French government's fate in the balance as lawmakers set to vote on wealth tax

France may see another government fall as early as next week as lawmakers debated budgetary amendments on Saturday, including a proposed 2 percent levy on France's ultra-rich known as the "Zucman tax". The centre-left Socialist Party has threatened to use its crucial swing vote to topple the government if a wealth tax is not included in next year's budget. Issued on: 25/10/2025 - 15:55 2 min Reading time France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu at the National Assembly in Paris as MPs debate a proposed budget on October 24, 2025. © Alain Jocard, AFP French lawmakers were due to vote on a wealth tax late on Saturday after the centre-left Socialist Party threatened to use its swing vote to topple the government if the levy was not added in next year's budget. France is under pressure to pass a spending bill by an end-of-year deadline to rein in its deficit and rising debt, but efforts have been hampered by a political crisis. The country's third prime minister in a little over a year, has promised to get the job done, after the legislature ousted his two predecessors over cost-cutting measures. Lecornu survived a confidence vote earlier this month by agreeing to suspend a deeply unpopular pensions reform under pressure from the Socialists. But the Socialists have also demanded a tax on the ultra-wealthy, without which they have threatened to topple his government as soon as Monday. They originally requested a levy, named after French economist Gabriel Zucman, who hoped to raise around €20 billion ($27 billion) per year from just 1,800 wealthy households. Zucman's proposal was to make people with at least €100 million in assets pay a minimum tax of 2 percent on that wealth. France’s suspended pension reform: What is ahead for Lecornu government? To display this content from YouTube, you must enable tracking and audience measurement.