It was due to end on December 31: deputies extend the tax exemption for tips (except those on the left who fear that they will replace salaries)

Deputies voted this Monday in favor of taxing tips until 2028, extending a measure that was due to expire at the end of 2025 during budget debates.

An amendment by Laurent Wauquiez, head of the Republicans deputies, obtained broad support in the National Assembly, at the beginning of a long week dedicated to the finance bill in the hemicycle. It proposes extending until 2028 the exemption from social and tax charges on tips paid by bank card, which was due to end on December 31, 2025, much to the dismay of the profession.

“This measure has satisfied both employers and workers, particularly in the hotel and restaurant sector, where these tips represent an important part of remuneration and contribute to the attractiveness of these professions in tension,” stressed LR deputy Vincent Descoeur.

His measure was adopted by 142 votes to 48, with the votes of the National Group and the right.

“A harmful effect on wages”

The left mostly abstained: Éric Coquerel, president of the Insoumis Finance Committee, feared in particular “a harmful effect on salaries.”

The Minister of Economy, Roland Lescure, formulated the same objection, although he supported a shorter extension, until 2027. The measure “has two effects: to maintain downward pressure on salaries and to systematize a small smile,” he warned, estimating that this debate will be one of the issues that will be decided during the presidential elections of 2027. This vote is not final: the budget debates must continue until at least mid-December between the National Assembly and the Senate and parliamentarians will have the opportunity to return to them if they wish.

During the budget debates on Monday morning, MPs also approved an amendment by centrist MP Charles de Courson (Liot) aimed at bringing together the basis of two temporary tax measures for higher incomes: the differential contribution for high incomes (CDHR) and the exceptional contribution for high incomes (CEHR). Adopted against the government’s advice, the measure should bring between 400 and 450 million euros, according to the estimate of the general budget rapporteur, Philippe Juvin.