October 17: the bill estimated at 1.5 billion euros which shakes the French economy

Less than 24 hours after the visit of the President of the Republic to the bedside of traders in Marseille and five days before the much-feared Halloween weekend, the update from CCI France is not neutral. First on the amount estimated by IFRAP of the loss in turnover suffered by traders each weekend, of the order of 1.5 billion euros including 200 million euros in VAT.

Compare to the 400 million euros loss in turnover recorded during the Yellow Vest movement also every weekend. An amount so enormous that Alain Di Crescenzo warns: “if the situation does not improve, it will be a final blow” for French commerce, already under severe strain, he recalls, from previous crises: health, conflict in Ukraine, riots in 2023, purchasing power… Without forgetting the heatwave during the summer which limited consumption in city centers.

What about the deferral of VAT and the solidarity fund?

A high bill which raises the question of aid for the 2,488 businesses affected by the excesses of October 17.

First in the short term. If the moratorium on social and tax charges and the activation of partial unemployment have been granted by the State, if the deadline for reporting claims has been extended from 5 days to 30 days and if Bpifrance via its zero-interest loan adds its support, however CCI France has no news of the national solidarity fund promised by the government on October 19. A silence which will perhaps be lifted soon and which would support the support funds already activated, in Marseille – for a current amount of 12 million euros – and in Lyon.

Machine-translated from French