All France talks about his idea. The 38-year-old economist has a recipe for how to save the country from the debt crisis. Not everyone likes it
Zucman wants all households whose assets exceeds EUR 100 million (PLN 427 million) to pay an annual tax of at least two percent. values of all your assets. The 38-year-old claims that this measure could bring up to EUR 20 billion (over PLN 85 billion) per year.
This proposal, called “Zmanan tax”, has become a hot topic of debate in a country that has complicated relations with billionaires and is currently on the edge of a serious debt crisis.
Zucman claims that the effective tax rate for French billionaires is lower than for most other taxpayers, so you should take action to ensure that the richest will pay a fair part of taxes.
There is no day that there is no hot discussion in the media about the advantages and disadvantages of the “Zmana tax”, especially since the socialists who played a key role in the overthrow of the last two rule of France, They supported this proposal. Currently, they conduct important budget negotiations with the new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecorn.
Lecorn and the central, probability party of President Emmanuel Macron They oppose this tax. However, they need the support of the Centrolevort to push through their expenditure plan, which will convince the markets and regulatory bodies that the second largest euro zone economy has not become impossible to manage.
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It is not clear whether “Zmanan's tax” is currently the subject of discussion, because Lecorn's team keeps their plans secret.
However, Zucman managed to change the context of the debate. -The advantage of Zmanan's tax is not the tax itself, but the diagnosis and the departure from the belief that nothing can be done-believes Pascal Saint-Aman, a French official who managed activities for global reform of taxation of enterprises in the organization of economic cooperation and development (OECD).
A new star of French economics
Over 10 years after the huge success of Thomas Piketty's book “Capital in the 21st century” Zucman He takes over the crown of another star of French economics.
His work on property taxes inspired leftist candidates for the President of the United States, including Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts and Senator Berni Sanders from Vermont. In 2023 he also brought him a prestigious distinction – the medal of John Bates Clark.
Last year, he advised Brazil, who as the chairwoman of G20 sought to introduce a global minimum tax for billionaires.
Zucman, who, together with Piketta, lectures at the Paris School of Economics and at the University of California in Berkeley, turned out to be a communication champion, willingly engaging in numerous discussions in social media and live debates.
Voices of criticism versus social support
According to the head of the French giant of luxury goods LVMH Bernard Arnault, tax “It will destroy the French economy”. Other influential economists say that this measure will bring only EUR 5 billion (21 billion), not EUR 20 billion (PLN 85 billion), as Zucman assures. In turn, legal experts are afraid that this is inconsistent with the constitution.
In addition, there is an argument regarding the escape of capital: billionaires will simply leave France to avoid paying tax, as Pierre-Edouard Sterin did, depriving French money of significant income. A group of independent economists advising the French government said, however, that such an escape would not have a significant impact on the economy, thus undermining this argument a bit.
Demonstrators keep a banner supporting the so -called Zmana tax during a rally against savings, Paris, September 18, 2025.Remon Haazen / Getty Images / Getty Images
Perhaps, however, the biggest worry of the Elysee Palace is how this solution would affect the vision of Macron from 2017, so that France becomes a “startup nation”.
In addition to income tax, the founders of the companies would pay tax based on the market value of their shares in their companies, which fluctuates.
Arthur Mensch, founder of the French startup Mistral AI, admits that he agrees with Zucman, that in France greater “tax justice” is needed, But he would not be able to pay this tax.
Zucman responded to this proposal that billionaires who are not able to pay in cash would transfer shares to the state. However, the critics described this solution as communist.
Despite the long list of opponents, the Zuman plan seems enjoy great social support. The last study conducted by the IFOP Public Opinion Research Center on behalf of socialists showed that 86 percent Respondents positively assessed the ZMMANA tax.
-In France, a country that is passionate about equality, it came to the fact that an ordinary man on the street knows what Zmana tax is-adds Saint-Ans.
