2027 Presidential Elections: Three scenarios with figures on high wealth

There are a few months left before the 2027 presidential election, and for those with substantial wealth, it's not a political deadline. It's a risk variable, just like market volatility, exchange rate risk, or interest rate fluctuations. The difference is that this one has a known date and three possible outcomes, each with radically different tax treatment of the capital.

Faced with this uncertainty, the temptation is to wait. To wait and see who will govern before making a decision. This is precisely the mistake we are correcting in our current cases. Assets cannot be managed by betting on an election result; they are structured to remain resilient regardless of the outcome. This article models three scenarios of disruption or continuity, quantifies their impact on three typical profiles, and outlines the hedging strategy we are implementing immediately.

3 profiles to measure the real impact: Analysis methodology

This analysis is based exclusively on the official economic programs published by the main political parties between the 2022 legislative elections and the end of 2025. It is not a political prediction. Its aim is to quantify the financial impact of each scenario so that taxpayers can incorporate this information into their risk management strategy, alongside market volatility and interest rate fluctuations.

THE profile 1 is a manager in the process of selling his company: he is preparing to sell it for €8 million, with a latent capital gain of €7 million. profile 2 is a rentier with assets worth €15 million, primarily composed of financial assets generating a regular income. profile 3 is a wealthy family owning a family business valued at €20-30 million, currently being structured for transfer via a Dutreil Pact.

These three profiles do not have the same exposure to tax disruptions. This is the whole point of analyzing each case individually rather than using averages.

Scenario A — Macronist or centrist continuity

The fact

The continuity hypothesis is based on a presidential majority from a central bloc, extending the economic orientation of the 2017 reforms to 2024. In this configuration, the tax architecture of capital remains broadly stable: the single flat-rate levy (PFU) at 30 % is maintained, the real estate wealth tax (IFI) continues to apply beyond €1.3 million of net real estate, and the Dutreil Pact retains its allowance of 75 % on the value transferred.

The analysis.

Stability, however, is never absolute. Even a government of continuity seeks revenue. The most likely lever is the strengthening or continuation of the differential tax on high incomes (CDHR), coupled with minor adjustments to the exit tax thresholds and stricter cross-border reporting requirements. Nothing structural, but continued pressure on the highest earners.

The quantified impact.

For the selling executive, this scenario is neutral: their current planning remains valid. For the retiree, a CDHR of 4 % applied to the portion of reference taxable income exceeding €500k would represent an additional annual cost of around €10,000—marginal at this scale. For the wealthy family, maintaining the Dutreil Pact preserves the transmission operation at an effective cost of approximately 6 % of rights.

This scenario assumes a stable central parliamentary majority, the probability of which depends entirely on the legislative configurations that will emerge in 2027.

Scenario B — Left Turn (NFP / LFI)

The fact.

The coming to power of a broadened left-wing bloc — a New Popular Front type coalition or LFI platform — would be accompanied by an economic program based on tax justice and redistribution, with a structural reform of capital taxation.

The analysis.

This is the scenario of the most profound disruption for high fortunes. The measures announced converge: elimination of the flat tax and taxation of capital income at the progressive income tax scale, the marginal rate of which can reach 45%, to which are added 17.2% social security contributions — i.e. a cumulative marginal rate approaching 60%.

This would be supplemented by the re-establishment of a wealth tax extended to financial assets (a wealth tax in a more burdensome 2017 version), a cap or elimination of the Dutreil exemption beyond a certain threshold, a reduction in allowances for direct descendants on inheritances, and a tightening of the exit tax with the elimination of the fifteen-year expiry period and immediate taxation without deferment.

The quantified impact.

The differences become considerable. For a business owner selling their business, a capital gain of €7 million taxed according to the standard tax scale would incur approximately €4.2 million in taxes, compared to €2.1 million under the current flat tax rate: a direct additional cost of around €2.1 million. For someone living off investments, the expanded wealth tax applied to assets of €15 million would represent between €200,000 and €300,000 per year, depending on the tax scale used. For wealthy families, the impact is the most significant: the elimination of the Dutreil Pact would increase inheritance tax on the family business from approximately 6% (€1.2 million) to 35-40%, or €7-8 million—a potential additional cost of €6-7 million on a single transfer.

The calendar.

This is where the urgency lies. An amending finance law could be introduced as early as summer 2027 and apply retroactively to transactions carried out since January 1, 2027. There is precedent: the 2011 amending finance law on the exit tax and the 2012 amending finance law on the exceptional contribution on high incomes both had retroactive effects on the current year.

Scenario C — Rightward shift towards sovereignty (RN-Reconquest)

The fact.

A majority from a nationalist or sovereignist right-wing bloc would combine tax breaks for residents with a strategy of protecting national assets. The risk in this scenario is not the same as in the left-wing scenario: it relates less to the level of taxation than to capital mobility.

The analysis.

