The deputies of the Finance Committee validated on Friday the temporary increase in taxation on large companies wanted by the government, the macronie having failed to cancel this surcharge, and the left to strengthen it.
This “exceptional contribution on the profits of large companies” must be introduced for two years.
The temporary contribution corresponds to 20.6% of the corporate tax (which amounts to 25%) due for 2024, for companies whose turnover ranges from one billion euros to less three billion euros; and 41.2% for those whose turnover is greater than or equal to three billion euros, according to the draft budget for 2025.
This measure, which concerns around 400 companies, should bring in 8 billion euros in 2025 and 4 billion in 2026.
The measure will in any case be re-examined next week in the hemicycle, where the deputies will start from the initial version of the finance bill.
In the Finance Committee, this surcharge fueled a long debate on Friday pitting the left against LR and “central bloc” elected officials.
The latter tried to simply eliminate it, or at least amend it, for example by limiting it to one year instead of two, or by reducing the rates.
“History will record that it is a right-wing government which is pushing France back into fiscal madness,” insisted Macronist Charles Sitzenstuhl.
Shipowners keep their tax niche
Conversely, the left tried, in vain, to strengthen the surcharge, either by applying it to a greater number of companies, or by raising the rate, or even by making it sustainable beyond two years. .
The RN, for its part, refused to oppose the surcharge, not “because we are particularly happy to increase taxes”, but because it is necessary to “rebalance the state budget “, noted Jean-Philippe Tanguy.
Another series of amendments was hotly debated, concerning the “tax niche” for shipowners, in the sights of both Eric Ciotti’s UDR group and the left. They failed to secure the elimination of this niche, which fueled the record profits of carriers such as CMA-CGM.
“The estimated cost (of the niche) in 2023 for the State was staggering, 5.6 billion euros, and in 2021, CMA-CGM only paid 2% tax on the 16 billion profits that “They did,” said ecologist Eva Sas. PS MP Philippe Brun pointed to intense “lobbying” on the part of the shipowner, which according to him influenced the vote of the members of the commission.
An amendment from environmentalists was, however, adopted, with the support of the RN, aiming to double the rates of the exceptional maritime transport tax to 18% in 2025 and 11% in 2026, to obtain revenue of around 525 million dinars. euros in 2025 and 320 million euros the following year.
The deputies also adopted an amendment from Eric Coquerel, LFI president of the Finance Committee, inspired by the Attac association and the economist Gabriel Zucman.
The measure aims to counter the relocation of part of company profits to tax havens and could bring in up to 26 billion euros, said Eric Coquerel.
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