The Doctrine of the French Conseil Constitutionnel on the Solidarity Tax on Wealth

This paper analyzes the content of French Constitutional Council (Conseil Constitutionnel) doctrine on the successive regulations on the solidarity tax on wealth (ISF). After describing the basic elements of this tax and the institution of the Conseil Constitutionnel, the paper analyzes the constitutional principles of tax law regarding economic capacity and equality before the tax system, which are selected to monitor constitutionality. Through the use of these principles as a screening tool, an individual’s assets have been demonstrated to be a legitimate indication of a person’s economic capacity, and the limitation of the amount of the ISF has been established as a legitimate way of applying the principle of the prohibition of confiscatory taxation. Based on the development of the principle of tax equality, the introduction of tax benefits in the regulation of the ISF has been accepted, along with the specific elements of this tax, which is levied on personal elements.