French wealth tax (75%) to be 'strictly' implemented

[Odelay]

PARIS — A proposed 75-percent tax on income exceeding one million euros, a centrepiece of Francois Hollande's presidential campaign earlier this year, will be "strictly" implemented, France's finance minister told AFP on Friday.
"Any other interpretation is unfounded," Pierre Moscovici said in response to press reports that the measure was being watered down.
The president "made a very clear and strong commitment on very high earnings being imposed at 75 percent," the minister said.
"Technical modalities are in the process of being worked out. This commitment by the President of the Republic, will be strictly respected" in the 2013 budget which is set to be finalised later this month, he said.
French dailies Les Echos and Le Figaro reported on Thursday that the French government was looking to water down the campaign promise by raising the 75-percent tax rate threshold to two million euros for couples and excluding capital gains.




Should be interesting to see how this plays out. The people of France had to see this coming when they voted out the conservative Sarkozy and replaced him with the socialist Hollande. Will super rich Frenchmen flea the country for more favorable tax havens, like.... the USA?

[Stavros]

The largest population of foreign nationals living in the UK are from France, somewhere between 200-300,000. In addition the law in the UK and the Republic of Ireland means that wealthy foreigners can live virtually tax free:

...income tax responsibilities for non-domiciled individuals are limited to either those sums directly generated in the UK or Ireland and/or such sums remitted to the UK/Ireland from abroad. In other words, if there is an offshore holding vehicle to prevent direct remittances, such foreign income will remain free of all British/Irish tax (see British Inland Revenue Booklet 20 in respect of remittance payments to non-domiciled residents). The significance of such a tax system becomes clear when it is remembered, with the very notable exception of the United States, that virtually all other western countries tax their resident individuals, whether foreign or not, on the basis of their world-wide income. In the case of the United States, its citizens are prima facie liable to US taxes, subject to appropriate tax treaties, whether or not they are physically resident in the US, on sums over US$86,000.00.
http://www.scfgroup.com/VAT_and_Tax_Mitigation/How_I_can_reduce_my_personal_taxes_by_moving_to/

In Europe the alternatives are Monaco and Switzerland.

[Ben]

Interesting article about high taxes in the 1950s... which was a period of high growth and a burgeoning middle class. (But then circa 1973 the upper echelon of society, if you will -- ha ha! :), said: enough is enough; we want it all. So, you had lower growth rates, a shrinking middle class and inordinate wealth trickling to the top. The top today is about 0.01 percent of the populace... which have made staggering income gains in the last 30 or so years.)
A so-called functioning economy strongly hinges on demand. And that demand comes from a burgeoning middle class. Ain't great from an ecological standpoint but great for so-called growth and rising wages....

http://www.beggarscanbechoosers.com/2011/09/america-prospered-in-1950s-with-91.html

[Ben]

Ronald Reagan Myth Doesn't Square with Reality:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20030729-503544.html

[onmyknees]

I see where Johnny Deep who bad mouthed the US and left for greener pastures in France several years ago is frantically trying to find his way back. I guess 75% is a little hard to swallow

[hippifried]

Interesting article about high taxes in the 1950s... which was a period of high growth and a burgeoning middle class. (But then circa 1973 the upper echelon of society, if you will -- ha ha! :), said: enough is enough; we want it all. So, you had lower growth rates, a shrinking middle class and inordinate wealth trickling to the top. The top today is about 0.01 percent of the populace... which have made staggering income gains in the last 30 or so years.)
A so-called functioning economy strongly hinges on demand. And that demand comes from a burgeoning middle class. Ain't great from an ecological standpoint but great for so-called growth and rising wages....

http://www.beggarscanbechoosers.com/2011/09/america-prospered-in-1950s-with-91.html
Actually, it was 1971. August 15 to be exact. That was when the Bretton Woods treaty was unilaterally abrogated by executive fiat. By '72, we were in the throes of double digit inflation & unemployment at the same time. Hence, the term "stagflation" was coined. In '73, wages were frozen across the board. Again by executive fiat. That didn't help of course because wages have nothing to do with inflation. All the currency pegs were gone. This is artificial, & we've been putting up with it for over 41 years. I would venture that most of y'all have no memory of any of this today, but the purchasing power iof the dollar is about 7 or 8 cents compared to the day before the "Nixon shock", that brought a 25 year stable worldwide economic boom to a screeching halt overnight. The best we've ever done, fighting this artificial inflation, is to get it down to 2 or 3 percent during the worst recessions. That doesn't help because it's compounded. Kind of like mortgage interest, only backwards. Nobody's trying to fix it really, because it helps if you're up to your eyeballs in debt. The only way to really stop it would be to renegotiate a new treaty & repeg the world's currencies. Right now, they're all in decline. Every single one. The FOREX is where bets are placed on the rate of decline. There's no "up". Repegging would effectively shut that casino down & remove the incentive for forcing the continuous decline. The whole thing's a giant ripoff. Money's not a commodity.

[Queens Guy]

Interesting article about high taxes in the 1950s... which was a period of high growth and a burgeoning middle class. (But then circa 1973 the upper echelon of society, if you will -- ha ha! :), said: enough is enough; we want it all. So, you had lower growth rates, a shrinking middle class and inordinate wealth trickling to the top. The top today is about 0.01 percent of the populace... which have made staggering income gains in the last 30 or so years.)
A so-called functioning economy strongly hinges on demand. And that demand comes from a burgeoning middle class. Ain't great from an ecological standpoint but great for so-called growth and rising wages....

http://www.beggarscanbechoosers.com/2011/09/america-prospered-in-1950s-with-91.html


The 50's may not be the best example to use. European and Japanese industry was still recovering from World War II.

It wasn't just manufacturing and other infrastructure. So many young, healthy men were dead or severely injured. That has to be considered.

Also, paying taxes was considered 'patriotic' because WWII was a 'just' war. Paying off any war debt, funding the GI Bill to help educate veterans, and building up the military to help fight off or prepare to fight off the new threat to freedom from the Soviet Union, the new authoritarian on the block with dreams of concurring the World.

[Odelay]

I see where Johnny Deep who bad mouthed the US and left for greener pastures in France several years ago is frantically trying to find his way back. I guess 75% is a little hard to swallow

Johnny Deep? Is he like a gay porn star. I've never heard of him, but then I don't follow gay porn. I didn't know that was a genre OMK liked. But to each his own.

[trish]

Don't know this Deep fellow either, but I heard Romney has the same problem with the U.S. He loves the freedom here, but he doesn't want to help pay for it...so he keeps his money in the Caymans.

[robertlouis]

Don't know this Deep fellow either, but I heard Romney has the same problem with the U.S. He loves the freedom here, but he doesn't want to help pay for it...so he keeps his money in the Caymans.

.....and pays a net 13% on his income in the US and sponsors a program to keep it that way.

Hey, is that an example of him being CONSISTENT?

[Stavros]

The richest man in France, Bernard Arnault probably won't be emigrating to London; apprently he is trying hard to become...Belgian....