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French Constitutional Court Approves 75% Tax On High Earners
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).
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If you think about it you are paid in FRNs which have no value, so where's the taxable event?
Taxprotester nonesense. The 16th gave Congress no new powers of taxation and did NOT authorize an indirect excise on the wage. The WAGE became the object of excise through the passage of the Social Security Act. That ACT that was among other things, a revenue measure, created a PRIVILEGE via State federal cooperation. Those that applied now being entitled to what the courts would classify as extraordinary protections paid for with money from the public treasury.
Another problem. Before the SS Act, INCOME was defined as profit and gain by the courts. Impossible to argue against that fact. It was an EXCISE. An idirect tax targeting a PRIVILEGE severable from the property itself. THINK about Corporate profits. THEN came the SS Act. YOU had to make voluntary application for the number in order to enter the system. Once in, the legal defenition of INCOME became whatever Congress said it is. Wage income, tip income, barter income, gift income. GET IT??? The tax on that Income was and is STILL an excise on the PRIVILEGE. Simply, an addition privilege was created.
Do you people somehow think entitlements fall under the defenition of natural or fundamental rights?
And since the issue here is amount. Then be advised. YOU waived constitutional/judicial proterctions of CONTRACT and PROPERTY in exchange for the protections created within the system. And now that your WAGE is a proper object of an indirect excise, the courts of law and equity are barred under the doctrine of separation of powers from interfereing with the amount of privilege tax imposed. In other words, the feds can tax 100% of what you earn and leave you with nothing except a handful of so called entitlements that can be modified or taken away at the will of the legislative body that created them.
30 years and over 60,000 hours of research in this and other subject matters involving constitutional law. Every sentence above can be backed up with mountains of existing case law.
Take your best shot.
three hour lunches and 30 hour work weeks for everyone!!!!!
weeeeeeee!!!!!!
Here's one French man with a problem!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39X4sXc0Ubc
Long Uhaul offices in France
How can one claim to be "free" if 75% of your income goes to taxes. Tax increases are simply slow motion moves toward servitude.
I agree with Hollande's 75% tax.
It is a sure fire way of putting another nail in his government's future.
Hey Hollande, hey about a 75% death duty?
Or is that going to be too painful even for you?
I'm certain there will be an exodus tax waiting in the wings, likely will be retro-active so as to hook as many of those leaving as possible.
dupe. derp.
I did a little research on French capital controls today.
Until September 2011, French citizens could easily buy and sell gold coins and bars in person with cash, but this is now forbidden. They can only legally buy precious metals by trade mail, check, and wire transfer or be fined some €1,500/oz. On May 23rd, 2013, they made it illegal to send all forms of currency - cash, precious metals, and jewelry by mail anywhere.
Exit-tax laws in France up until this month, anyhow, were that taxpayers with wealth in excess of EUR1.3m, electing to transfer their fiscal residence abroad, were subject to a tax on latent capital gains crystallized at the time of their departure, if they cede the assets within eight years. Early this month the French National Assembly voted to lower the amount to EUR800,000 and bump it to 15 years following expatriation.
Good start - now add in capital gains taxed as regular income and we're getting somewhere-
As it is these rich folk have already gamed the system where they get tax breaks for outsourcing decent jobs - pay a lower tax rare than those that actually create true Economic Value and bribe the damn kleptocratic politicians into rewriting laws to benefit them soley and exempt them from all the laws the Muppets have to follow.
Besides talking about Only income taxes is a charade - add in all the only fees and taxes and the rich should quit CRYING -
It's quite pathetic -
Eat the Rich Freeloaders
Making rich people, less rich or even poor will not do a damned thing to help poor people become less poor. All that will happen is the govvernment will get some money from a few people and that money wlll find it's way into the bottomless pit, the money grab that is the government and will never actually find it's way to the poor folks. This is a stupid way to govern. What will end up happening is the company will pass added expenses on to their customers or lay off a few lower leverl, less important employees. Not sure how that helps anyone. Good luck with that. I think it is safe to say that Governments are the greediest, slimiest pigs this side of Wall Street banksters but too many people are too blind to see it and believe in some government fairy dust.
Punitive governing via economic jealousy and or trying to create fake economic parity fails 100% of the time.
Funny but it worked in America for decades -
And it's better to allow a small fraction of the working population to gather upwards if 100% in any GDP increase?
Which they then use their illicit gains to Furthur bribe our politicians?
And to allow these ultra wealthy to pay a lower Overall Tax Rate than the working stiff?
Sorry not buying it -
The French they are a funny race ...
Will anyone be surprised if exactly nobody qualifies for the new tax, and total tax revenues drop 20% or more?
Well they learned it from FDR. Marginal tax rates in USA were about the same, even 90% ...Upto Carter days!
Imagine that; you Amerkans have such SHORT memories...Reagan changed all that!
Quick. Reinscribe the Statute of Liberty to read:
"Give me your active and rich huddled billionaires yearning to be free (of taxes)."
HAHAHAHA
The Greeks thought they were fucked.
TWO more years, two more years...
Meanwhile François goes to Saud land to sell moar weapons and nuclear reactors...Syrian heroic gesture he hopes was not in vain.
There was a man called Mollet who believed in universal rights of man but received tomatoes on his head in Algeria and then he sang : we have to teach these Algerians we are tall...not small, and that began the Algerian war; and of course he forgot about human rights. Thats part of being a social....IST.
François came to power singing before election : the world financial oligarchy is My ENEMY.
Now having been ELECTED, he sings I'll do anything to create a rapport with those who have money (like the Sauds), 'cos I have none -- (I'm shocked as State and those french banks are TRIPLE HOCKED, I'm really shocked, shocked I tell you! Sarko hid that from me; now Mutti owns me)-- and I swore to reduce unemployment in France; My future DEPENDS on it...
So the future is to crawl on all fours...President and all.
But where does that crawling take you? TO CAR? TO SAud now bubbling cauldron ? Nirvana is not of this world; except for Mutti!
Oh, the humiliation of being second grade material when we have wines and cheeses to make the world green with envy.
So when is the next train to gun hill?
Spiking radiation in Kauai
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2013/12/kauai-reporting-huge-radiation-spikes.html
Why fuck around with just 75%; as we all kinow, you want it all. And then they profess utter Claude-Rains-Casablanca shock when the money leaves for the Carribbean in about 2 nano-seconds after it becomes official.
http://vegasxau.blogspot.com
The one country on the road to freedom, the rest are well off to debtors prisons and debt peonage under auspices of their neo-Feudal masters. Look at at all comments by morons that think that even a penny of looted wealth goes to help the economy-it goes to buy boots to kick you in the head, morons.
US had a tax rate of 90% from 1930s to 1960s and had high economic growth rate as well as REAL prosperity for the middle-class until Kennedy lowered taxes. In less than decade US was technically bankrupt and went off the gold-standard.
and the rate applied to literally a handful of people. Nonetheless, it is evil.
EXECUTION BY HUNGER; THE HIDDEN HOLOCAUST by Miron Dolot
Be careful what you wish for!
As if I should care? Fuck em.
I know, isn't it great!
France is #8 in number of millionaires worldwide. Pretty high for such a small country
Military adventurism is expensive, franchute. But you knew that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGJSN5CgYoY
Nice Roscoe in butt pic.