The news out of France just never ceases to amaze. In December, the government there announced a plan to tax the very rich at 75%. 75%! It got a lot of press because an actor, Gerard Depardieu, decided to renounce his citizenship and leave the country to avoid the tax. Fortunately, the French courts threw out that proposal, but now the French President, Francois Hollande, has come up with a workaround. Instead of taxing individuals, he’s now proposing a 75% payroll tax that companies would have to pay for any employee with a salary of more than €1 million.
Unbelievably, the AP story reports,
While the president reiterated his goal of stopping the rise of unemployment this year and restarting growth, he offered no specific new economic policies.
and then goes on to note that
…some may wonder if adding another tax on companies as he is trying to encourage growth is the right message to be sending.
Yeah, I’d say it’s definitely not the right message.
