François Bayrou is no longer the Prime Minister, but the budget for 2026 concocted by his government could survive him, at least in part. Because the new tenant of Matignon, Sébastien Lecornu, even if he is to consult this week the main political and union forces, does not start from a white sheet to prepare the finance bill (PLF) for 2026. “The government of its predecessor has left many ready -to -use savings on its table”advance Les Echos. Among which the renewal of the differential contribution on high incomes (CDHR), this floor tax for taxpayers whose reference tax income (RFR) exceeds 250,000 euros launched by the Barnier government at the end of 2024.
But the wealthiest households could not be the only ones to participate in the rectification effort of public accounts. In the viewfinder of the executive is also the reduction in tax for tuition fees, which would be deleted for college and high school, according to Les Echos. As a reminder, parents of one or more school children benefit from a tax advantage of 61 euros for a college student, 153 euros for a high school student and 183 euros for a student registered in higher education. According to a report by the Board of Compulsory Drawings (CPO, attached to the Court of Auditors) of October 14, 2024, this tax reduction had benefited some 2.45 million tax households in 2021, taxpayers who had saved 183 euros on average, for a total cost of 450 million euros.
The tax reduction maintained for higher education?
A weight expenditure, even though the CPO report believed that “These tax advantages constitute a good example of ineffective and ineffective expenses which are not the subject of any management in terms of targeting or evaluation”. Especially since he noticed at the time a “Significant concentration” From the tax advantage on the highest incomes: in 2021, two thirds of the beneficiaries of the tax reduction for the college were located in deciles 8 to 10 (or the 30% of the wealthiest French), a percentage which increased to 67% for the high school and 75% in higher education.
Hence the CPO’s proposal to purely and simply eliminate the tax niche for the schooling of a child to increase the scholarship envelope. A recommendation which would therefore be followed for secondary education, but not for the superior, despite the deposit in June 2025 of an information report on student scholarships, by deputies together for the Republic Thomas Cazenave (Gironde) and Charles Sitzenstuhl (Bas-Rhin). Document in which the abolition of the tax reduction in higher education, which benefited from 1.48 million households in 2024 at a cost of 214 million euros, was recommended to finance the structural reform of scholarships again.
It remains to be seen whether the Government of Sébastien Lecornu will include this measure in the final version of the finance bill for 2026 submitted to Parliament in the fall. If this is the case and the budget is voted as it is, the parents concerned will lose their tax advantage during their declaration 2026 on their 2025 income.
