Middle classes: are they paying too much tax?

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The middle class is estimated to comprise about half of the French population: 26 million adults in our country. You're part of it if you earn, after tax, between approximately €1,700 and €3,100 net per person per month. This middle class often feels like it pays too much income tax. Except that upon closer inspection, it only pays about 10% of the total collected by the state, while the wealthiest households pay 90%.

In detail, the lower middle class is even exempt. However, the upper middle class, those who earn an average of more than €2,200 per month, are no exception. They pay an average of €1,100 in income tax. And that's without counting property tax, VAT, and social security contributions. Above all, their taxes tend to increase faster than those of others.

Last year, for example, the middle class paid between 4 and 10 percent more in income tax. This means that their wages increased, but some of it was clawed back by taxes, which can fuel feelings of frustration.

Especially since the richest 10% of French people are increasingly using tax credits, also known as tax loopholes: hiring a gardener, a tutor for children, or investing in new real estate, for example, has allowed them to reduce their tax rate, and they have benefited greatly from it. Income tax actually paid by the richest even fell by 0.1% last year. This could partly explain the feeling among the French middle class that they are making more of an effort than others during this period of crisis.