ISF supporters did not miss this study of the wealthy

Politics – Water for the ISF supporters mill? Published this Tuesday, June 6, a study by the Institute for Public Policy (IPP) on taxes on the wealthiest families has not gone unnoticed by some political leaders, in the midst of inflation and loss of purchasing power, and while creating a special tax on the richest does not It’s still up for debate.

According to the IPP, the incomes of the 37,800 richest French families are taxed proportionately less than the incomes of the rest of the population. All personal taxes remain progressive (proportional to income, editor’s note) up to a high level of income.note the four authors of the IPP note, based on data from 2016. But they note Strong rebound in the total tax rate Once crossed the threshold of the richest 0.1% of the French.

However, the memorandum does not take into account the effects of reforms made since 2016, such as reducing the corporate tax rate from 33.3 to 25%, replacing the internal security tax with a tax on real estate wealth or introducing a flat tax of 30% on capital income.

In detail, the 37,800 richest French families, which receive more than €627,000 annually, have a total tax rate of 46%. But that rate decreases as the incomes of these wealthy people increase, reaching 26% for the 75 richest households taxed.

This is explained by the composition of income: the income of the wealthiest French comes mainly from undistributed corporate profits, which are therefore subject to corporate tax (IS) rather than income tax (IR). This conversion from the IR taxable income base to the IS taxable income only base is not neutral.insist on IPP. “By doing so, the tax rate based on personal income and wealth, at around 59% at its highest levels, is being replaced by a much lower tax rate of 33.33% in 2016.”the authors explain.

According to the study, the Internal Security Forces are ineffective in rebalancing the situation

“We should not infer (from the study, editor’s note) that France is more of a tax haven for billionaires than our neighbours.”, warns Laurent Bach, co-author of the note. The Dutch, Swedish or New Zealand tax systems are also marked with “a form of regression at the top of the income distribution”PPI details.

And yet: these figures were immediately seized upon by elected ecologists, socialists, and rebels, who saw in them evidence of a “unfair” which they regularly denounce. “Nooooo!!! So what we keep saying right? »mocks Socialist Party deputy Roger Vicot, while Boris Vallaud thinks he is You have to be crazy not to see. This fact, in the clear treatment of the government’s fiscal policy.

To rebalance, leaders of the left – since its abolition in 2017 – have been calling for a reinstatement of the wealth tax. Recently, the topic has resurfaced thanks to a report prepared by the economist close to Emmanuel Macron Jean Pisani-Ferry who proposed that this tax be temporarily reinstated to finance costly investments in the ecological transition.

The idea has been well received in public opinion: at the end of May, 55% of French people in a YouGov poll for Huffpost They were in her favour. But Percy scrapped the idea, despite some disagreements with other members of the government.

More broadly, the IPP considers that restoring the ISF will have no effect in rebalancing tax differentials. This type of levy “The regression we record cannot be corrected.”Authors warned.

On the other hand, IPP rules “Substantial tax on undistributed income of holding companies with personal income tax” To seize part of the resources of the super-rich who evade taxes. “If holding taxation is shown to generate new forms of improvement, we could consider taxing individual shareholders residing in France on all results not distributed by controlled companies.”Institute adds.

The proposal was immediately welcomed by LFI Finance Committee Chairman Eric Cockerill, who is also co-rapporteur of the fact-finding mission on corporate taxation. But this hypothesis does not charm the government, asserting Percy that undistributed profits “generally reinvested in jobs and growth” comp. The CEO believes more in the global minimum tax of 15% on the profits of multinational corporations. about this subject, “A viable long-term solution can only be international”-We slip in Percy.

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