Is France's tax on large fortunes back? The left and the government, though politically opposed, are both considering a new tax on the wealth of the richest French citizens.

On the left, a bill signed by Green MPs will be debated on Wednesday, February 12, in the Finance Committee, then put to a vote in the Assemblée Nationale on February 20. The aim is to "introduce a minimum tax of 2% on the wealth of the ultra-rich," some 4,000 tax households. "This proposal will garner the support of the whole left, and can be adopted" in plenary, said Eric Coquerel, the hard-left president of the Finance Committee. A similar amendment had been voted by the Assemblée in October 2024, before being rejected with the entire first part of the budget.

On the government side, Bayrou has promised the Socialists to replace the exceptional tax on high incomes included in the 2025 budget with a "differential contribution" that would bring in just as much but would target "high wealth" and would be definitive. According to the Finance Ministry, France is "working on a minimum tax on wealth that will be implemented in the 2026 budget at the latest." With this measure, the sum of income tax, the single flat-rate levy and the tax on real-estate wealth paid by the wealthiest could no longer be lower than a minimum threshold, set as a percentage of wealth.

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