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France mulls wealth tax changes as protests intensify France mulls wealth tax changes as protests intensify
(about 2 hours later)
The French government could change its position regarding a controversial wealth tax, a government spokesman has said, as protests mount over the president’s policies. A day after President Emmanuel Macron’s administration backed down in the face of nationwide protests and suspended a fuel tax, the government has suggested it could also amend a wealth tax that critics say goes too easy on the rich.
The government has changed aspects of the wealth tax – known in France as the ISF – by narrowing it down to lucrative property deals and real estate assets. Speaking on RTL radio, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux, a close ally of Macron’s, said all policies involving taxation needed to be re-evaluated from time to time and, if deemed not to be working, should be changed.
However, that move had fuelled criticism that Emmanuel Macron was a “president of the rich”, since it would have eased the tax burden for many of the country’s wealthiest citizens.
On Wednesday, the government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux told RTL radio the government could reconsider those proposals if it felt the move was not working.
“If a measure that we have taken, which is costing the public money, turns out not to be working, if it’s not going well, we’re not stupid – we would change it,” he said.“If a measure that we have taken, which is costing the public money, turns out not to be working, if it’s not going well, we’re not stupid – we would change it,” he said.
He defended Macron’s decision on coming into office last year to amend the wealth tax – known in France as ‘ISF’ – by narrowing it to a tax on real estate assets, rather than covering all worldwide assets, from jewellery to yachts to investments, over the value of €1.3m (£1.2m).
Those changes earned Macron the label “president of the rich” because they were seen by his critics as accommodating the wealthy.
Asked whether the government would be willing to go back on that decision, Griveaux suggested it was possible.
“We did not cancel the ISF, we transformed it. I want to remind you that we maintained the tax on real estate ... The tax that was removed was to encourage investments in the real economy. It was not a gift to the rich,” he said, before adding: “We are evaluating it, we are controlling it. This money was to be invested in our small and medium-sized enterprises for them to develop, innovate and hire. If that is not the case, if the evaluation is not good, then we can reopen it for discussion.”
Over the past three weeks, Macron has come under immense pressure in the face of nationwide protests against a fuel tax increase that was set to begin in January. The so-called “yellow vest” movement, named for the high-visibility jackets motorists in France must have in their cars, led to violent clashes with police in Paris at the weekend, and on Tuesday prompted the government to change course.
Who are the gilets jaunes and what do they want?Who are the gilets jaunes and what do they want?
On Tuesday, the French prime minister, Edouard Philippe, decided to suspend planned increases to fuel taxes for at least six months in response to weeks of sometimes violent protests by the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement, marking the first major U-turn by Macron’s administration in 18 months in office. Prime minister Édouard Philippe said the carbon-tax increase would be suspended for six months and the time used to examine other steps to ease the burden on blue-collar workers and the squeezed middle-class.
The protesters vowed to continue their high-profile campaign regardless, declaring they wanted more concessions from France’s leaders and would not accept “crumbs”. It marked the first major U-turn by Macron in his 18 months in office and comes at a time when he is far down in the polls, with his popularity at barely more than 20%.
Although the protests were sparked by the planned rise in fuel taxes next month, the movement has grown to encompass wider anger and frustration against the political elite in Paris in general and Macron and his government in particular. If the government were to look at reimposing some of the dropped elements of the ISF tax, it would mark a fundamental change of direction for Macron, who came to power promising to be “neither of the left nor the right” politically.
FranceFrance
Emmanuel MacronEmmanuel Macron
EuropeEurope
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