A setback for the Borne government. The deputies adopted this Wednesday at first reading, against the opinion of the executive, an amendment to the budget for 2023 which aims to dissuade large companies from distributing exceptional results in “super-dividends”, by means of a temporary increase in a tax.
The amendment to the finance bill for 2023, had been tabled by the MoDem, which is part of the majority, but was the subject of an unfavorable opinion from the government.
The Minister of Public Accounts Gabriel Attal thus warned against the negative “signal effect” of such a device for the attractiveness of the country. He also recalled that the government already wanted to transpose into the budget an agreement between European countries to make use of the “superprofits”, these exceptional profits made by certain companies.
But the amendment of the MoDem was able to be adopted (227 votes for, 88 against) thanks in particular to the support of the left political groups members of the Nupes and that of the RN. He also received the support of 19 deputies from the Renaissance Macronist group. MEPs from the Horizons group mostly abstained.
“A temporary increase of 5 points”
“We have a perfect illustration of the fact that you are in your lane and that you do not want to leave it”, launched the government the deputy LFI Manuel Bompard, underlining the fact that the executive, which declares itself open to the proposals of the deputies , had not supported an idea coming from the MoDem. “It is a very reasonable, very constructive amendment,” said MP RN Jean-Philippe Tanguy.
The adopted text targets large companies, above a certain turnover threshold. It provides for “a temporary increase of 5 points in the single flat-rate levy”, bringing it to 35%, on dividends distributed or share buybacks, when this income is “20% higher than the average income distributed between 2017 and 2021”.
This snub for the executive comes after a series of setbacks at the start of the examination this Wednesday in first reading of measures contained in the PLF for 2023. The oppositions notably succeeded in rejecting at first reading, by 192 votes against 175, the “introductory” article of the budget, in which was the key objective of containing the public deficit to 5% of GDP in 2023.