On Friday, lawmakers from the MoDem, PS, and RN parties approved an amendment calling for a tax on unproductive wealth. What does this legislation cover, and why is it already raising so many questions about its economic relevance?
What is this new tax on unproductive wealth?
On Friday, an amendment on “unproductive wealth” was adopted as part of the 2026 Finance Bill (PLF). Introduced by the MoDem, the amendment also received support from lawmakers from the National Rally (RN) and the Socialist Party (PS).
Aimed at transforming the real estate wealth tax (IFI), this new measure—described as a “political blunder” by entrepreneur Eric Larchevêque—raises some serious questions. In fact, the amendment imposes a 1% annual tax on any portion of an estate deemed “unproductive” for “the portion of the net taxable value” exceeding 2 million euros.
The key issue here, therefore, is defining what is considered “unproductive.” This encompasses the following assets:
- Digital assets, without exception;
- Tangible personal property (valuables, gold, cars, yachts, works of art, etc.);
- Life insurance funds “not allocated to productive investment,” which includes bond funds.
In the real estate sector, certain properties are exempt from this tax if they meet several conditions, including being leased to unrelated third parties under a lease term of at least 12 months.
Under the guise of encouraging productive investment (such as the stock market), the amendment thus aims to modify the IFI, which “currently appears economically inconsistent”:
In order to encourage productive investment, this amendment proposes to reform the IFI so that it more closely resembles a tax on unproductive wealth by excluding productive real estate assets from its tax base—defined as properties leased for more than one year that meet certain criteria, particularly environmental ones—while retaining or including unproductive assets: non-productive real estate, tangible personal property (valuables, cars, yachts, airplanes, furnishings, etc.), digital assets, and life insurance policies for funds not allocated to productive investment.
Although the text is now included in the current version of the 2026 Finance Bill, the bill itself must still go through the legislative process, and it is therefore not yet entirely certain at this time that this new tax will be implemented.
Nevertheless, this possibility is already raising questions due to the precedents it sets. In the context of cryptocurrencies, for example, this would require reporting the addresses of self-hosted wallets to the tax authorities, which raises serious privacy concerns, particularly given the risk of data leaks.
Furthermore, money market funds hold significant portions of French debt. Consequently, the measure can be viewed as a tax for having the “privilege” of holding debt from the third-most-indebted country in the European Union; but by encouraging the French to sell off their bonds, it will above all increase the share of that same debt held by foreign powers.
