The French tax authorities thanked the journalists of the International Consortium for bringing the Panama Papers case to light. Since the scandal broke, the switchboard created three years ago by the Ministry of Finance to allow tax evaders to comply with lessened penalties has been literally besieged by entrepreneurs and professionals who want to comply "before it is too late".
Thousands of applications for pardons which forced Minister Michel Sapin to hire new staff to handle all the requests.
For 2016, the Ministry of Finance estimated to recover about 2 billion from the fight against tax evasion. But, thanks to the Panama Papers, the figure seems destined to rise significantly. Through this switchboard, known as the "tax regularization unit", French evaders will have the opportunity to report themselves, receiving minor penalties, while those caught by the tax authorities will be punished much more severely. Between 2013 and 2015, the unit managed to bring back 26 billion euros from foreign accounts to France, recovering 7 billion in outstanding taxes. To date, among the applicants, there would be three people registered on the list released by the journalists of the International Consortium. However, according to what was declared by the French media, many people with accounts in Switzerland and Luxembourg would have reported themselves.
