This post was first published by FIPECO (Finances Publiques et Economie) in French.
Tax expenditures (TEs), sometimes referred to as “tax breaks”, are legislative or regulatory provisions that derogate from a “standard” or benchmark tax, and result in a revenue loss. Their official inventory of TEs is debatable because the benchmark from which they deviate is sometimes questionable in itself, but it is the only one available. A FIPECO fact sheet discusses the main characteristics of TEs.
This post looks at changes in their number and estimated cost over the period 2017-2023.