Thread: France’s 75% tax rate gains approval by top court - High earners fleeing the country

France’s 75% tax rate gains approval by top court

BBC

December 28, 2013

French president François Hollande is a socialist. Credit: Matthieu Riegler via Wikipedia

France’s highest court has approved a 75% tax on high earners that is one of President Francois Hollande’s signature policies.The initial proposal to tax individual incomes was ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Council almost exactly one year ago.

But the government modified it to make employers liable for the 75% tax on salaries exceeding 1m euros (£830,000).

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This article was posted: Sunday, December 29, 2013 at 12:27 pm

http://www.infowars.com/frances-75-t...-by-top-court/

France's 75% tax rate gains approval by top court



Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of the top players bought in by wealthy owners at Paris Saint-Germain, who are currently top of Ligue 1

France's highest court has approved a 75% tax on high earners that is one of President Francois Hollande's signature policies.
The initial proposal to tax individual incomes was ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Council almost exactly one year ago.
But the government modified it to make employers liable for the 75% tax on salaries exceeding 1m euros (£830,000).
The levy will last two years, affecting income earned this year and in 2014.
Football clubs in France threatened to go on strike earlier this year over the issue, saying many of France's clubs are financially fragile and say the plans could spark an exodus of top players who are paid huge salaries.
The Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain has more than 10 players whose pay exceeds 1m euros, including the Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
There has also been a chorus of protest from businesses and wealthy individuals who have condemned the tax - including film star Gerard Depardieu, who left the country in protest.
Polls suggest a large majority in France back the temporary tax.
Unlike many other countries in Europe, France aims to bring down its huge public deficit by raising taxes as well as some spending cuts.
The highest tax rate in the UK is 45% and is applied to individuals.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25541739

French Constitutional Court Approves 75% Tax On High Earners

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/29/2013 11:57 -0500

Almost a year ago, the French constitutional court ruled against Francois Hollande's triumphal blast into socialist wealth redistribution, with his proposed 75% tax rate on high earners, and so indefinitely delayed the exodus of the bulk of French high earners (even if some, like Obelix, aka Gerard Depardieu, promptly made their way to the country that has become the land of solace for all oppressed people everywhere, Russia) into more tax-hospitable climes. That delay is now over, when earlier today the same court approved a 75% tax on all those earning over €1 million. The proposal passed after the government modified it to make employers liable for the 75% tax. As BBC reports, the levy will last two years, affecting income earned this year and in 2014.

Bloomberg has the details of the tax hike:

Under Hollande’s proposal, companies will have to pay a 50 percent duty on wages above 1 million euros ($1.4 million). In combination with other taxes and social charges, the rate will amount to 75 percent of salaries above the threshold, the court wrote in a decision published today.

“The companies that pay out remuneration above 1 million euros will, as expected, be called upon for an effort of solidarity on remuneration paid in 2013 and 2014,” the Economy Ministry said in an e-mailed statement.

Hollande, who once said he “didn’t like” the rich, announced the 75 percent tax in February 2012 as part of his presidential campaign to appeal to his Socialist base. It has become a symbol of his government’s record-high taxation rate.

And with the tax passage, the preparations for an exodus by all high earnings begin, first among the local football teams. BBC reports:

Football clubs in France went on strike earlier this year over the issue, saying many of France's clubs are financially fragile and say the plans could spark an exodus of top players who are paid huge salaries.

The Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain has more than 10 players whose pay exceeds 1m euros, including the Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

There has also been a chorus of protest from businesses and wealthy individuals who have condemned the tax - including film star Gerard Depardieu, who left the country in protest.

Polls suggest a large majority in France back the temporary tax.

Unlike many other countries in Europe, France aims to bring down its huge public deficit by raising taxes as well as some spending cuts. The highest tax rate in the UK is 45% and is applied to individuals.

While the numerous unintended consequences of this shock and awe tax hike will be amusing to watch in real time as this move will almost certainly be the long-awaited catalyst to push France into its long-predicted recession (to the benefit of countries like Belgium where the French uber-rich are already relocating to), one wonders if the drop in the value of French ultra-high end real estate will be offset by the soaring valuations of London's already "beyond housing bubble" home prices, and just what the local response will be now that domestic real estate is even more inaccessible to anyone but the wealthiest global oligarchs and billionaires (aside from the capital gains tax of course, which as we wrote previously, is about to be launched first in London, and then everywhere else).

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-1...x-high-earners

France Wants To Tax YouTube And Facebook Videos

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2013 15:02 -0500

In order to finance the "culture industries' digital transition," France's Culture Ministry believes Facebook and YouTube should be included in the so-called "Culture Tax" that movie theaters and broadcasters currently pay. The argument is that these sites have become "professional" content providers of video-on-demand serives. But, not content in taxing our leisure time, Bloomberg Businessweek reports the French are considering taxing individual use of smartphones, tablets, and other electronic devices capable of accessing movies, music, or other media content. A "painless" 1% sales tax imposed on these items is expected to raise EUR 86 million annnually.

Via Bloomberg Businessweek,

In a report this week, the Superior Audiovisual Council (CSA) says that video-sharing websites should be subject to a tax that helps finance the production of French films and TV shows.

The so-called culture tax, totaling more than €1.3 billion ($1.8 billion) annually, is paid by movie theaters, broadcasters, and Internet service providers in France. The CSA contends that YouTube (GOOG), French video-sharing site DailyMotion, and their ilk are effectively providing video-on-demand services, which are already subject to the tax.

Although the CSA report says that videos posted online by private individuals should not be subject to taxation, it contends that video-sharing sites increasingly have become “professional” content providers.
...
Separately, France is considering a tax on smartphones, tablets, and other devices as another source of revenue for cultural subsidies. A government-commissioned report, released in May, said that a sales tax of 1 percent should be imposed on electronic devices capable of accessing movies, music, and other content. The proposed tax would raise an estimated €86 million annually that would be used to finance the “cultural industries’ digital transition,” France’s Culture Ministry said at the time.

Trade associations for French Internet and technology companies spoke out against the proposal, which the government has not yet acted on. Rejecting the government’s assertion that a 1 percent tax would be “painless,” the groups warned in a statement in July that the government should be encouraging growth of the digital economy, rather than taxing it.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-1...acebook-videos