefits come from fiscal insurance and growth rate effects, leading to substantial long-term welfare gains. There is increasing pressure on governments globally to adopt restrictive fiscal policies following the 2008–09 financial crisis and the 2020–21 COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the European Union has introduced fiscal adjustment rules requiring member states with high debt levels to reduce their ratios incrementally. In Canada, polling shows significant public support for spending cuts. A lower debt-to-GDP ratio reduces interest costs, freeing resources for other priorities. Reducing debt levels contributes to lower interest rates, further easing fiscal pressures. Lower debt ratios are linked to higher economic growth, benefiting households through increased incomes and fiscal stability. Reduced debt levels also provide governments with a greater capacity to respond to economic shocks without worsening the fiscal burden. These benefits must be weighed against the immediate costs of fiscal austerity, including constrained public services and higher taxes during the adjustment period. The viability of debt reduction depends heavily on the societal discount rate, which reflects the value placed on future benefits versus present sacrifices. This analysis supports the argument for targeted debt reduction in Canada, provided the discount rate remains low and the anticipated benefits, such as fiscal insurance and economic growth, materialize. While fiscal austerity imposes short-term hardships, the long-term gains make a compelling case for reducing the federal public debt.

Ce rapport analyse l’impact de l’expiration en 2025 des dispositions fiscales du Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) de 2017, soulignant que leur prolongation entraînerait une réduction des recettes publiques de 4 000 milliards de dollars sur 10 ans, principalement en raison des baisses d’impôts pour les particuliers et les entreprises, avec des effets inégaux favorisant les contribuables à hauts revenus et un risque d’augmentation du déficit budgétaire fédéral.

Most provisions affecting the individual income tax in the 2017 tax law (P.L. 115-97), commonly called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), are scheduled to expire in 2025. These expiring provisions include tax rate reductions as well as changes to the standard deduction, child credit, personal exemptions, and itemized deductions; the deduction for pass-through businesses; the alternative minimum tax; and a number of smaller provisions. The increased exemption for the estate and gift tax under the TCJA is also scheduled to expire in 2025. Additionally, some business and corporate provisions are scheduled to expire or be phased out: expensing for equipment and structures with a recovery period no greater than 20 years, lower rates for certain international provisions, and a number of smaller provisions.

In addition to the expiring provisions of the TCJA, Congress might also consider reinstatement of expensing for research and development and reinstatement of a larger base for the 30% limit on interest deduction. The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 (H.R. 7024) would reinstate these provisions for 2022 through 2025.

The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimates that extending the expiring individual income tax provisions would reduce federal tax collections by $3.3 trillion over the 10-year budget window, FY2025-FY2034. The committee estimates that extending the higher estate tax exemptions would cost $167 billion, and extending the business provisions would cost $551 billion. Overall, JCT forecasts that extending these provisions would cost $4 trillion. In most years, the revenue loss would be between 1.2% and 1.4% of gross domestic product (GDP). More than half of the estimated cost is from the individual rate cuts. Another source estimated that reinstating expensing for research and development and switching back to earnings (income) before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, or depletion (EBITDA) as the basis for the interest deduction limit would cost an additional $249 billion over 10 years.

Ce court texte analyse les inégalités de richesse aux États-Unis et propose un crédit d’impôt pour les locataires comme outil fiscal pour réduire les écarts économiques et raciaux, en soulignant que cibler les ménages à faibles revenus et locataires permettrait d’orienter plus efficacement les aides publiques vers les ménages les plus vulnérables et de lutter contre les déséquilibres structurels du système fiscal.

