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Éric Lombard Says Tens of Thousands of Wealthy French Pay No Income Tax

He argues the official tally omits households whose wealth is held in financial assets.

L'ancien ministre de l'Economie, Eric Lombard, le 21 septembre 2025, lors d'un déplacement à Arras (Pas-de-Calais).
Eric Lombard, alors ministre de l'Economie, à l'Assemblée nationale, le 8 septembre 2025 à Paris
L’ex-ministre Eric Lombard tire la sonnette d’alarme.
En début d’année, Éric Lombard avait affirmé à Libération que de nombreux contribuables fortunés présentaient «un revenu fiscal de référence de zéro», leur permettant de ne payer «aucun impôt sur le revenu».

Overview

  • Finance Ministry documents sent to the Senate confirm at least 13,335 households liable for the real-estate wealth tax (IFI) reported nil or negative income tax for 2024.
  • Speaking on RTL on Feb. 27, the former economy minister estimated the true total is between 13,000 and under 100,000, or roughly 0.1% to 0.3% of households.
  • He says a significant share of cases results from legal tax over-optimization and that focusing only on IFI payers misses households with substantial financial assets.
  • The government says it is examining the phenomenon, with Economy Minister Roland Lescure citing ongoing work and Public Accounts Minister David Amiel calling for deeper analysis of varied taxpayer situations.
  • Highlighting equity concerns, Lombard proposes considering taxation indexed to patrimony or financial savings, while noting the arrangements he describes are lawful.