“In responsibility, we have to give our country a budget.” This is what Elisabeth Borne argued on Wednesday, October 19, before initiating the famous article 49.3 of the Constitution to adopt the first part of the finance bill without a vote. Upwind against what they call “forced passage”, the opposition immediately tabled motions of no confidence in the government. Finally, thanks to a hundred amendments adopted, the text only changed marginally. Overview of the concessions of the executive.
>> STORY FRANCE INFO. The day Elisabeth Borne triggered article 49.3 on the 2023 budget
117 amendments accepted, mostly from the Renaissance group
On September 26, the government presented the first budget for Emmanuel Macron’s second five-year term. Defence, Education and even Health are among the ministries which have seen their budgets increase by several million or billion euros. Ecology and Agriculture, on the other hand, leave a few feathers in the battle. Trends that remain substantially the same after 49.3. The “tariff shield”, which limits the increase in gas and electricity prices for individuals to 15%, is also maintained.
After fifty hours of debate, 117 amendments were retained, for an additional cost estimated at around 700 million euros. Most of these amendments come from the majority and from the government. Only 19 were submitted by the oppositions.
Reduced VAT on masks and a tax cut for small businesses selected
Among the concessions made to the opposition, the government has retained an amendment carried by the Socialist Party which confirms the maintenance for one year of a reduced VAT rate of 5.5% for hygiene products linked to Covid-19, in particular masks. Another amendment voted and retained, transpartisan this time: the increase in the ceiling of the tax credit for childcare. It should go from 2,300 to 3,500 euros, i.e. a cost of 200 million euros, learned France Télévisions from Bercy. According The echoes, it is “the most expensive amendment of the lot”. Another ceiling is also raised, that of restaurant tickets, up by a few euros (it goes from 11.80 to 13 euros), in accordance with a proposal from the Les Républicains (LR) party.
Another hand extended to the right, the conservation of an amendment relating to a reduction in taxation for small businesses, also supported by the partner groups of the presidential majority, Horizons and the Modem. Carried by the communist group, the amendment restoring the half share of widows of veterans was also kept by the government. Finally, an amendment relating to the establishment of a shield to protect communities from rising energy prices has been added, “in extremis” according The echoes, as well as an increase in the taxation of kerosene. A measure that targets in particular the use of private jets.
While a tax on superprofits is also at the center of political discussions and disagreements, the government, which refuses to do so, seems to have found a solution: it has maintained its amendment resulting from an agreement concluded with the other countries of the European Union at the end of September. In fact, it is a transposition of a Brussels rule into French law. Oil and gas companies with a profit of more than 20% compared to the average of the last four years will have to pay a “temporary solidarity contribution”.
An “exit tax” and a tax credit for the rest of the torpedoed Ehpad
The government refused, however, to retain several other amendments. This is the case of the reintroduction of an “exit tax”, targeting the tax exile of entrepreneurs, and which the opposition had managed to get voted on during the debates in the hemicycle, failing to adopt a new tax on real estate wealth (ISF). In the same logic, the executive did not want to hear about the increase in the tax on superdividends (or “flat tax”), yet carried by the Modem, with the support of the left, the National Rally ( RN) and even deputies from his own formation, Renaissance.
For the PS proposal, also adopted during the session, to introduce a tax credit for the remainder payable by residents of nursing homes, it is also no, the measure being deemed too costly by the executive. LR also suffered a setback on the creation of a tax credit. It concerned energy renovation, the right wishing to replace the current MaPrimeRenov device, deemed insufficiently effective.