Taxes on some wealthy French top 100 pct of income: paper

Reuters ^ | 5/18/2013 | Leigh Thomas

[Beave Meister]

More than 8,000 French households' tax bills topped 100 percent of their income last year, the business newspaper Les Echos reported on Saturday, citing Finance Ministry data.

The newspaper said that the exceptionally high level of taxation was due to a one-off levy last year on 2011 incomes for households with assets of more than 1.3 million euros ($1.67 million).

President Francois Hollande's Socialist government imposed the tax surcharge last year, shortly after taking office, to offset the impact of a rebate scheme created by its conservative predecessor to cap an individual's overall taxation at 50 percent of income.

The government has been forced to redraft a proposed bill to levy a temporary 75 percent tax on earnings over 1 million euros, which had been one of Hollande's campaign pledges.

The Constitutional Council has judged such a high rate of taxation to be unfair, leaving the government to rehash it to hit companies rather than individuals.

Since then, a top administrative court has determined that a marginal tax rate higher than 66.66 percent on a single household risked being considered as confiscatory by the council.

Les Echos reported that nearly 12,000 households paid taxes last year worth more than 75 percent of their 2011 revenues due to the exceptional levy. ($1 = 0.7798 euros)

[Beave Meister]

Obama's wet dream....

[Proud2BeRight]

Sounds like a great way to motivate innovation, hard work, job creation and risk-taking for French entrepreneurs ........ in some other county after the best and brightest leave.

[muawiyah]

Depardieu, in retrospect, seems to be a very wise man. The Russian tax rates are far, far lower and the wealthy are respected by those who value talent.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Just implementing planks number one and two of the Communist Manifesto.

The Ten Planks of Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto
(and How Statists Implement Them)

1. Abolition of private property rights (via high property taxes, restrictive zoning laws, "fair housing" edicts, environmental and "wetlands" regulations, UN Agenda 21, etc.)

2. Institution of a heavily graduated income tax (by calling it "taxing the rich")

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance (through a confiscatory estate tax on "the rich")

4. Confiscation of the property of enemies of the state (through lawless application of asset forfeiture and eminent domain)

5. Centralization of credit into the hands of the state (Federal Reserve, Federal Trade Commission, TARP, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, federal takeover of student loans, etc.)

6. Centralization of the means of communication and transportation into the hands of the state (FCC, DOT, FEMA, NTSB, FAA, etc.).

7. Consolidation and subjugation of all major industries to central government control (FDA, EPA, OSHA, ICC, HUD, NLRB, EEOC, DOE, TSA etc.)

8. Mandatory labor union membership ("card check" to bypass employee consent, automatic withholding of union dues, forced unionization of health care workers, teachers, police, firefighters, etc.)

9. Equitable redistribution of all wealth (TANF, SSI, EITC, SNAP, Community Reinvestment Act, etc.)

10. Free public education (and food, housing, health care, cell phones, Internet access, etc.)

[NormsRevenge]

If Gargoyles really existed.. except on buildings

They'd be socialists too.

[GOP Poet]

Who would have thought that when Reagan helped put an end to the cold war that Russia would become a place of comparatively ‘safe’ retreat from government financial tyranny. While also a being place that was stricter about securing its country against terrorism versus the disregard of it as in the United States (under Barack Obama.)

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Beave Meister.

[RetiredTexasVet]

Last communist to try that here was FDR, but I think he was finally convinced to drop it down to 95% and the states and other agencies could go after the rest.

[Windflier]

"...a top administrative court has determined that a marginal tax rate higher than 66.66 percent on a single household risked being considered as confiscatory by the council."

No! Really? Don't they know that,

"At some point, you've made enough money." - Barack Obama

[muawiyah]

You did know that many more Christians than just the Roman Catholics prayed for Russia every Sunday ~ or at least one Sunday a month.

Guess everybody was on the right track ~ they were redeemable.