France's finance minister said reducing a one-off "special" tax on large
companies will be difficult. The levy, introduced for 2025 and extended into
this year as Paris struggled to contain its budget deficit, is unlikely to be
eased as a divided National Assembly prepares negotiations on a new finance
bill, he said, citing the Iran war, repeated heatwaves and rising borrowing
costs. He added, "If we could lower it, we would, but it's not easy," and said
the government does not intend to introduce new taxes in upcoming talks on the
2027 finance bill, arguing decades of defaulting to tax hikes is no longer
effective.