Unlike some other countries, the United States does not have a wealth tax—a tax on the value of assets, net of debts. An appeal of a wealth tax is that it can be designed to raise substantial revenue while increasing taxes on a relatively small share of the population. Wealth taxes, however, are difficult to administer, and many taxpayers in other countries have adopted legal and illegal strategies to minimize their payments. Moreover, legal scholars have debated the constitutionality of a wealth tax in the United States. This report examines the issues and challenges of adopting a wealth tax in the United States and illustrates how varying the tax base, thresholds, and rates of a wealth tax would affect federal revenues and the taxes paid by households at various income levels. Specifically, we find that if all assets greater than $50 million ($25 million for unmarried filers) were subject to a 1 percent tax, the tax would raise nearly $2 trillion over a 10-year period, with about 86 percent of the tax borne by families in the top 1 percent of the income distribution. Increasing the tax rate to 2 percent for assets above $100 million ($50 million for unmarried taxpayers) or reducing the threshold to $30 million ($15 million) would further increase the revenue estimate by roughly $1 trillion. The revenue estimates are reduced by about 45 percent if the tax base excludes pension benefits, housing values above $1 million, and businesses in which the owner is actively involved. 

Ce rapport examine les défis et les implications d’un impôt sur la fortune aux États-Unis, concluant qu’une taxe de 1 % sur les actifs supérieurs à 50 millions de dollars pourrait générer près de 2 000 milliards de dollars en 10 ans, principalement à la charge du top 1 % des ménages, mais que des obstacles administratifs et constitutionnels pourraient compliquer son adoption et son application.

Unlike some other countries, the United States does not have a wealth tax—a tax on the value of assets, net of debts. An appeal of a wealth tax is that it can be designed to raise substantial revenue while increasing taxes on a relatively small share of the population. Wealth taxes, however, are difficult to administer, and many taxpayers in other countries have adopted legal and illegal strategies to minimize their payments. Moreover, legal scholars have debated the constitutionality of a wealth tax in the United States. This report examines the issues and challenges of adopting a wealth tax in the United States and illustrates how varying the tax base, thresholds, and rates of a wealth tax would affect federal revenues and the taxes paid by households at various income levels. Specifically, we find that if all assets greater than $50 million ($25 million for unmarried filers) were subject to a 1 percent tax, the tax would raise nearly $2 trillion over a 10-year period, with about 86 percent of the tax borne by families in the top 1 percent of the income distribution. Increasing the tax rate to 2 percent for assets above $100 million ($50 million for unmarried taxpayers) or reducing the threshold to $30 million ($15 million) would further increase the revenue estimate by roughly $1 trillion. The revenue estimates are reduced by about 45 percent if the tax base excludes pension benefits, housing values above $1 million, and businesses in which the owner is actively involved. 

Ce texte démontre que la politique fiscale de la communauté chypriote turque a un impact limité sur les inégalités et ne réduit pas la pauvreté, notamment à cause des taxes indirectes. Un système fiscal plus efficace pourrait alléger le fardeau des ménages à plus faible revenu et réduire les inégalités.

The Special Issue analyzes the impact of taxes and transfers on poverty and inequality in the TCc. It shows that fiscal policy has only a limited impact on reducing inequality, but the system cannot reduce poverty. The Special Issue provides an initial step towards understanding the distributional impact of fiscal policy in the TCc. The Special Issue builds on the first-ever Commitment to Equity (CEQ) model developed for the TCc, which analyzes the impact of taxes and transfers on poverty and inequality. The latest announced estimates from the 2015 Household Budget Survey show that relative poverty is 22.2 percent. Income inequality is also high based on 2015 HBS, with the Gini coefficient estimated at 34 percent, three percentage points above the EU average. The TC fiscal practices contribute to a moderate reduction only in income inequality. Overall, inequality in the TCc drops from 0.445 to 0.361 after fiscal interventions, a reduction of around 0.08 Gini point and among the lowest levels observed. When looking at the impact on poverty, while transfers and direct taxes have a redistributive effect, indirect taxes significantly negatively impact household budgets and lead to an increase in poverty from 21.8 to 25.5 percent. In-kind transfers, such as health and education, have important redistributive effects and lift the impact of fiscal policy in the bottom half of the distribution. When in-kind transfers are excluded from the analysis, all households beginning in the second decile are net payers to the system, as the share of taxes paid exceeds the cash benefits received for all but the poorest 10 percent of the population. When included, instead, all households in the 1st to 5th decile result as net beneficiaries, reporting a favorable net fiscal position. Overall, the results point to potential improvements that could be achieved in the TCc through a more effective system of taxes and transfers to reduce the burden on the poor and address inequality.

