Le Maire Says €2 Billion Household Tax Cut Possible in 2025

Emmanuel Macron’s plan to slash €2 billion ($2.2 billion) in taxes for households could take effect in 2025, France’s finance minister said.

(Bloomberg) — Emmanuel Macron’s plan to slash €2 billion ($2.2 billion) in taxes for households could take effect in 2025, France’s finance minister said.

“We’ll do it as fast as possible, if possible as soon as in the 2025 budget bill,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in an interview with Le Figaro. The French president had said in May that he would slash €2 billion in taxes for middle-class households when possible, before the end of his term in 2027.

Since taking office in 2017, Macron has relied on overhauls of the labor market and lower corporate taxes to drive employment and growth and eventually boost public finances, rather than levies on households. His government has said that it would spread out over several years his pledged tax cuts, as it tries to reduce the budget deficit. 

While Macron had planned to complete the second half of an €8 billion reduction in a levy on industrial production, known as CVAE, in 2024, he has postponed the plan. Le Maire said the levy will be erased before 2027.

In the interview, Le Maire also confirmed the government aims for €10 billion in savings as part of efforts to improve public finances after years of increased spending, partly due to the Covid pandemic and energy crisis. He said the budget programming bill will be presented to parliament in less than 15 days, with an aim to bring the public-debt-to-GDP ratio to 108% in 2027 from 112% today, and to bring the public deficit under 3%.

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