France's wealthiest taxpayers saw their income tax bills fall in 2025, with payments among the richest 0.1 percent dropping by more than 9 percent.
The findings were published on Tuesday in a study by the Direction Générale des Finances Publiques, the French national tax administration. According to the data, which was also reported by the daily newspaper Le Monde, the top 10 percent of earners in France recorded an average tax decline of 1.4 percent.
The reduction became steeper further up the income ladder. Tax bills decreased by 5.1 percent for the richest 1 percent of households, while the drop reached 9.4 percent for the top 0.1 percent, where some taxpayers earn more than one million euros.
Income shifting ahead of new rules
Although the tax authority did not provide an explicit reason for the decrease, it highlighted an anticipation effect among affluent households. Many of these filers moved quickly in 2024 before the launch of a new measure known as the differential contribution on high incomes, abbreviated as CDHR.
The CDHR was created to secure a minimum tax rate of 20 percent on the income of France's wealthiest households. The document noted that eligible taxpayers who had the ability to accelerate their earnings chose to receive payments in 2024 rather than 2025, thereby partially avoiding the new levy.
The Direction Générale des Finances Publiques, commonly known as the DGFiP, administers public finances, collects tax revenue, and enforces fiscal compliance across France. In the French tax system, income declarations are submitted by fiscal households, known as foyers fiscaux, which encompass individuals or families whose combined income determines their total tax liability.
Record share of taxable households
In contrast to the decline seen among top earners, tax payments widened across the general public. Out of 42.1 million fiscal households that submitted tax returns for 2025, the number of households subject to income tax rose by 2.1 percent to reach 20.1 million.
That rise means 47.7 percent of all households in France paid income tax, which the report noted was the highest proportion recorded since 2012. Over the same period, the number of households exempt from paying income tax remained relatively steady, rising by just 0.3 percent.
