Can you imagine working extremely hard for your salary, whether it is from entertaining millions or being a CEO of a business, and then giving three quarters of your pay-check to the government?
That is exactly what the government of France is attempting to do to the rich. If you are a citizen of France with an income of $1.28 million or more every year, your tax rate will be 75% regardless of what your household is like; and how you make your money: no exceptions. That means if you make exactly $1.28 million per year then you are really left with about $320,000 spending money.
It all started when the current president François Hollande promised to force the rich to contribute further to Frances economy. He proceeded to slowly unveil his plan regarding the tax rate and surprisingly his approval rating shot even lower. After the announcement it reached an all-time low of 37%.
Mr. Hollande’s bad luck did not end there. France’s top court has deemed the tax rate to be unconstitutional due to its failure in guaranteeing tax-payer equality. The government is now, after taking the court ruling into consideration, looking to revise the proposal to be fairer. Prime Minister Jean-Marc Aryault stated that they will “take note” of the court ruling and that they will “present a new proposal in line with the principles laid down by the constitutional court.”
Many French citizens who fit this economic standard of $1.28 million are currently looking to move out of the country due to this unreasonably high tax rate. People like billionaire Bernard Arnault are looking for citizenship elsewhere; he is applying for Belgian Nationality.
A similar case is that of cinema star Gerard Depardieu who is escaping from France “because you (French Government) consider success, creativity, talents, anything different are grounds for sanction.”
Although many claim it’s not a big deal, since only somewhere between 15,000-25,000 people are estimated to make the necessary income to fit the bill; and the vast majority are finding ways out of paying the tax. The previous top tax rate in France was only 46.7%; and when considering a sudden jump of 28.3%it is completely understandable for people to be outraged and deem this unconstitutional and incorrect.
