Overview
- The Cour des comptes published a report estimating the Pacte Dutreil deprived the state of more than €5.5 billion in 2024 and said its economic benefits are not clearly observed.
- Its recommendations include excluding non‑professional assets, curbing optimisation schemes, lowering the 75% exemption, lengthening holding requirements, and introducing progressive or exposure‑based relief, which it says would more than halve the fiscal cost.
- Bercy praised the analysis but argued for adjustments rather than a rewrite, floated an explicit list of somptuary assets to exclude, and questioned the Court’s calculations.
- Lawmakers have already moved to tighten the regime, with deputies voting on November 3 to remove non‑professional assets from the exemption as the budget heads to the Senate from November 24.
- Business groups including Medef and Meti condemned the report as unbalanced, while the Court highlighted that about two‑thirds of the advantage goes to the top 1% of heirs and noted years of official underestimation of the measure’s cost.