Taxes: the number of wealthy taxpayers has dropped since 2012 – Les Echos

Are Tax Revenues in eroding at very high incomes? It is too early to tell, but the latest data published by the tax authorities reported a net decline in the number of taxpayers in the higher tax brackets.

in 2014, the number of tax households whose income tax reference exceeds 200,000 euro fell 8%. They were no more than 137 081 households in this income bracket, against 148,268 the previous year. With high risks of erosion of tax revenue if such taxpayers account for only 0.4% of tax households, they pay each year on average 20% of income taxes

Not only the tax exile

in all income brackets above 200,000 euros, the number of homes has declined. But it is especially when one rises in the highest incomes that fall is spectacular. Thus, the number of households whose income is between 400,000 and 500,000 euros fell 15% in 2014, while between 1 million and 2 million in revenue, the decline reached 30%. In 2013, changes were less obvious: certain income brackets saw the number of taxpayers go up, others down. The decline, however, was already marked for taxpayers with incomes above 1 million euros, which has led, over two years, a real fall on.

The Ministry of Finance responded that Friday morning by publishing the 2015 data, which show a 11% rise in the number of taxpayers with higher tax income refers to one million euros: they were 5148 last year , against 4,630 in 2014, Bercy stressing that “ the population of reporting taxpayers with very high income is not stable over time .” Despite this rise, the fall in the number of taxpayers reporting more than one million euros is clear from the beginning of the quinquennium: they were 6.628 in 2013 and 7.617 in 2012. The decline came in at 22.3 % over the period 2013-2015, and even 32.4% on 2012 to 2015

figures on people reporting more than 200,000 euros are more reassuring. between 2012 and 2015 says the Finance Ministry, the number of taxpayers has increased slightly (+ 0.6%) from 141,164 to 142,146 tax households, despite the sharp decline observed in 2014. the number of tax households reporting more than 100,000 euros of income tax reference, it increased by 11% between 2012 and 2015 indicates Bercy, from 650,494 to 722,168.

These changes are difficult to explain precisely. The tax exile, often denounced by the right and entrepreneurs, is involved for the wealthy, but it is not enough alone to explain the movements.

Evolution of the tax base

in 2013, the IRS has identified 659 departures at incomes over 300,000 euros, while the data show that the administration we lost 9,672 homes in this bracket. Bercy advance the argument of some volatility in the highest income may depend on a special event, such as the sale of a business, a business or a retirement. Thus, it is not necessarily the same people would be found from one year to another in the higher tax brackets.

Another explanation could be in the evolution of the tax base. She had already strongly impacted the performance of the “surtax Sarkozy” created in 2011 (3-4% for higher income 250,000 euros). This tax has reported that 369 million euros in 2014 against 630 million in 2012. During these years of crisis, it is possible that taxpayers have achieved less capital gains on securities or have given up selling their business.

the year 2013 was full of uncertainty following the revolt of “pigeons”, these entrepreneurs who are aggrieved by setting the scale of capital income. Only by year end that was voted an allowance for holding period that prevents entrepreneurs to pay too heavy a tax when they sell their company.

2013 was also the first year of entry into force of the design scale of capital income, a major tax change that could result in behavioral changes. Some taxpayers could decline to exercise gains, some leaders could give to pay dividends. “The will of the government was to incite long detention. Some behaviors of short-term detention could be deterred “, says one in Bercy

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