French Presidential Front-Runner Wants A 75 Percent Tax On The Rich

French Presidential candidate Francois Hollande, who is currently leading the incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy in opinion polls, has vowed to implement a 75 percent tax rate on any citizen earning over 1 million euros ($1.35 million) a year, after lamenting on the “considerable increase” in French corporate executives’ pay.

French Presidential candidate Francois Hollande, who is currently leading the incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy in opinion polls, has vowed to implement a 75 percent tax rate on any citizen earning over 1 million euros ($1.35 million) a year, after lamenting on the “considerable increase” in French corporate executives’ pay.

Speaking on French television late Monday, the socialist candidate promised to undo over 29 billion euros of tax breaks enacted by his rival over the last few years, and pledged to strive for “more fiscal justice” given the widespread resentment towards the super-rich in recent years.

“I’ve considered it and I am announcing here that above 1 million euros [a year] the tax rate should be 75 percent, because it is not possible to have this level of remuneration,” declared Hollande, as quoted by the Financial Times, during his appearance on a television programme on Monday night.

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The 57-year-old candidate then repeated his call on Tuesday when he described the tax rate as a “patriotic act.”

“It’s a signal that has been sent, a message of social cohesion, there is an effort to be made,” said Hollande, as cited by the BBC.

[quote]”It is patriotic to agree to pay a supplementary tax to get the country back on its feet.”[/quote]

But Hollande’s proposal has unsurprisingly been met with ridicule and shock from most of his rivals, with even his own advisers expressing surprise at Hollande’s sudden declaration.

“You’re questioning me about a proposal I haven’t heard of,” said Hollande’s budgetary affairs chief Jerome Cahuzac, who is also head of the National Assembly’s budget commission.

[quote]”This all gives the impression of improvisation… of amateurism that is quite worrying,” claimed Hollande’s main rival Nicolas Sarkozy, while on the campaign trail in Montpellier.[/quote]

Hollande “invents a new tax every week without ever proposing the smallest saving,” added French Budget Minister Valerie Pecresse.

France will vote in the first round of its presidential elections on April 22^nd, with Hollande, Sarkozy and far-right leader Marine Le Pen currently among the top three in the opinion polls. According to the Wall Street Journal, the top 1 percent taxpayers in France earn less than half on average what the top 1 percent in the US makes. The 0.01 percent of the richest French taxpayers, for instance, only had an average yearly revenue of 1.22 million euros.