French senators flag tax-data blind spot on wealthy households
Why it matters: A Senate report found about 13,000 wealth-tax households paid zero or negative income tax in 2024.
French senators investigating how the rich reduce their tax bills warned that state visibility into household fortunes has worsened over the past two decades, making it harder to assess tax fairness and shape policy. A finance committee report said the problem deepened after some surveys were dropped and after President Emmanuel Macron changed wealth tax declarations in 2017. The senators said their inquiry confirmed that around 13,000 households subject to wealth tax paid zero or negative income tax in 2024. The report did not propose a new levy, but called for more transparency, including regular surveys of high-net-worth households, an updated inheritance database using AI and bank reporting on customer asset holdings.