Ce texte examine comment le Zimbabwe peut créer l’espace fiscal nécessaire pour inverser la tendance à la hausse de la dette publique, en identifiant les politiques susceptibles de réorienter les finances publiques du pays vers une trajectoire plus prudente.

How can Zimbabwe create the necessary fiscal space to absorb quasi-fiscal expenditures, reverse its upward trend in public debt, and support macroeconomic stability? Zimbabwe is faced with an unsustainable and growing stock of public debt. To service this debt, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has historically engaged in quasi-fiscal operations (QFOs) through money creation, leading to high inflation and macroeconomic instability. The Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) is thus considering options for fiscal consolidation (expenditure rationalization and increased revenue mobilization) to return Zimbabwe to a sustainable fiscal pathway. This can help stabilize the macroeconomic environment by providing an anchor for price and exchange rate stability, bolstering economic growth and job creation. This public finance review (PFR) examines options to create fiscal space and identify policy options that can contribute to a return of Zimbabwe’s fiscal accounts to a prudent trajectory. Chapter 1 contains the macro-fiscal context and developments in Zimbabwe’s real, external fiscal sectors, and considers the impact that monetary and exchange rate policy distortions have had on Zimbabwe’s public finances. Chapter 2 considers trends in, and the composition of, spending and presents options for expenditure rationalization. Chapter 3 considers trends and the composition of revenue collection and presents options for domestic revenue mobilization. Chapter 4 ties this all together to consider how the various policy options in this report will affect the fiscal balance, debt servicing, and the debt-to- gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, and how these policy options can jointly contribute toward a credible medium-term fiscal strategy for Zimbabwe.

Ce texte discute de la modification de la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée survenue au Zimbabwe en 2023 et explique qu’une telle réforme doit être accompagnée d’un mécanisme de compensation pour élargir la couverture des ménages les moins favorisés.

Improving domestic revenue mobilization extremely important for Zimbabwe to create the fiscal space to absorb quasi-fiscal expenditures and support macroeconomic stability. In November 2023, Zimbabwe announced measures to raise additional tax revenue. This included limiting value-added tax (VAT) zero ratings to exports only, and VAT exemptions to a small number of essential items. This paper carries out a VAT tax gap analysis and uses a partial fiscal incidence analysis framework to analyze the welfare and distributional consequences of the reforms. The change announced in the 2024 budget is expected to increase the VAT revenue by 0.88 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). But it also increases the poverty headcount by 1.4 percentage points and inequality by 0.14 points. This pattern is consistent with international evidence. Therefore, any VAT reform must be accompanied by a compensation mechanism with horizontal expansion, i.e., a broader coverage of less well-off households. Focusing only on the current beneficiaries of the cash transfer program is ineffective in restoring the welfare level because of its minimal coverage level of the total population and the poor. This can be done with a fraction of the new VAT collections from the proposed changes. Zimbabwe does not have a unified social registry and a criterion to target the least well-off households. Thus, instituting a compensation mechanism requires significant investments in establishing a nationwide social registry and developing a targeting mechanism to target social cash transfers effectively.

Cette étude montre qu’au Royaume-Uni, l’Education Maintenance Allowance, destinée à soutenir la poursuite des études des jeunes issus de milieux modestes, soulève des questions sur son efficacité, son impact sur le marché du travail et sa viabilité en tant qu’outil de politique fiscale.

The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is a weekly cash transfer paid to 16- to 19-yearolds from poorer households in full-time non-university-level education. The EMA was first introduced as a pilot scheme in 15 local authorities (LAs) in England in 1999, before being expanded to an additional 40 LAs in 2000. It was rolled out nationwide in 2004 and cost around £900 million per year across the UK by 2010 (in 2023–24 prices). Although it was scrapped in England in 2011, it remains in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. While a large government-funded evaluation of the EMA assessed the short-run impacts of the pilot phase of the programme, this report estimates the effect of the 2004 national roll-out of the EMA on both the short- and longer-run outcomes of eligible students. Using detailed administrative data, we explore the effect of the EMA on educational outcomes, earnings, employment and criminal behaviour.

