On the night of Friday October 31, the National Assembly adopted an amendment aimed at transforming the Real Estate Wealth Tax (IFI) into a “tax on unproductive wealth”. The device, carried by Jean-Paul Mattei (MoDem) was voted on by 163 votes to 150, thanks to the votes of the PS, the MoDem and the National Rally.
Amendment 3379 adds to the base of assets hitherto excluded from the IFI, “tangible movable property” including paintings, sculptures, furniture, jewelry, works of art. Although works of art are not explicitly mentioned in the amendment, they appear in the explanatory memorandum of the amendment.
The tax entry threshold remains set at €1.3 million (but there is still uncertainty about the cross-reading of the different amendments with regard to the threshold). The main amendment raised this threshold to 2 million euros but a subamendment presented by MP Philippe Brun (PS) reduced the threshold to 1.3 million euros. However, one property per tax household can be excluded from the base up to €1 million.
The progressive IFI scale is removed: it is replaced by a single rate of 1% applied to the fraction of net assets exceeding the threshold of €1.3 million.
Today 184,000 households are subject to the IFI. With the broadening of the base, in particular with the consideration of works of art, the number of households should increase. Thus a person whose only assets are an apartment of around 130 m² in the center of Paris will have to pay 1% each year on the value of their collection, despite the reduction of 1 million euros on this main residence.
The reactions were not long in coming. For the National Union of Antiquaries, such a measure “would have immediate consequences: flight of private collections, withdrawal of foreign galleries recently established in Paris, slowdown in patronage and impoverishment of the cultural fabric. » Also he “calls for preserving the exemption of works of art from the wealth tax base, in accordance with European practice and the spirit of our cultural tradition. Art should not be considered as an external sign of wealth, but as an expression of human genius and a common good of which France must remain the enlightened guardian. »
Jean-Pierre Osenat, president of the National Union of Voluntary Auction Houses, was particularly upset: “We already knew of Mr. Mattei’s phobias but we did not know that the National Rally played in the same category. Considering art objects as unproductive assets is an unspeakable aberration. »
Even Julien Lacaze, the president of the Sites & Monuments association, a heritage association, fears the effects of this taxation beyond the art market: “What will become of our furnished historical monuments open to the public, what donations or donations can our museums hope for in such a climate? he asks himself, Art will migrate and our country will lose one of its main assets. Our deputies do not realize, even after the Courbet affair, that there is international competition for the appropriation of the most attractive works. Because art is obviously not “unproductive””
Gallerist Georges-Philippe Vallois also notes the disastrous effect of this measure on the French scene: “It seems that only French political leaders are unaware of the growing importance of culture in international soft power. Alongside the extremely complex methods of calculating such an imposition and its disastrous effects for the entire artistic scene (museum, collectors, artists and galleries), this amendment undermines the artistic position that France was regaining on the international level. If this vote is confirmed, the entire sector would be impacted. »
What Philippe Charpentier, president of the Professional Committee of Art Galleries, confirms: “This vote at this stage sends a very bad signal to the entire cultural world. » But he hastens to remind “that the procedure for adopting the PLF is far from being completed. »
Because it is true that these two amendments must still be confirmed by the vote on the entire finance bill by the National Assembly, before its transmission to the Senate, which can in turn modify the text. In the event of disagreement between the two chambers, a joint committee will be convened to try to develop a compromise text.
Until then we can bet that the players in the art market will mobilize.
