LÉA GIRARDOT/LE MONDE/ISTOCK
The Panama Papers exposed the dark underside of tax havens. The Central American country of Panama, along with the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, allowed the creation of tens of thousands of shell companies over decades, enabling wealthy clients to evade taxes. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) investigation, to which Le Monde contributed, also brought significant sums to the more than 80 countries, including France, that launched tax and criminal investigations based on the revelations to recover funds lost to public finances.
According to new figures provided to Le Monde by the DGFP, the tax authority at France's Economy Ministry, France has so far recovered a total of €271 million in tax revenue for the state budget, in taxes and penalties, thanks to the Panama Papers. The funds, which had disappeared through offshore schemes, correspond to cases of 230 taxpayers, both individuals and legal entities, who were identified in the year-long ICIJ investigation, which involved 109 media outlets in all.
French tax officials emphasized the amount is the total from all operations carried out by the DGFP in connection with the Panama Papers. It includes all audits completed by December 31, 2025, as well as regularizations taxpayers made up to that date.
