Housing tax: the government closes the door on any return, even in the form of “modest contribution”

The Minister of Regional Planning, François Rebsamen, gives the table the idea of ​​a contribution from citizens to the financing of the public services of the municipalities. This proposal “does not correspond to the position of the government,” tackled government spokesperson Sophie Primas, after the Council of Ministers on Monday, April 28.

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Deleted since 2023 for the main residences, the housing taxwhich remains due to secondary residences, will not return, in accordance with a campaign promise by Emmanuel Macron. Even in the form of a “Modest contribution” To the financing of public services, mentioned by the Minister of Regional Planning, François Rebsamen, in an interview in Ouest-France, Sunday April 27: “We are not going to recreate the housing tax, no. Her deletion was a good decision, she created a purchasing power gainwe will not come back to this. ” However, the Minister plans to create a “Modest contribution” from all citizens to “Financing of public services in the municipality”in order to “Reconnect the link” Between local communities and their inhabitants.

If the occupants of main residences, whether they are owners or tenants, have not paid housing tax since 2023, the ownersthey continue to pay the property tax. Which has soared in recent years in many municipalities, precisely to compensate for the loss of revenue due to the abolition of the housing tax. “Now being the owner of his accommodation does not necessarily mean being rich”underlines François Rebsamen. The minister hears in parallel “Facilitate the life of local communities”whose financial situation continues to deteriorate according to the last report of the Court of Auditors on the subject. But his proposal for a modest contribution to the financing of public services “”does not correspond to the position of the government “,, Tacked government spokesperson Sophie Primas, after the Council of Ministers on Monday, April 28. “Out of the question. The housing tax, unjust tax that overwhelmed the middle classes and the least rich cities, must not return in any form»»adds the deputy David Amiel (Together for the Republic, EPR) on his X account (ex-Twitter). An opinion shared by his colleague Epr Mathieu Lefèvre: “There is no modest contribution, There are only too many taxes. We put the tax before the public service, we walk on our heads! No, and three times no “ On a return of the housing tax, in any form whatsoever.

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A contribution based on income?

This “Modest contribution” to the financing of public services, mentioned by François Rebsamen, is furiously like the creation of a “Citizen contribution to the public service” Considered by her predecessor Catherine Vautrin last November. While also ensuring that he was not “No way to come back” On the abolition of the housing taxthe Minister of Partnership with the Territories had considered that “On the other hand, citizens had to take care of public action in the territories, nothing being free”.

Michel Fournier, president of the association of rural mayors of France and mayor of Voivres (Vosges), had thus called at the time to think about “a contribution based on income»» Citizens and no longer on the rental values ​​of housing, as was the case for the housing tax. An unfair calculation method, which is the cause of the removal of the housing tax, because rental values Having not been revised for fifty years, the occupants – owners or tenants – of old housing paid a housing tax Three to four times lower to that acquitted by the occupants of more recent goods. This idea of ​​a “housing tax” based on income had emerged in the 1990s and almost materialized in a bill “carrying various economic and financial provisions”. But the Prime Minister of the time, Pierre Bérégovoy, had opposed it, due to the unpopularity of this measurement.

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A tax paid by all …

Like Michel Fournier, who considered essential that “Everyone, whatever their situation, participates in the life of their community” Through such a contribution, David Lisnard, president of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) and mayor of Cannes, proposed at the end of 2024 the establishment of a “Residential contribution universal»». “Today, about half of the inhabitants no longer pay local tax. The other half consists of owners who pay the property tax and the housing tax on second homes. It is necessary to recreate a system of local responsibility and to involve citizens in the management of the municipality, explain the real cost of the public services from which they benefit as users. They will understand that Free does not exist»»he argued on the “Mayors of France” site. Note that the AMF advocated a reduction in this universal residential contribution for non -taxable persons, who would therefore not have to pay it at all or in low proportions.

This AMF suggestion was reminiscent of that of the National Union of Real Estate Owners (UNPI), a supporter of the creation of a “User tax” that would be paid by all the inhabitants of a given municipality, whether owners or tenantsas was the case for the old housing tax. Its amount would however be “adjustable” Depending on certain criteria, including income.

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… Or only by tenants?

No universal contribution, on the other hand, for Camille Galtier. The mayor of Manosque argued at the end of last year for a “”rental tax»». As its name suggests, it would only concern tenants and, more specifically, those with income “Sufficient” to pay it. “We see that some owners live below the poverty line and must pay a property tax, while tenants with affluent income do not pay taxes in the locality where they live”, he explained last fall.