Les Engagés have proposed introducing a new tax targeting wealth over 500,000 euros. Presented as an effort asked of the “broadest shoulders”, this measure nevertheless raises many questions about its impact on the middle class, entrepreneurs and our country's economy.
For Georges-Louis Bouchez, this tax logic is a mistake.
“A car dealer who sells his business after a lifetime of work, an SME owner who hands over his activity after forty years of effort, or a family selling an inherited property, could be considered ‘rich’ and taxed more heavily,” stresses the MR President.
Not everyone obviously has such wealth, but it is often the result of years of work, saving, investing and risk-taking. For the MR, it is unfair to penalise those who have built up their wealth over time.
This proposal also raises a matter of principle. The income that made this wealth possible has already been taxed several times: on work, on savings, on investments, or during various transactions. Adding another layer of taxation amounts to penalising effort and success once again.
Beyond the issue of fairness, the MR warns against the economic consequences of such a measure. Belgium needs investors, entrepreneurs and job creators. In many countries, wealth taxes have shown their limits, leading to capital flight and a weakening of economic activity without delivering the expected revenue.
For the Mouvement Réformateur, the priority must be controlling public spending rather than creating new taxes.
“In one of the most heavily taxed countries in the world, the solution is not to further empty the pockets of those who work, start businesses and invest. It is the State that must slim down, not the citizens who create our country's wealth,” concludes Georges-Louis Bouchez.
The MR will continue to defend fair taxation that rewards work, investment and initiative, rather than punitive taxation that discourages wealth creation.