There will be no major fiscal turbulence in 2024. The new year that begins in a few days will not be marked by major changes in taxes. Some adjustments and new rules will continue to be introduced here and there, with consequences for household pockets.
Taxpayers benefit from the indexation of the income tax scale
Once again, this year the government decided to index the income tax scale to inflation. Specifically, the executive will increase the different tax brackets by 4.8%, which corresponds to the evolution of the non-tobacco consumption price index.
This measure will mainly benefit those whose wages have not increased or have increased less rapidly than inflation. The entry threshold for the tax will thus be set at 11,294 euros, compared to 10,777 euros until now. Similarly, the move to the 30% bracket will occur from 28,798 euros, instead of 27,479 euros.
As Les Echos explains, the richest will not be entitled to an adjustment in the amount of the exceptional contribution to high incomes (CEHR), which will remain the same this year. This 3% tax, which is added to the Income Tax, will therefore apply to incomes exceeding 250,000 euros. It will be 4% above 500,000 euros.
Bad news for the beneficiaries of the “Macron bonus”
If employees gain on average from the revaluation of the income tax scale, many will be subject to the new value sharing bonus rules in 2024. Indeed, if the “Macron bonus” remains exempt from social contributions ( excluding CSG and CRDS), will now be subject to income tax for employees who are part of a company with more than 50 employees or for those whose remuneration is greater than three minimum wages.
The income tax exemption remains, however, until December 31, 2026 for employees who are part of a company with fewer than 50 employees and whose remuneration is less than three minimum wages.
Electricity tax increase
The electricity bill will increase in 2024. And this will imply an increase in the TIFCE (internal tax on the final consumption of electricity), which had been lowered from 32 to 1 euro per megawatt hour after the start of the war in Ukraine to preserve households facing the rise. energy prices.
A Senate amendment authorizes the executive to raise the level of this tax in 2024 while the government plans to gradually disconnect the tariff shield. The Minister of Public Accounts, Thomas Cazenave, mentioned an increase in the TIFCE of “15 euros maximum” to fulfill his promise to limit the overall increase in banknotes to 10% in February.
The owners involved
Without a doubt, homeowners will be the big losers in 2024 in terms of taxes. After soaring in 2022 and 2023, property tax will increase by at least 3.9% next year, which corresponds to November’s harmonized consumer price index (HICP) year-on-year.
As a reminder, Property tax is calculated from the cadastral value of a property. However, it is the IPCA that serves as a reference for the revaluation of cadastral values.
This new property tax increase does not sit well with the National Union of Real Estate Owners, which estimated in October that “landlords are being despised and abandoned.” “With the elimination of the housing tax and the explosion of property taxes, they have the impression that they are paying for everyone alone,” he was outraged.
The increase in property tax will be added to that of the tax on garden sheds, which will increase by 3.4% in 2024, according to Le Figaro, after respective increases of 7% and 8% in 2022 and 2023. This tax affects to all owners with a garden shed of more than 5 square meters.
No changes for Airbnb homeowners
Owners who rent accommodation on Airbnb will be saved even more. In fact, the 71% tax reduction on the rental of furnished tourist accommodation classified in areas with difficulties in accessing housing should be maintained.
However, a Senate article not eliminated by the government in the 2024 finance bill provided for reducing this tax reduction to 30%, with an income limit reduced to 15,000 euros.
This is, however, a “material error,” acknowledged a government source, also emphasizing that the rules of parliamentary procedure “do not allow the provision to be immediately corrected.”
Ultimately, the measure should be frozen and the rules will probably only be changed “on the occasion of a next legislative vector no later than the 2025 budget.” Parliamentarians in favor of reducing the tax loophole could, however, return to the fray as early as January within the framework of a transpartisan law on the subject.
IFI rules are tightened
To correct a defect that could generate an unexpected effect, the real estate wealth tax (IFI) rules will be harmonized in 2024, reports Les Echos.
Until now, the rules were more advantageous for French owners of real estate assets through companies, since they could deduct from the IFI base not only the debts incurred by this company in relation to these assets, but also other debts not linked to this property. assets. On the contrary, households subject to the IFI that directly own their real estate assets could only deduct from the tax base the debts linked to these real estate assets.
From now on, this rule will be applied in the name of equal treatment. Therefore, it will no longer be possible to deduct debts not linked to real estate assets from the IFI base.
The future climate savings plan reserved for young people, exempt from taxes and contributions
Reserved for young people under 21 years of age, the new future climate savings plan (PEAC) should come into force no later than July 1, 2024. The products and capital gains obtained through this investment will be exempt from tax on income and social security contributions.
Source: BFM TV
