France’s wealthiest citizens cut their income tax bill in 2025

France’s wealthiest taxpayers paid less income tax in 2025, even as the country’s overall income-tax revenue rose. A Finance Ministry study suggests the sharpest falls among top earners followed efforts to adjust income declarations ahead of a new minimum tax, raising questions about how effectively the measure can collect revenue and preserve tax progressivity.

Net income-tax revenue rose 1% to €92.6 billion, and 420,000 more households became liable, bringing the share paying tax to 47.7%, its highest level since 2012. Average tax fell 1.4% for the richest tenth, 5.1% for the top 1% and 9.4% for the top 0.1%; the ministry linked this partly to wealthy households bringing forward dividends and other income before the new 20% minimum levy. The levy raised €620 million, against an initial forecast of €1.9 billion, while taxable income declared by the top 0.1% rose 22% in 2024 then fell 20.5% in 2025.