Nearly 2 million people could benefit from this measure.
Amid the alarmist speeches on the state of France’s finances and the multitude of various ideas to increase certain taxes, there is little (possible) good news. Even when they are just simmering. However, if the time has come to look for new recipes, all is not dark and some wallets could even be a little relieved soon.
Although it is difficult to believe in the current context, a tax paid by thousands of French people could indeed disappear next year. The proposal is not unanimous but some of the deputies were favorable to this possibility. It still remains to be definitively validated.
In France, it is not only taxes, town halls, departments and other communities that collect taxes. Other organizations also require certain households to pay them money each year. This is particularly the case of the Regional Center for University and School Works, better known by the acronym “Crous”. In preparation for the start of the school year, all students (except scholarship holders) must pay a tax: the Student and Campus Life Contribution (CVEC).
Every year, its amount increases at the same rate as inflation. Thus, for the year 2024-2025, the price amounted to 104 euros. According to data from the Ministry of Higher Education, around 1.7 million students had to pay this tax. But maybe it was the last time.
The socialist and environmentalist deputies proposed to eliminate this contribution. In the Finance Committee, the idea was adopted and must now be submitted to a vote by Parliament and the approval of the government. In 2023, the same proposal was validated in principle but was not retained by Elisabeth Borne.
If, on paper, the idea is attractive for students who struggle to have financial resources during their studies, it is not unanimous. The CVEC makes it possible to finance social, health, medical and cultural actions in student life. Removing it “would penalize the most precarious students”, according to centrist MP Charles de Courson. The left would like to compensate for its suppression by an increase in taxes on tobacco.