The Minister of SMEs and Purchasing Power, Serge Papin, defended the Dutreil pact, which allows taxes to be reduced during family transfers of companies, in an interview with JDD published on the Internet on Saturday.
The Finance Committee of the National Assembly adopted several amendments to the 2026 budget to reform the system, for example by extending the minimum holding period for transferred shares. The exam in the chamber began on Friday.
“Weakening this system would be a strategic error,” said the minister, “it is essential for the preservation of economic activity and territorial anchoring.”
The Dutreil pact allows, in particular, a 75% reduction in the value of a family business transmitted by gift or inheritance under conditions, and requires that the beneficiaries of the gift retain the titles received for several years with the aim of promoting “prolonged ownership of capital.”
It would have generated a loss of tax revenue of 5.5 billion euros in 2024, according to Le Monde, which consulted a summary of a report from the Court of Auditors.
The former head of Système U (currently Cooperativa U), appointed minister in October, was also concerned about the fact that “consumers, like businessmen”, today have “their foot on the brakes”.
He explained that he had asked his services to “look (…) in detail at what the administration of US President Donald Trump is doing,” because “maybe there is room for inspiration.”
The fragile health of SMEs
Interviewed with Serge Papin by the JDD, the head of the Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CPME), Amir Reza-Tofighi, said he shared his concern about the financial health of some SMEs.
“SMEs are the biggest victims of this period of instability,” said Amir Reza-Tofighi, deploring that “permanent instability” and “lack of visibility block investments, slow down activity and paralyze hiring.”
Amir Reza-Tofighi lamented that “in a few days, deputies, far from reducing spending, voted billions of euros to increase spending and taxes, at the risk of ending activity by taking more and more assets.” “I call on parliamentarians to stop selling dreams by making people believe that magic money exists,” he said.
Source: BFM TV
