Arnault Tax Case Reopened: Paris Court Imposes €22.5M Liability
A Paris administrative appeals court has ordered a €22.5 million tax reassessment against Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH, and his wife, in a ruling dated July 2, 2026.
The reassessment includes €12.96 million related to additional income tax and social charges for the 2010 fiscal year, as well as €9.5 million tied to France’s former wealth tax (ISF) covering the 2012–2015 period.
This decision overturns a prior ruling issued in December 2020 by the Paris Administrative Court, which had granted partial relief to the Arnault family. The latest judgment follows a November 2023 appeal by France’s Ministry of the Economy seeking to annul that earlier decision.
At the core of the dispute is the structure through which the Arnault family holds its stake in LVMH. Authorities have focused on a complex chain of ownership entities, ultimately linked to Pilinvest, a Belgium-based holding company. The case hinges on how these cross-border holdings were declared for French tax purposes.
LVMH had not issued a public comment at the time of reporting. The Arnaults retain the option to appeal the ruling before France’s Conseil d'État, the country’s highest administrative court. Such an appeal could set an important precedent for how French tax authorities assess international holding structures used by ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
