The clarification occurred quickly on Sunday, April 13. Early that day, on television, the French Economy and Finance Minister Eric Lombard mentioned his desire to make a temporary tax on the rich “permanent”. This measure, introduced in the 2025 budget, establishes a minimum or 20% tax rate for people whose income exceeds € 250,000 for a single person and € 500,000 for a couple without children. Initially presented as temporary, this contribution is now a consultant for its inclusion in the 2026 budget, according to Lombard’s recommendation.
As the government continues to demand “much effort”, “this sign of solidarity seems necessary to me,” Lombard insisted, wanting to “maintain this contribution or improve it.” “It would affect a few tens of thousands of taxpayers,” he said, although specific that “it is not at all a return to ISF [tax on wealth]”Abolido by President Emmanuel Macron in 2017.
Later that same Sunday, the Minister’s office considerably minimized Lombard’s statements. The government does not plan another increase in tax on the richest, according to the press release, but is considering a “tool to combat tax optimizations.”
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Lombard talked too hastily? The proposal to make the tax permanent was received coldly by the Macron camp, highlighting Lombard’s isolation. On Tuesday, the Minister of Industry and Energy, Marc Ferracci, which is close to Macron, warned against the idea, even if it is intended to combat excessive tax optimization. “We should not force some people to sell part of their commercial assets to pay their contribution,” he warned, emphasizing that “a decision has not been made.”
Imagined about 10 years ago by former conservative president Nicolas Sarkozy (2007-2012), when he was entangled in the debt crisis, this higher income tax was revived for the 2025 budget by former Prime Minister Michel Barnier. It was assumed to affect 24,300 homes and generate € 2 billion. Barnier’s successor, Francois Bayrou, a centrist, exceeded the measure in January, but excluded the idea of making it permanent, under the pressure of the Macron Parliamentarians group in the National Assembly. “It is one of the main political events of the late 2024, a political movement that claims to be [both from the left and the right] Finds Iself more from the right than Michel Barnier in economic matters, “said Lucie Castets, a left candidate for the prime minister after the dissolution of the National Assembly on June 9, 2024.
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