Shortly before midnight on Thursday, February 20, the left scored a highly symbolic victory for tax justice. Thanks to the abstention of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party, the Greens' proposal for a wealth tax on "ultra-rich" individuals was adopted by the Assemblée Nationale. A clear success: The bill, put forward by Eva Sas and other Greens MPs, received 116 votes in favor and only 39 against. "The tax impunity of billionaires is over," Sas immediately hailed. With this vote, France sent a message to the whole world, according to her: It is possible to stop "tax evasion by the ultra-rich."
While it was certainly a victory, it was, above all, a symbolic one. Indeed, there is virtually no chance that after this first reading in the Assemblée, the bill will be validated by the Sénat's right-wing majority, which has been very hostile to such a tax. Moreover, even if this obstacle were overcome, it wouldn't be out of the question that the Constitutional Council could deem the tax "confiscatory" and strike it down. "This measure will never be applied," assured MP Fabien Di Filippo, on Thursday. Di Filippo, a Les Républicains (LR, right) lawmaker, has been the tax's most determined opponent in the Assemblée, and penned 26 amendments to the bill – all of which were rejected.
Was this a grand gesture for nothing, after an amendment on the same subject was voted in October 2024, only to be subsequently abandoned along with the entire first draft of the budget? Not quite. The debate in the Assemblée Nationale has effectively confirmed the importance of the subject.
For years, wealth inequality has been on the rise – both in France and elsewhere – with the fortunes of many businessmen and heirs soaring thanks to the stock market. Yet many of these very rich individuals evade taxation, by structuring their assets so that they generate little taxable income. Given these conditions, the idea of taxing wealth rather than income, put forward by economist Gabriel Zucman, has been gaining traction worldwide. "We need to find a way of capturing a part of the wealth that escapes taxation," admitted Macron-aligned MP Pierre Cazeneuve.
The bill voted on Thursday would be one of the world's first applications of a "Zucman tax." It provides for the introduction of a 2% minimum tax rate on the wealth of individuals whose net worth exceeds €100 million, i.e. around 1,800 tax households in France. According to its proponents, this would enable the government to bring in between €15 billion and €25 billion a year.
However, the debate also highlighted the plan's complexities: How should the value of unlisted assets be determined? Is it possible to prevent the tax from driving ultra-rich individuals to leave the country? Won't some founders of new, innovative companies have to sell their businesses to pay the tax? These are just some of the issues that need to be resolved. The project also came up against typical anti-tax resistance from the right: Though limited to 2%, the "Zucman tax" was criticized as a "bludgeoning" measure, an "unrealistic racket" that would scare off rich people, therefore yielding little revenue, and prove "destructive for employment."
Thursday's parliamentary session also allowed the government to clarify its own plans. Aware of the "overoptimization" practiced by certain individuals, Public Accounts Minister Amélie de Montchalin said she would present a new fiscal system in May.
With her proposed "differential minimum tax," the state would ensure that the sum of the various taxes paid by an individual would, at least, be equal to 0.5% of their net worth – rather than 2%. This was a milder version of the "Zucman tax," in that professional assets would be excluded from it, even though they make up the main part of ultra-rich individuals' assets. This tax would bring in €2 billion a year, i.e. 10 times less than the one adopted on Thursday.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.