France’s richest man Arnault hit with US$25.7 million tax assessment

BILLIONAIRE Bernard Arnault and his wife have been assessed with nearly 22.5 million euros (US$25.7 million) in additional taxes, according to a recent decision by the Paris administrative court of appeal cited by AFP. 

The chief executive officer of the global luxury goods conglomerate LVMH and his wife must pay French authorities 12.96 million euros in “additional contributions” – including taxes, social contributions, surcharges and late payment interest – for 2010.

They must also pay 9.5 million euros in respect to France’s wealth solidarity tax for the years 2012 to 2015, indicated the decision published on Thursday (Jul 2) on the website of the administrative body.

The court’s ruling “will be appealed to the Council of State”, a spokesperson for Arnault told AFP on Saturday. 

Public relations spokespeople for the billionaire did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Bloomberg. 

Arnault is France’s – and Europe’s – richest person and currently the eighth richest in the world, based on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with a net worth of about US$165 billion. 

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The heart of the matter concerns the “complex shareholding” of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, according to the online media outlet l’Informe, which first reported the administrative court’s ruling. 

During the investigation, France requested assistance from Luxembourg and the Bahamas, according to the decision. BLOOMBERG