Maurice Laur̩ (24 November 1917 Р20 April 2001)*Maurice Laur̩
was a French civil servant. He is primarily known for creating the ''taxe sur la valeur ajoutée'' (TVA in French, otherwise known as
value added tax
A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared wi ...
(VAT) in English).
Originally an engineer of the
École Polytechnique
(, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris.
The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...
with the
French postal and telephone service (PTT), he joined the French tax inspectorate after World War II. In 1952, he became deputy director of the new tax authority, the ''Direction générale des impôts'', which he had helped to create.
In 1954, he invented an
indirect tax
An indirect tax (such as a sales tax, per unit tax, value-added tax (VAT), excise tax, consumption tax, or tariff) is a tax that is levied upon goods and services before they reach the customer who ultimately pays the indirect tax as a part of ...
on consumption which became the TVA. His idea was quickly adopted because it forced taxpayers at all levels in the production process to administer and account for the tax themselves, rather than putting the burden only on retailers or requiring assessment by the tax authorities.
He later joined the board of several private sector companies, including
Société Générale
Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English-speaking countries as SocGen (), is a French multinational universal bank and financial services company founded in 1864. It is registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby i ...
(the bank) and
Nouvelles Galeries (a retailer).
His name is associated to the
:fr:Taxe Lauré which is a tax on import goods from countries having an unfair advantage about salaries and working conditions.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laure, Maurice
1917 births
2001 deaths
French civil servants
French expatriates in Morocco