Finance Act 2026: End of the Saga, Start of the QPCs
Four months after a particularly eventful parliamentary process, the 2026 French Finance Act has finally come into force. Its implementation had indeed been pending the ruling of the judges of the Rue de Montpensier.
The French Prime Minister had referred three key provisions of the bill to the Conseil constitutionnel: the holding company tax, the Dutreil pact, and the contribution-in-kind regime, without, however, raising any claim of unconstitutionality.
This so-called “blank” referral led the constitutional judge not to rule on the substance: these provisions are declared neither compliant nor contrary to the Constitution.
The decision of February 19th 2026 thus marks the conclusion of the saga that began in October 2025.
The door remains open, however, for QPCs that taxpayers may raise in the future, particularly regarding the holding company tax, whose regime raises several questions concerning the tax base, its punitive 20% rate, and taxpayer equality.
— In other words, the constitutional arbitration on capital taxation is simply postponed.
Meanwhile, seven budgetary riders were struck down, and two interpretative reservations were issued, respectively on criminal justice fees and housing assistance (APL) for non-EU students.
