By Mathieu Rosemain
PARIS, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Extending France’s corporate tax surcharge through 2026 risks driving investment out of the country, the chairman of Credit Mutuel, France’s fifth-largest bank by assets, said on Monday.
"If you want investments to continue happening outside of France, this is exactly what you should do," Daniel Baal told a news conference.
France introduced a temporary surtax on large companies in 2025 that was only supposed to last a year, but it is to be rolled over into
2026 under a budget compromise announced on Friday, which government officials have said should raise about 8 billion euros ($9.31 billion).
"We'll end up in France with a corporate tax rate completely uncompetitive with other European countries, and I'm not even talking about non-European countries," Baal said.
He feared the surcharge could become permanent.
"If they tell us they might reduce this corporate tax surcharge when the deficit falls below 3%, they might as well tell us it's never going to happen," he said.
Lecornu, who needs to win support from the Socialists to avoid a no-confidence vote as budget negotiations have dragged on for months, kept the surcharge in place to help finance social spending measures in the 2026 budget.
"The only concern today for the prime minister is to avoid being censured. Is this how we build a future for this country? It's very concerning," said Baal.
He rejected arguments that the tax would only affect large blue-chip companies in the CAC 40 benchmark index, saying: "Companies like ours that produce wealth in France and share that wealth in France are the ones that will be impacted."
($1 = 0.8596 euros)
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Additional reporting by Leigh Thomas;Editing by Susan Fenton)
