THOMAS SAMSON / AFP
Catherine Vautrin, Minister of Health and Labor, at the National Assembly on March 12, 2024. (photo illustration)
TAXES – Abolished for good in 2023, back in 2024? Well no. On the eve of the resumption of debates in the National Assembly on the 2025 Budget, the government is closing the door to the reestablishment of the housing tax. It is Catherine Vautrin, the minister responsible for local authorities, who announces it this Sunday, November 3 in The Parisian.
“There will be no return to housing tax on main residences. On the other hand (…) we probably need to look at how we can enable communities to better control their resources”affirms the minister who excludes any new tax and any new device in this Finance Bill.
The debate returned during the debate on the budget with the contribution requested from local authorities. Many local elected officials complain of having lost budgetary room for maneuver with the elimination of this housing tax. Emmanuel Macron's campaign promise in his first term, it was gradually implemented according to income to apply to the entire population in 2023.
Towards a “citizen contribution to public service”?
From now on, no one pays housing tax on the main residence but it remains in force for second homes. Result in a shortfall for municipal finances; some have also made up for it on property tax by increasing the rate substantially in recent years.
By excluding a return to the previous situation, Catherine Vautrin therefore keeps a marker of Emmanuel Macron's record. But she does not want to kill the whole debate on local finances at a time when the government wants to rely on all levels of the country. “We need to think about possible participation in living in the city or village. There is nothing free. (…) We have a national-wide reflection, which has not yet been decided. It is that of the link between the participation of our fellow citizens in the entire use of the city”notes the minister who wants to open the reflection in 2025.
She says, as such, she is open to the idea of a “citizen contribution to public service”as the Association of Mayors of France chaired by David Lisnard recently suggested.
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