A large majority of French believe that the current tax system is “unfair”. This is revealed by a Cluster 17* poll for Le Point. In detail, 49% of respondents find it “rather unfair” and 25%, “completely unfair”. This feeling is shared by all the clusters (the political families formed by the institute, from moderates to radicals). “It is within the most disruptive and anti-system electorates that this feeling of injustice is the most diffuse, notes Stéphane Fournier, director of studies at Cluster 17. Here we find the “arch of protest” of close clusters yellow vests, which ranges from Solidaires and Multiculturalists to groups closer to the RN: Réfractaires and Sociaux-Patriotes. Thus, 85% of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen voters in the first round of the 2022 presidential election consider the tax system “unfair”.
This poll also highlights a classic right-left divide. To the question “Do you feel like you are paying too much tax, not enough tax, or just the right amount?” », the voters of the right and of the left do not bring the same answer. Unsurprisingly, voters on the left overwhelmingly share the feeling that they are paying their fair share – 57% of voters in Mélenchon and 59% of voters in Jadot, for example –, while voters on the right feel they are overtaxed: 63% of voters of Pécresse, 69% of voters of Le Pen and 77% of voters of Zemmour.
This choice to lower the taxes of the middle classes is also acclaimed by a third of the French people questioned. However, respondents seem to be calling for a tax “at the same time”: less taxes for the middle classes but more taxes for the wealthy – 40% of French people are in favor of it. “While left-wing voters are naturally the most favorable to this wealthy tax hike, this wish is shared by a third of Marine Le Pen’s electorate and 22% of Emmanuel Macron’s voters”, observes Stéphane Fournier .
*Study carried out by Cluster 17 for Le Point with a sample of 1,879 people representative of the French population aged 18 and over. The sample is drawn up according to the quota method, with regard to the criteria of sex, age, socio-professional category, type of municipality and region of residence. Online self-administered questionnaire. Interviews conducted from May 19 to 21, 2023.