The proposed program includes the elimination of the IFI (French wealth tax) – possibly offset by a targeted tax on certain financial assets, depending on the specific measures – a reduction in taxes on productive companies, and the maintenance, or even strengthening, of the Dutreil Pact. In return for these tax breaks, the stated aim of combating capital flight would be to tighten the exit tax, implement a possible tax on capital leaving the European Union, and strengthen substance requirements for foreign holding companies.

The quantified impact.

For the selling executive, maintaining the flat tax rate eliminates any direct additional costs on the sale, but a stricter exit tax—notably the elimination of the grace period for non-EU destinations—increases the cost of immediate relocation by several hundred thousand euros. For the retiree, the elimination of the wealth tax generates an annual gain of €150,000 to €200,000, but a restriction on transfers outside the EU could freeze part of their international diversification. For the wealthy family, maintaining the Dutreil scheme preserves the transfer of assets, subject to possible restrictions on cross-border gifts.

The distinctive feature.

This scenario is asymmetrical: it favors assets located in France and constrains those already internationalized. The dominant risk is not fiscal but legal—the restriction of capital mobility and the tightening of exit controls.

Summary of impacts by profile

This table illustrates the essential point: depending on the individual's profile, the same election produces opposite effects. A rentier gains in one scenario what they lose in another; a wealthy family risks millions on the fate of the Dutreil Pact alone. No single decision can encompass these three realities. This is why coverage is tailored to each individual profile and case.

Hedging strategy in the face of uncertainty surrounding the 2027 presidential elections

Our approach is not about betting on an outcome. It is based on four principles.

First principle: the asset stress test.

OUR tax optimization simulator allows for an initial encrypted reading.

Any significant transaction planned for 2026 or 2027 is modeled under all three scenarios. A structure that only works under the assumption of business as usual is a fragile one. The Balmont rule requires an acceptable net-net return—after taxes, fees, and inflation—in all three cases, even if it means foregoing maximum optimization in the most favorable scenario. Robust performance is better than optimal, conditional performance.

Second principle: calendar anticipation.

Transactions sensitive to both disruption scenarios must be executed and closed before the end of 2026. Sale, gift, division of ownership, contribution-sale, expatriation: finalization by December 31, 2026 at the latest neutralizes the risk of a retroactive amending finance law in 2027. A transaction opened on January 1, 2027 remains exposed; a transaction closed before this date is secure.

Third principle: the diversification of jurisdictions.

Our country-specific analyses are grouped on the page expatriation and international mobility.

Locating a portion of one's assets outside France—through a Luxembourg assurance-vie policy, a securities account in Switzerland or Luxembourg, or a foreign holding company with real assets—creates a mobility option. This option does not obligate the current resident in any way, but it can be activated should regulations become more restrictive. Its effectiveness depends on timing: it is established in 2026, in a calm environment, and not in 2028 under the pressure of a reform that has already been passed.

Fourth principle: preventive documentation.

Past transactions remain unchanged, but their documentation is secured. Methodically documenting the substance, governance, and flows of existing structures allows you to anticipate potential increased tax audits. A file documented in advance is resilient; a file hastily reconstructed in response to an audit is vulnerable.

Balmont Reading

Regarding the tax aspect itself, see our approach to the’income tax optimization.

The upcoming 2027 presidential elections are not a matter of opinion for high-net-worth individuals. They represent a measurable risk factor, to be integrated into the strategy just like any other market uncertainty. The role of a wealth advisor is not to predict the outcome of the vote—no one can realistically do that—but to build a structure whose resilience is objectively determined by the result.

On the cases we are currently managing, the operational instruction is unambiguous: any structuring decision — sale, gift, expatriation — executed and closed before December 31, 2026; any less urgent decision postponed until after the election, but accompanied by a cover mechanism put in place from 2026. The instrumentation we are using for this combines a numerical modeling of the three scenarios by our augmented asset intelligence, a stress test of existing structures, and the identification of the three priority areas for arbitration specific to each case.

It is this diagnosis that generates the firm's added value. Not political opinion.

Perform a stress test on your assets in three 2027 scenarios. Our AI diagnostic identifies your actual exposure and your three priority areas for arbitrage in minutes.

Sources and references

Flat-rate tax and social security contributions 2026

• Public Service for Entrepreneurship — Changes in the flat tax rate
• Public Service — Savings and Investment Income 2026

Differential Contribution on High Incomes (CDHR)

• economie.gouv.fr — All you need to know about the CDHR
• impots.gouv.fr — CDHR

IFI 2026

• Public Service — Calculation of the IFI

Dutreil Pact

• bofip.impots.gouv.fr — Dutreil scheme (commitments and allowance 75 %)

Exit tax

• Legifrance — Article 167 bis of the French General Tax Code
• impots.gouv.fr — Notice 2074-ETD (declaration of unrealized capital gains)

Retroactivity precedents

• Legifrance — Finance Law of July 29, 2011 (creation of the exit tax)
• bofip.impots.gouv.fr — Exceptional tax on high incomes (LF 2012)