Eric Coquerel, president of the National Assembly's finance commission, visited the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Friday, January 16, to review documents on the taxation of the ultra-rich. The move follows statements by Éric Lombard claiming that thousands of wealthy taxpayers pay no income tax. Coquerel confirms significant fiscal disparities for several thousand individuals.
On January 16, Eric Coquerel (La France insoumise, Seine-Saint-Denis), president of the National Assembly's finance commission, went to the Ministry of Economy and Finance in Bercy to review administrative documents on the taxation of the ultra-rich. This visit comes after an interview given by former Economy Minister Éric Lombard to Libération the previous Tuesday. Lombard had disclosed, based on work by the General Directorate of Public Finances (DGFiP), that 'thousands' of the wealthiest taxpayers 'have a reference fiscal income of zero' and 'pay no income tax'.
In front of the press early that evening, Coquerel stated: 'From the documents I have consulted, there are several thousand people, or even several tens of thousands who not only do not pay income tax, but who have fiscal incomes very much lower compared to their estimated economic incomes.' He qualified Lombard's remarks by noting that these taxpayers are not entirely exempt from tax, but their declared fiscal incomes are 'very certainly below 5%' of their real incomes. Coquerel added that this affects 'thousands of people with certainty' and reignites the debate on taxing the highest patrimonies, drawing strong reactions from the left.
At Bercy, Coquerel sought statistics rather than individual names, stating that 'contrary to what was thought until now, (…) there are not just a few hundred ultra-rich who pay almost no income tax, but rather several thousand.' Public Accounts Minister Amélie de Montchalin acknowledged: 'We know that it exists,' while clarifying that no names are listed in the documents.
Meanwhile, as Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu negotiates a 2026 budget agreement with the socialists to avoid censure, Coquerel deems taxing the ultra-rich as 'the only real concession' the left could expect. The Senate's finance commission presidents, Claude Raynal (Socialist Party) and Jean-François Husson (The Republicans), made a similar request for documents to Bercy.
