#WEALTH & ESTATE PLANNING
"The richer you are, the more tax you pay." In France the effective tax rate rises with income — then falls at the very top: 26% for the richest 0.0002%, versus 46% for the top 0.1%.
Published on September 20, 2026 · to be rechecked on December 20, 2026
France's Institute for Public Policy reconstructed the overall effective tax rate on 2016 incomes: all taxes measured against real economic income, including the profits of controlled companies. It is progressive up to very high income levels, reaching 46% for the top 0.1%. Then it turns regressive at the very top, falling back to 26% for the richest 0.0002% — a few hundred households. The reason: most of their economic income sits inside companies (holdings) and is taxed only at the lighter corporate rate, not the personal income rate.
Is tax always heavier the richer you are?
Not at the very top: the effective rate goes from 46% for the top 0.1% to 26% for the top 0.0002%.
In other words: at the summit, the progressive schedule gives way to the legal form income takes.
Five caveats that belong with the number
- Single source (IPP), acknowledged: the 46%/26% gap has not been replicated by a second independent study on French data.
- The figures are for 2016 incomes: a snapshot, not a recent series.
- The regressivity concerns only a tiny group — the top 0.0002%, a few hundred households, not "the rich" in general.
- The calculation includes the undistributed profits of controlled companies; without them, these households' income would be badly understated and the rate would look higher.
- An updated version of the note (2025) slightly revises these figures (about 44.8% and 25%) without changing the regressivity finding.
Why it still matters: at the top of the wealth ladder, the legal form of income matters more than the tax schedule.
For you
- Did you think the very wealthiest paid proportionally more than well-off professionals?
- Should real economic income be taxed rather than only distributed income?
Source: Institute for Public Policy (IPP), Note no. 92, "What taxes do billionaires pay?", June 2023 (2016 incomes).
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