The Senate on Saturday, November 29, rejected the additional tax on the profits of large companies, one of the main proposals of the government that hoped to generate 4 billion euros in revenue in its draft budget for 2026. The measure was rejected by 202 votes in favor and 118 against.
This exceptional contribution, via a corporate tax surcharge (IS), was introduced in the previous budget, with an expected return of 8 billion euros for 2025. The cabinet proposed to renew this in 2026, but to divide it by two. This vote in the Senate, dominated by an alliance between the right and centrists, is not final: the measure will be discussed again in Parliament after the budget debates.
The surcharge would affect approximately 400 large companies with a turnover of more than 1 billion euros. “It is incomprehensible that the government chooses to tax companies instead of making cuts”justified Jean-François Husson (Les Républicains), general rapporteur of the budget, recalling that the executive had assured several times that this contribution would be limited to only the year 2025. The majority of senators promise to compensate for this loss of revenue with cuts.
“Sole proprietorship”
This vote by the senators shows once again the major differences that exist between the National Assembly and the Senate. In fact, the deputies had not only approved this system, but had also increased the rate thanks to a compromise amendment from the government itself, achieving a return of 6 billion euros. However, the deputies subsequently rejected the entire financing bill, causing this amendment to disappear from the text submitted to the Senate.
The left demanded an extension of the measure, at least to the 2025 level. “The deletion of this article is a demonstration of the desire not to compromise, not to have a budget and not to have instability in the country”lamented Grégory Blanc, senator of the Place Publique party which is part of the Ecologists Solidarity and Territories group. “The right uses one-upmanship to give its voters guarantees”also regretted the socialist Thierry Cozic.
The Minister of Economy, Roland Lescure, defended the government measure, believing that“Overburdening companies that are doing reasonably well seems more beneficial than demanding taxes that directly affect the middle class”. The Senate, on the other hand, has adopted a parallel system that allows taxation of large corporations that buy back their own shares with a view to cancellation, the result of a convenient alliance between left and centrists. But Amélie de Montchalin, Minister of Action and Public Accounts, deemed it ineffective and rated its performance at zero.
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