A “dumb and silly argument”, “how can we say this kind of nonsense”… A false quote from Gabriel Attal about taxes from the consulting firm McKinsey sparked an avalanche of angry comments on social networks.
The government spokesperson reportedly said, “You can’t say McKinsey didn’t pay taxes in France because when we get invoices from them, we pay them with VAT on them.”
The fake quote is accompanied by an image showing Gabriel Attal on the show The big mouths from RMC. The quote is shared thousands of times on Twitter. The anti-sanitary pass lawyer Fabrice Di Vizio or even Mike Borowski, founder of the site La gauche m’akiller, a site pinned for several poisonings, have itreprise in tweets shared more than 1,500 times each, indignant at these remarks. The sentence also circulates on Facebook, in the form of a screenshot.
FAKE OFF
The misrepresentation was first published on Thursday on a Twitter account called “Cyril Rodnoi”. The owner of this account warns in capital letters: on his account, are published “fake news”, “humor” and “troll”.
Gabriel Attal did give an interview at the Grandes gueules of RMC on Thursday morning. If he was indeed questioned about the taxes paid by the consulting firm, not once did he utter the sentence attributed to him on social networks. The government spokesperson kicked in, referring to “an ongoing investigation”. “If there are fines to be made, there will be fines,” he concluded.
The Senate pinned the consulting firm
Senators have singled out the consulting firm in a report published on March 16, accusing it of not having paid corporate tax in France since 2011: “The McKinsey firm is indeed subject to corporate tax in France but his payments have been zero euros for at least ten years”, do they notewhile “its turnover on national territory reached 329 million euros in 2020, of which around 5% in the public sector, and that it employs around 600 employees there”.
Bruno the Mayor promised Sunday that his Ministry of Economy and Finance will ensure that “McKinsey will pay the taxes they owe to France”. The Senate has also announcement this Friday having taken legal action for “false testimony”, after the hearing on January 18 of an associate director of the consulting firm.