In the deliciously absurd world of Shadoks, an animated masterpiece from the late 1960s, strange birds spend their time designing incredible machines that never work. And for good reason: as soon as they launch into a new invention, they forget the same day what they professed the day before. “By continually trying, you end up succeeding,” they convince themselves. “So the more you fail, the more likely you are that it will work.”
We do not know if Michel Barnier was a fan of the series, broadcast on ORTF. But Matignon’s latest discovery to fill part of the public deficit is worth its weight in “shadokism”. As revealed Opinion, the Prime Minister’s services would study an increase in transfer taxes for consideration (DMTO), these taxes paid by the purchaser of real estate, incorrectly called “notary fees”, and most of which fall into the pocket departments. For each transaction, they receive 4.5% of the price. They are demanding 1 more point, to boost their revenues, which have been hard hit by the drop in sales: according to the latest economic report from Notaires de France, only 793,000 homes have changed hands in one year, or almost 400,000 less than in April 2022.
Attal on the reverse line
At the beginning of the summer, however, in this express legislative campaign precipitated by the dissolution, Michel Barnier’s predecessor proposed… the exact opposite. In the event of his camp’s victory, Gabriel Attal had promised to exempt first-time buyers from DMTO for any purchase below 250,000 euros.
Has the real estate context changed so much that a tax that we wanted to reduce in the summer must be increased in the fall? Obviously not. If borrowing rates have fallen slightly in recent months, as have prices, giving hope for a timid recovery in the market, nothing justifies this large gap in public speech.
The appointment of Valérie Létard for Housing, a full-time minister who knows this matter well, reassured professionals. Finally, they thought, the executive would attack the root of the problem: France suffers from a supply problem – not enough construction or renovations – more than demand. This was without taking into account the ingenuity of Matignon: if the stone, finding fewer buyers, brings in less money for the State and the communities, it is enough to make it… more expensive.
And all the while, the Shadoks were pumping.