Several tax advantages dedicated to retirees should be eliminated according to the Court of Auditors.
After the postponement of the revaluation of all retirement pensions, initially planned for January 2025, another bad news could well befall 17 million retirees. This will not impact their income, but rather their expenses. These will increase, as older people may soon be forced to pay more tax.
Indeed, in a recent report, the Council for Compulsory Deductions (CPO), an institution attached to the Court of Auditors, recommends a major overhaul of the tax advantages granted to retirees. The report particularly targets the 10% tax reduction from which all retirees have automatically benefited since 1979. This measure, introduced by Raymond Barre more than 40 years ago, allows retirees to deduct up to 4,321 euros from their tax base. in 2024. Initially designed to reduce the tax burden on low-income retirees, this provision now costs the State more than 4 billion euros per year.
The CPO highlights an inequality in the distribution of this advantage: 30% of the total cost of the measure benefits the 10% of the wealthiest retirees, i.e. those whose standard of living exceeds 3,290 euros per month. Faced with this observation, the institution proposes to condition this reduction on the resources of the beneficiaries. But other tax advantages dedicated to retirees are also in the crosshairs of the Court of Auditors.
The report suggests modifying the reduced CSG rate applied to retirement pensions, the elimination of which for the wealthiest could generate between 100 and 500 million euros in savings. The additional half-tax share granted to single people who have raised a child for at least five years is also called into question.
Finally, the tax credit for personal assistance does not escape the recommendations of the CPO. Currently set at 50%, it could be reduced to 40% for services not related to dependency or childcare. This measure, which represents an expenditure of 6 billion euros for the State, is mainly used by the wealthiest households, in particular for the employment of gardeners or maintenance staff.
Pierre Moscovici, president of the Court of Auditors, justifies these guidelines by the need to “strengthen the equality of French people in the face of taxes”. According to him, this tax fairness is essential to maintain consent to tax in a context where the state budget displays a significant deficit. Implementation of these recommendations would allow the State to make substantial savings, notably 1.4 billion euros on the 10% reduction alone.
These proposals are part of an already unfavorable context for retirees. Not only has the increase in all retirement pensions been postponed until July 1, 2025, but this increase in income could be less significant than expected.
