Senate U-turn on inheritance
After rejecting the government’s plan to slash the inheritance tax allowance for children, senators have restored it
JUST hours after voting down a plan to reduce the inheritance tax threshold for children, senators went back last night to vote again and reinstated it.
The measure – dropping the tax allowance from €159,000 to €100,000 – was taken out of the 2012 Corrective Finance Law by the Senate yesterday morning – but was restored in a new vote.
A UMP Party amendment had been voted through unexpectedly because senator Joël Labbé (Sorbian), of green party EELV, failed to use his party’s proxy vote for the group of 11 senators; putting the left in a minority.
The government asked for a second deliberation, calling the incident a “technical hitch”.
The measure also applies to lifetime gifts, and the period after which the tax allowance is regained for gifts is extended from 10 to 15 years.
Furthermore, the tax bands and allowances will no longer be linked to inflation.
Budget Minister Jérôme Cahuzac said the aim was to create a fairer tax system, more adapted to the abilities of each person to contribute. The previous rules mainly “favour the wealthiest and encourage transmission of inequalities of wealth from one generation to another,” he said.
However the right said the move would most affect middle earners. “€150,000 is just the price of a small one-bedroom flat,” said UMP MP Francis Delatorre.
Photo: Romain Vincens
