TAX SAVINGS. To encourage young talent to stay in France and to help as many people as possible enter working life, Marine Le Pen proposes in her program to exempt from tax all workers under 30 years of age. A controversial measure…
[Mis à jour le 20 avril 2022 à 15h38] This Wednesday, April 20, 2022, during the debate between the two rounds of the presidential election, a measure should inevitably be mentioned. And it is in Marine Le Pen’s program. The candidate of the Rassemblement national wishes to exempt from corporate tax entrepreneurs under 30 ans during the first five years of their activity to allow them to develop in France, stay in the country and avoid their escape to European competitors. More broadly, it plans to exempt all young workers under 30 from tax, which is not without raising questions in the opposing camp, that of Emmanuel Macron, about the shortfall in finance. public policies and on favoritism towards high earners in this age group. The cost of such a measure could amount to 2 billion euros according to the Le Pen camp, rather around 3.6 billion euros if we are to believe the blog of the Institut Montaigne.
In his “22 measures for 2022” available on its website, Marine Le Pen reveals its proposals for young people. There is “a monthly training check of €200 to €300 for apprentices, work-study trainees and their employers”, but also this tax exemption on income which would concern “all young workers up to the age of 30 so that they can stay in France and start their families with us”. The total exemption from income tax before the age of thirty should also allow young workers “to constitute savings giving them the possibility, for example, of accessing property more quickly”. These measures are also present in the “youth booklet” (download here).
In this detailed version of Marine Le Pen’s program, the exemption is justified in these terms: “First, taking income tax from the salary of one of our young people means reducing their standard of living, and consequently their ability to invest and plan for the future. Then, income tax can encourage some young French people to choose expatriation at the start of their career: a study by the Boston Consulting Group and Cadremploi showed that 79% of French people aged 21 to 30 want to work abroad, compared to 61% for young people from other countries. This phenomenon, which deprives France of its young talents when it needs them most, must be combated.“.
“160,000 young people leave our country each year because they no longer find the possibility of living and working in France.” declared the vice president of the National Rally jordan bardella at the end of last year. A measure which aims to strengthen the attractiveness of France, a dimension dear to the RN camp.
The limits of such a measure should be addressed by Emmanuel Macron to try to counter Marine Le Pen. A measure that seems quite unequal, given the differences in wages that can exist between two young people of the same age. A footballer like Kylian Mbappé or a rugby player like Antoine Dupont, to name only the two current stars of two major sports in France, have incomparable incomes and a financial situation that has no common measure with a young French entrepreneur, or a young who enters the labor market with a modest salary. However, with this proposal from Marine Le Pen, all these little people would be exempt from tax for up to 30 years. The big problem therefore concerns these “contributory abilities“. Indeed, the effort required of young people does not seem to be able to be the same according to their income, but rather proportionally.
A measurement unconstitutional therefore, and judged as unequal by several economists. According to the Nobel Prize in Economics John Tirolsuch a measure would in no way allow “reduce inequalities“as he made a point of recalling in an interview granted to The Midi Dispatch last week. The vast majority of 18-25 year olds are not even subject to tax, and for the upper age category, 26-30 year olds, a large majority do not have sufficient income to pay significant taxes. With such a measure, the candidate of the National Rally intends to seduce a younger electorate, and in particular many voices of Jean-Luc Melenchonthe candidate acclaimed by the young guard in the first round of the presidential election with 32% votes collected from 18-34 by patron of the rebellious. In Emmanuel Macron’s program, we find rather the desire to lower the social contributions from self-employed. This represents a salary increase of 550 euros per year for an employee paid the minimum wage.