2023-05-16 02:23:19
If it’s not a gift, it looks like it! Barely twenty-four hours, after having entrusted in the newspaper l’Opinion wanting to support “those who are too rich to be helped and not rich enough to live well”, Emmanuel Macron goes a little more into the concrete.
On TF1, the head of state announced on Monday May 15 that two billion euros in taxes will be returned to the middle classes by the end of the five-year term. How ? “I’ve asked the government to work on it, but I don’t want to close doors here because there may be smart things to do on some of the charges you pay, the contributions you pay when you’re employee”, he explained, without further details.
Income tax or contributions? “Everything is open”
When questioned, Bercy indicates that proposals will be made to the Head of State in the coming weeks. “Everything is open, the President said so!” We are going to look at the best options, whether it is income tax or contributions, ”says those around the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire.
In L’Opinion, the President of the Republic had defined the scope: “We have to work to see how to reduce what is called the social tax wedge, for income between 1,500 and 2,500 euros”. In other words, the lower part of the middle class.
Behind the scenes, it is conceded that lowering the taxes of French people who work by reducing the charges directly on the payroll seems the easiest. What about income tax? “On this, we can target income levels, those between 1,500 and 2,500 euros for example, we continue. We have already done this in 2019 with the reduction of the first two income tax brackets…”.
That year, the 12 million households in the first tax bracket – those whose annual incomes were then between 9,965 euros and 25,405 euros – had benefited from an income tax reduction of 350 euros per year. on average. Still, by extension, the upper categories had also benefited from the drop…
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If this announcement is not completely a surprise, since since the adoption in pain of the pension reform the majority multiplies the messages of affection towards the “middle class who works”, this new proof of love surprises . Because it comes fifteen days after the Fitch agency downgraded France’s credit rating and while the country’s debt is still expected to reach 109.6% of GDP in 2023.
At Bercy, we also temper this idea of a new tax gift. “We had planned in our trajectory a budget for tax cuts as part of the presidential campaign on inheritance tax and on the conjugalization of income tax for unmarried couples”, Gabriel Attal had recently indicated. , Minister of Public Accounts.
Savings are also expected
This announcement by Emmanuel Macron would therefore only be a reassignment. Except that from the Banque de France to the Court of Auditors, the cry of alarm launched for several weeks is the same: “We no longer have the means to make tax cuts”. Or by saving money elsewhere.
And that is what Bruno the Mayor hopes to put in place. For several months, Bercy has been working to reduce state spending. Elisabeth Borne has also urged all ministers to propose measures to save 5% on their credits within the framework of the 2024 budget. This objective should make it possible to bring in 7 billion euros. Other savings could be found. Bruno Le Maire has thus proposed to introduce a remaining charge for the personal training account (CPF), which could be around 30%. Another track considered, the daily allowances of the Health Insurance, already in the crosshairs of Bercy for several years.
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