The Minister of Economy, Roland Lescure, warned against the “fiscal witchcraft” of the “ineffective” measures voted by deputies during the budget examination, in an interview with La Tribune Dimanche.
Since the start of consideration of the draft budget for 2026 in the National Assembly, deputies have adopted a series of measures aimed, in particular, at taxing companies more. Roland Lescure, who once again advocates “a compromise budget” that reflects “a balance between budgetary seriousness and political stability”, warned:
“This week measures were voted on, perhaps related to the prospect of Halloween, which are totally ineffective!” he said, citing an “inapplicable” tax on the profits of multinationals. He sees it as “tax witchcraft.”
Do not “sell French companies”
“In theory, we can decide to export our deficit problem and want everyone to pay. But in practice this is simply not possible. (…) To those who say ‘we are going to have 30 billion euros of magical income’, I answer: ‘We will have 30 billion magical problems,'” he added.
Regarding the Dutreil pact, a system that allows taxes to be reduced in the event of family transfers of companies, the Minister of Economy asked not to “sell French companies.”
“It is useful. But can we correct, here or there, the excesses that some point out? Let’s look! On the other hand, if the result of what will be voted on in the Assembly results in the sale of French companies, we would be shooting ourselves in the foot,” he declared.
A mandatory tax rate raised to the 2013 level
This tax loophole, which will be debated in the National Assembly, is criticized in particular by the PS, which sees it as a way to reduce inheritance taxes. 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 that will be published in the coming weeks.
According to a calculation by the Minister of Public Accounts, Amélie de Montchalin, the measures voted so far raise the percentage of mandatory deductions to 45.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP), “more than in 2013, when it was 44.8%.” This does not include the tax on unproductive wealth, voted on Friday night and which has not yet been quantified.
Source: BFM TV
