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To find money and new revenue for the budget, the Prime Minister wanted to involve the wealthiest retirees, but was refused by deputies. They rejected the removal of the 10% tax reduction, which represents more than a billion less revenue for the State.
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Among taxpayers, are retirees a class apart, who would escape targeted tax increases? On the morning of Thursday, November 13, the Assembly rejected heavier taxation by an overwhelming majority.
What is it about? Today, for income tax, retirees benefit from a 10% reduction. The government wanted a flat rate deduction of 2,000 euros instead. The wealthiest would then have contributed more, which would have brought in 1.2 billion euros in additional revenue. But the deputies voted to delete this measure and restore the 10%, almost unanimously, the RN, the left and the right. “When you are retired, should you apologize for having a little purchasing power when you have worked all your life? And it is ultimately at the end of the game, when people can no longer adapt, no longer work more, that we would take their purchasing power“, denounces Jean-Didier Berger, Les Républicains deputy for Hauts-de-Seine.
“This included the income tax scale for people who have small pensions, around 1,600 euros per month. This was not acceptable“, comments Philippe Brun, Socialist Party deputy of Eure.
But it is a setback for the government which, in the name of tax justice, wanted to involve wealthier seniors. Some denounce ulterior electoral motives. “I am rather disappointed because I was one of those who supported this measure. I think that there is a fairly electoral message among many deputies in reality, who are afraid of the reactions in their constituencies if they touch this or that parameter“, declared Guillaume Kasbarian, Renaissance deputy for Eure-et-Loir.
So why do retirees weigh so much? “In France, there is a population over 65 which represents 21%. They have a very significant electoral weight because they vote and mobilize. So to anger retirees is to virtually put yourself in trouble with people who may or may not re-elect you in the elections”analyzes Nathalie Saint-Cricq, political columnist – France Télévisions.
Further proof of their influence: on Wednesday evening, the deputies also removed the freeze on pensions in 2026. And no one has forgotten that Michel Barnier, a year ago, had fallen in particular on the question of retirees’ income.
