The book is presented as a handbook with answers to 50 frequently asked questions on inheritance taxation. The book is organised into three parts dealing with the role of inheritance in social life, the decline of inheritance taxes, and then formulating proposals for reforming the current arrangements.
One of the most sensitive tax issues in France for several decades has been the taxation of capital (real estate and financial) and inheritance, particularly since the publication of Piketty’s book, Capital in the 21 st Century (2021). The latter proposes a “Great Transfer” of capital between seniors (holders of 60% of the national private wealth) and the younger generations. This issue has been addressed by distinguished economists and sociologists, such as Atkinson, Friedman, Rawls, Pikettey, Sen, etc. It is a revealing indicator of the economic and social positioning of the French. It is all the more divisive as it pits against each other or divides generations, households (more or less wealthy), political movements and European governments. However, inheritance has never been taxed so little in France (it generates less than 1% of state revenue); this is why there is an increasing temptation to redress public accounts by “overtaxing the rich”, but this radical measure is likely to intensify tax exile. In particular, “systemic” reforms are advocated and then quickly forgotten, such as the allocation of a minimum inheritance at the start of working life, the surtaxation of inheritances derived fr
In order to redirect low-return savings placed in cash accounts and government bonds, several economists (Artus and Viard, 2022; Tirole and Blanchard, 2021; Masson, 2025) propose hybrid formulas combining incentives for donations, the creation of new tax bands (up to 60%) for inheritance, and tax exemptions on the proceeds of “future investments” intended to finance very long-term projects (up to 25 years) that meet ESG principles.om other inheritances or produced by unproductive income, etc.
André Masson isDirector of Research at the CNRS and the EHESS, as well as a researcher at the École d’économie de Paris.
Jean-Jacques Pluchart