Budget: Medef threatens a "major employer mobilization" if corporate taxes increase

He is also putting pressure on the new Prime Minister , Sébastien Lecornu. Medef president Patrick Martin warned this Saturday, September 13, that a "major employer mobilization" would be organized if corporate taxes were increased as part of the 2026 budget.

"Businesses cannot bear new taxes or additional tax increases," the bosses' boss argued in an interview with Le Parisien . "On the contrary, it is urgent to release the handbrake to boost investment." He warned: "If taxes increase, there will be a major employer mobilization," which would take the form of a "meeting" with "thousands of business leaders," "beyond the Medef," reporting that Medef members are "very worried."

"We will not take to the streets. We will bring together en masse, as has been the case in the past, in the form of a meeting, thousands of business leaders of all profiles, in terms of size, sector of activity, territorial origin to clearly indicate that we refuse to be the adjustment variable of policies that seem to us to be contrary to the smooth running of the economy and to the interests of the country, in which we play an important role," he explained.

Patrick Martin also pointed out that French companies were "the most heavily taxed among OECD countries, after deducting the aid they receive," with "€13 billion in additional levies in 2025." In return, he laments that companies have not seen the promise of a reduction in the CVAE, a production tax, materialize.

Among the red lines of the big boss, who was received on Friday evening by the new Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu , is a tax on very high net worth individuals known as "Zucman" (named after the economist Gabriel Zucman ), demanded by the left.

Tax

"This would be a terrible obstacle to investment and risk-taking for businesses. The Zucman tax includes the working tool in the calculation of assets, whereas the ISF (wealth tax) did not ! For certain companies – particularly in the tech sector – which are worth a lot but are not yet generating profits or distributing dividends, introducing this tax would even be a form of plunder and would condemn them to sale," he protested.

More generally, Patrick Martin considered that the PS's budgetary proposals would have "a recessionary effect" in an already difficult economic climate.