Boy those French, they have a different word for everything.

[Coach McGuirk]

And the word for rich is screwed.

Delsol believed the combined effect of various tax rises would mean that some high-net-worth people could end up paying a marginal rate of 90.5% tax on certain income. For example a business leader who earns a salary of €2m received dividends and rental income from property. "It is exorbitant, confiscatory and scandalous," he said comparing the levels to "pre-Thatcher" Britain under Harold Wilson.

"Each time a country goes over a certain threshold of taxing the richest, the impact of that tax actually declines. The more you tax the rich, the less it brings in. This is because the rich adapt, they leave, transfer their money into capital, sell their affairs, work less, move. This is a punitive tax, not a productive tax," he said.

"It's not that France doesn't like the rich, it hates them. France is a paradox: it loves glitter yet hates money. It loves pop-stars and footballers who earn a lot, it loves reading celebrity magazines about wealthy aristocrats and their expensive weddings, while hating business people who earn a lot and whose income allows France to fund a welfare system unequalled elsewhere."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...e?CMP=SOCxx2I2

[wuapinmon]

90.5%? :yikes:

[Uncle Ted]

90.5%? :yikes:

That's nothing. The U.S. had a 94% marginal income tax rate at one time....

[EuropeanFootballMale]

If "Taxman" is reliable the Brits had a 95% marginal rate in the 60s

[wuapinmon]

That's nothing. The U.S. had a 94% marginal income tax rate at one time....

My dad told me once that my grandpa (an attorney who owned his own firm) took a pay cut in the mid-1960's, and his take home pay actually increased.

[Coach McGuirk]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/f...-Hollande.html

MEDEF, France’s equivalent of the CBI, said the threat has risen from “a storm warning to a hurricane warning”, adding that the Socialist government of François Hollande has yet to understand the “extreme gravity” of the crisis.

The immediate bone of contention is Article 6 of the new tax law, which raises the top rate of capital gains tax from 34.5pc to 62.2pc. This compares with 21pc in Spain, 26.4pc in Germany and 28pc in Britain.

[Moliere]

And the word for rich is screwed.

"It's not that France doesn't like the rich, it hates them. France is a paradox: it loves glitter yet hates money. It loves pop-stars and footballers who earn a lot, it loves reading celebrity magazines about wealthy aristocrats and their expensive weddings, while hating business people who earn a lot and whose income allows France to fund a welfare system unequalled elsewhere."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...e?CMP=SOCxx2I2

This quote is spot on, however in many ways the French just want to hate someone. It's as if they still long for the monarchy just so they can have a rich person to hate. Business men have simply replaced the old monarchs.

We had a French family over for dinner about two months ago (just after the election) and they were both upset at Hollande's victory. The thing about Europe is that it's much easier to move and protect wealth than it is in America. You are seeing many rich people move to Belgium or elsewhere to avoid the increase in taxes. The problem with these tax rates is that someone, somewhere is going to realize they can attract wealth by having lower national taxes, and since wealth is portable (for the most part) people will flock there and invest in those places.

[Portland Ute]

My dad told me once that my grandpa (an attorney who owned his own firm) took a pay cut in the mid-1960's, and his take home pay actually increased.

I don't know what the tax laws were back when this supposedly happened, but I would think that is completely untrue.

That is not how a graduated tax system works. Your grandfather was making the same amount of money from the "pay cut" money all along. Plus, he was making a smaller % on the money above the "pay cut" money.

You don't pay a higher % of ALL your money as you move up the brackets, you pay a higher % on the money that is within the higher brackets.

[wuapinmon]

I don't know what the tax laws were back when this supposedly happened, but I would think that is completely untrue.

That is not how a graduated tax system works. Your grandfather was making the same amount of money from the "pay cut" money all along. Plus, he was making a smaller % on the money above the "pay cut" money.

You don't pay a higher % of ALL your money as you move up the brackets, you pay a higher % on the money that is within the higher brackets.

You're probably right, as I doubt it's changed that much. I'm sure BYU71 remembers what it was. My dad was a bullshitter's bullshitter. He worked in exaggerations the way others might work in pastels or oils.

[FMCoug]

Well at least they are trying to make it so there will no longer be home grown rich.

http://www.france24.com/en/20121010-...-reform-france

[Sullyute]

My dad was a bullshitter's bullshitter. He worked in exaggerations the way others might work in pastels or oils.

That got a good laugh out of me. I don't know if it is a southern thing, just your personality, or a combo of both, but I have never met someone who expresses love for their family as much as you but still willing to call a spade a spade when needed. You are a great man.

[hostile]

That got a good laugh out of me. I don't know if it is a southern thing, just your personality, or a combo of both, but I have never met someone who expresses love for their family as much as you but still willing to call a spade a spade when needed. You are a great man.

More of a Midwestern thing, around Cleveland.