These are comments which caused a lot of reaction this Sunday, November 3, 2024. In an interview with Parisien-Aujourd'hui in France, Catherine Vautrin, the Minister of Partnership with the Territories and Decentralization, cut short the rumors which announced the return of housing tax, abolished on main residences since 1is January 2023 (it was started in 2018).
On the other hand, the minister leaves the door open to “a citizen contribution to public service”a proposal from the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) of which Joël Balandraud, mayor (UDI) of Évron (Mayenne), is vice-president. The one who is also president of the association of mayors of Mayenne judges: « Lhe removal of the housing tax was a great electoral idea but a very bad idea in terms of territorial life. And overall, all local elected officials deplore it.”
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The councilor adds: “It makes things complicated in terms of the citizen's relationship with his municipality. We must find a fiscal link with the citizen. The State centralized a local tax, which at the same time as being a tax, was also a citizen link”. Since it was abolished, the housing tax has been offset, in particular by the property tax. “So it only rests on the owners, this tax base is not good. It is not healthy for local life,” continues Joël Balandraud.
“We don’t want to remit more taxes”
“We forget that the communities of municipalities lived with a significant proportion of housing taxes too, this is also the case with mine (Editor's note: he is president of the Coëvrons Community of Communes), which is compensated today by VAT. For example, I will receive a VAT amendment which tells me that we will receive €240,000 less than what was planned.”
Joël Balandraud concludes: “The communicating vessels must move again. Since the citizens have won, it is not a question of taking it back, but in any case that we have a link between the inhabitants. We don't want to put more taxes back on people en masse, but for them to be distributed differently and for taxpayers and businesses alike to have a healthy, normal relationship. »