Ce rapport indique qu’à l’occasion du G20, l’OCDE met de l’avant la nécessité d’une coopération fiscale internationale renforcée, notamment à travers la mise en œuvre des piliers de la réforme fiscale mondiale et l’adoption de normes de transparence, afin de lutter contre l’érosion des bases fiscales et de garantir un système fiscal plus équitable.

Ce rapport présente les développements récents en matière de coopération fiscale internationale, y compris le soutien de l’OCDE aux priorités du G20, telles que la mise en œuvre des standards minimums du BEPS, la Solution reposant sur deux piliers pour résoudre les défis fiscaux soulevés par la numérisation de l’économie, la transparence fiscale, ainsi que des mises à jour sur les initiatives pour renforcer la sécurité juridique en matière fiscale et sur l’administration fiscale. Ce rapport a été préparé par l’OCDE avant la première réunion des ministres des Finances et des gouverneurs de banque centrale du G20 qui se tiendra sous la Présidence sud-africaine du G20 les 26 et 27 février 2025 au Cap, en Afrique du Sud.

Ce document analyse les conséquences fiscales internationales des politiques de l’administration Trump, mettant en évidence la menace que représentent ses mesures pour la coopération fiscale mondiale et la souveraineté fiscale des autres États, tout en soulignant que l’ONU pourrait offrir une alternative plus équitable pour lutter contre l’évasion fiscale et protéger les finances publiques.

It may turn out to be a blessing that this second, and wilder Trump administration has coincided with the best opportunity for a century to rewrite international tax rules and their global governance. Policymakers across the OECD have the chance now to stand for multilateral cooperation and simultaneously to defend their own tax sovereignty and revenues – those of their own people.

Joining the collective negotiation of an effective and inclusive means of international tax cooperation is the smartest move politically, and the strongest move economically in the tax and trade wars that the Trump administration seems intent on starting.

Ce document souligne que la transparence sur la propriété effective des actifs est essentielle pour l’application efficace des impôts sur la fortune, en empêchant l’évasion fiscale et en garantissant une répartition équitable de la charge fiscale, tout en générant des effets positifs pour la lutte contre la corruption et le blanchiment d’argent.

It may turn out to be a blessing that this second, and wilder Trump administration has coincided with the best opportunity for a century to rewrite international tax rules and their global governance. Policymakers across the OECD have the chance now to stand for multilateral cooperation and simultaneously to defend their own tax sovereignty and revenues – those of their own people.

Joining the collective negotiation of an effective and inclusive means of international tax cooperation is the smartest move politically, and the strongest move economically in the tax and trade wars that the Trump administration seems intent on starting.

Ce texte analyse l’inégalité de la richesse en Australie, notamment en examinant les actifs comme les propriétés résidentielles, la superannuation et autres propriétés, tout en soulignant l’impact des concessions fiscales qui accentuent cette inégalité.

The most common measure of the level of inequality (the Gini-coefficient) has increased since 2004, indicating that Australia’s wealth is now more unequally distributed than in the past.

This paper uses data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, to examine the growth of Australian household wealth from 2002to 2022 by asset.

The average household’s wealth is dominated by three types of assets: the family home, superannuation, and “other property”, which includes any residential property owned by the household, excluding the family home (most usually investment properties but also holiday homes).

Ce document analyse l’impact du changement climatique et des politiques climatiques sur la répartition mondiale des richesses, soulignant que ces dynamiques pourraient accentuer les inégalités patrimoniales si les investissements bas carbone restent concentrés entre les mains des plus fortunés, mais qu’une taxation adaptée et une meilleure répartition des actifs publics et privés pourraient atténuer ces disparités et renforcer la stabilité financière.

Wealth inequality dynamics influence economic and social outcomes and stability. While climate change and climate policies affect both physical capital and financial assets, their impacts on aggregate wealth and its distribution remain underexplored. Preliminary calculations suggest that climate change and climate investments could have substantial effects on wealth inequality, though the direction of these changes remains uncertain. This Perspective builds on numerical
insights, outlines a conceptual framework and proposes a research agenda aimed at advancing the understanding of global wealth inequality under climate change, highlighting the need for interdisciplinary collaboration on the issue.