The National Assembly widely rejected this Friday the Zucman tax on high wealth proposed by the left, a rejection anticipated by the PS, which continues to demand alternative tax justice measures in the draft budget.
The PS, La France insoumise, the communists and the environmentalists had proposed a minimum tax of 2% on assets of more than 100 million euros, inspired by the work of the economist Gabriel Zucman.
The Assembly also rejected a compromise version proposed only by the PS, which proposed a minimum tax of 3% on 10 million euros, but excluding innovative and family businesses.
The PS promises “other amendments”, including “the reestablishment of the FSI”
The “Zucman tax” was rejected by 228 deputies against 172, and its so-called “lighter” version by 228 deputies against 171. “I am very happy (…) that the Republican right has done what we are for: we are against tax increases that will put an end to employment and economic activity,” the head of the LR deputies, Laurent Wauquiez, rejoiced shortly after the vote.
This “demonstrates that there is absolutely nothing to negotiate with a Macronist power that from the beginning, since it lost the elections, decided to apply its program,” complained the leader of the LFI deputies, Mathilde Panot.
For his part, socialist deputy Arthur Delaporte said he was “very concerned because the slope taken is not appropriate.” But “other amendments are still coming, in particular on the re-establishment of the FSI. Therefore, the debate on potential revenues is not over,” he stressed, while Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, present on Friday afternoon in the chamber, “will return later on the follow-up that will be given to this debate,” his entourage stated.
The richest “owned 26% of the assets in 2025 and 27% in 2023”
In their speeches, left-wing deputies highlighted the growing share of GDP as a percentage of the richest people and the lower taxation of the ultra-rich compared to the average Frenchman. “The assets of France’s 500 great fortunes represented the equivalent of 6% of GDP in 1993, 43% today,” stressed the head of the PS deputies, Boris Vallaud.
Furthermore, “the tax rate for billionaires is 30%, while that of the French is on average 50%,” he continued. Figures questioned by the Minister of Public Accounts, Amélie de Montchalin.
Based on data from the Global Inequality Database, he stated that the richest 1% “owned 26% of the wealth in 2025 and 27% in 2023.” He also warned of the risk of tax exile for the richest and the unconstitutionality of the Zucman tax, favored by the French.
Source: BFM TV
