6mo ago

The left-wing French coalition hoping to introduce 90% tax on rich

news.sky.com The left-wing French coalition hoping to introduce 90% tax on rich

Multiple parties are jockeying for position in the aftermath of France's seismic snap election. The leftist New Popular Front (NPF) insists its ideas should be implemented.

Multiple parties are jockeying for position in the aftermath of France's seismic snap election. The leftist New Popular Front (NPF) insists its ideas should be implemented.

France's left wing New Popular Front (NPF) - now the largest group in parliament - has called for a prime minister who will implement its ideas including a new wealth tax and petrol price controls.

The leftist alliance secured the most seats in the recent French elections but fell short of the 289 needed for a majority in the National Assembly, France's lower house of parliament.

President Emmanuel Macron's Together bloc came in second and Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) party finished third.

France's parties are now jockeying for position and it's unclear exactly how things will shake out, but the NPF has insisted it will implement its radical set of ideas.

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206 comments

Honestly, they should probably leave income alone and just double down on the wealth tax.
Wage-based taxation has always been an awkward way to target the rich.
I have very different feelings about someone from a poor background who went into massive debt to develop their skills and become a top earner vs. someone who inherited a fortune and doesn’t put any effort beyond checking their bank balance periodically.
Plus, there is the “won’t they just leave?” argument. Which is mostly FUD, but in the case where someone’s wealth is based on their skilled labor they do have a much easier time just leaving. If your wealth is from owning a portfolio of apartment buildings, good luck taking those with you.
- Does no one here understand how incone taxes work? The 90% rate is on annual income over €400,000. Average annual income in France was €41,000.
  
  I think the guy you're responding to is more talking about the distinction between income and capital gains, with income making up far less of the wealthy's worth than existing investments.
  But yes, a lot of people also have no concept of how tax brackets work.
  
  Right. Someone with a networth of many millions may only have a yearly income of $100k. Sometimes far less. Different tax systems can also have different definitions of income. Is inheritance income? Are growth stocks that you haven't cashed in yet income? Are stock dividends income? You can answer yes or no to any of these, but however you answer, you can still structure the tax system around those answers to come to an equitable arrangement.
  
  The end result is that basically no one will be subject to this tax bracket.
  It is high enough that everyone at that level will mainly get their real income from stock/loan which aren't salaries.
  Having this tax bracket or not having it is, basically the same for the super wealthy. The real method to tax them is through capital tax, not income.
- The moving part is very real for the ultra rich in Europe.
  
  In Norway they transfer their assets to their kids and send them to live in Switzerland for them.
  
  Yeah, it's not FUD.
  It's really gotta be a 100% tax (that is, a hard cap) or nothing. Wealth that slowly whittles away will tend to move elsewhere.
- I see fud used on a semi regular basis. It's fear uncertainty and doubt. And I don't think most people know that.
  
  I wasn't sure, but I was worried that's what it was
- If your wealth is from owning a portfolio of apartment buildings, good luck taking those with you.
  Sell it to a holding company incorporated abroad. Own shares of that holding company instead.
- but in the case where someone’s wealth is based on their skilled labor they do have a much easier time just leaving. If your wealth is from owning a portfolio of apartment buildings, good luck taking those with you.
  Nice one
- Wage-based taxation has always been an awkward way to target the rich.
  Is it wages or is it income? Income covers much more than wages, and in a good system one would account for everything without loopholes. A comprehensive income tax that catches everything would go pretty far.
  Wealth tax can be dicey, in theory. It would require a sell-off to actually have money that can be used to pay taxes, and the sell-off would change the value of the assets. For example, the S&P 500 is "worth" 46 billion dollars. That's more than twice the "money" that exists total, it's literally impossible to actually manifest all of that to dollars, so most of the "worth" cannot be "realized".

206 comments