Every Saturday and Sunday, Nicolas Beytout, director of the newspaper "L'Opinion", gives his opinion on the news of the week.

You liked the influx of donations which, after the disaster of Notre-Dame de Paris, made it possible to raise nearly a billion euros in donations.

Yes, with spectacular gestures, those of the families and the richest companies of France, but also thousands of smaller donations, which have, tens of euros, after hundreds and sometimes thousands of euros, allowed very quickly of bring together nearly 150 million euros. All these gestures are the pride of a nation that has been able to mobilize at the height of what this magisterial cathedral represents, what it represents as a symbol of the roots of a people, its Christian history, its identity, but also its culture and its millennial know-how.

However, these donations quickly triggered a controversy

Yes, and even several. The first salvo of criticism targeted the importance of donations made by the richest families, Pinault, Arnault, Meyers-Bettencourt. A controversy on the theme: horror, these ultra-rich will benefit from tax deductions. It is still strange, this country where some hate the rich so much that a generosity of generosity on their part becomes a scandal. In short, if they give, it's "bastards of rich"; and if they had not given, it would have been "bastards of rich".

But there is this famous tax deduction of 66%.

It is true. So let's look at some figures: in France, donations represent 7 billion euros per year (a considerable sum, the French are a generous people). With the system of tax exemption, the State takes care of two-thirds, or about 4 billion. Remain 3 billion euros out of the pockets of individuals, rich and less wealthy. But above all, it means that the state, spending 4 billion in harvest 7.

It is a prodigious mechanism, a lever of incomparable power. So, we hear in the case of Notre-Dame "but all these rich will pay less taxes." But no, they will pay more. Imagine: you pay 1,000 euros in taxes, and you decide to give 100 euros for the reconstruction of Notre-Dame. The state will reimburse you 66%.

So 66 euros

So that in total you will have out of your pocket and paid to the state 1.034 euros (1.000 + 100-66). It's a bit like a social contract between the state and individuals, a kind of partnership, with a consent to tax. This is how to analyze this famous tax deduction.

Well, there's another controversy about the money we give to the cathedral and not the French in need.

Yes, but again, we must remember some figures. The state spends 45 billion euros each year on housing. The state and local authorities pay daily 100,000 hotel rooms for the poorly housed or homeless in the Ile-de-France alone. It's dizzying. So, this is never enough, and I understand the dismay of the Abbé Pierre Foundation, for example. They, too, live on the charity and generosity of the French. But it's always very complicated to compare misfortunes. And we just have to hope that this influx of donations will not cure other causes.

He is there, the real subject, for the future. Taxation of donations has been reduced for 2 years. This is a good opportunity to review it.