The passing of the baby-boom generation will trigger an unprecedented wealth transfer in France, estimated at over 9000 billion euros over fifteen years. A recent report warns of potential inequalities and proposes increased taxation to fund public priorities. Lawmakers have already tabled amendments to tax these inheritances as part of the 2026 budget.
Over the next fifteen years, the baby-boom generation, born between 1946 and 1964, will trigger a massive wealth transfer in France, dubbed the "great transmission" in a report by Hémisphère gauche and the Fondation Jean Jaurès. Authored by Socialist Senator Alexandre Ouizille, along with senior officials Théo Iberrakene and Boris Julien-Vauzelle, the document estimates this succession flow at over 9000 billion euros cumulatively from 2025 to 2040, peaking at 677 billion euros in 2040. This would amount to about 20 percent of GDP transmitted on average each year.
The authors highlight the unequal nature of this phenomenon: "10 percent of households hold 55 percent of the total wealth of the French today," according to Banque de France figures. They warn that without action, "the great transmission risks reestablishing a society in which inherited fortune overdetermines individuals' social position." Inheritance can act as a "social safety net" or "lifeline," but it also passes on inequalities.
To address this, the report suggests an impôt sur les grandes successions (IGS), targeting the "top 1 percent" of wealth, to fund the ecological transition, research, and education. This would raise fiscal receipts from 5 percent to over 9 percent of transmissions, on a total of 400 billion euros in wealth per year, increasing from 20 billion to 36 billion euros.
During the review of the 2026 social security financing bill (PLFSS), lawmakers responded. Ecologist Deputy Sandrine Rousseau proposed a rejected amendment for an "exceptional contribution on inheritances and donations" at 1 percent from the first euro beyond 100,000 euros. "When you receive an inheritance of 100,000 euros, you are already among the 13 percent best endowed in terms of inheritance in France since 87 percent of inheritances do not reach this amount. The taxation thus starts at this threshold, at a rate of 1 percent. It is a measure of budgetary responsibility but also of justice," she argued. Estimated yield: up to 3 billion euros annually.