If the French Constitutional Council rejects a 75% tax on incomes over EUR 1 Million, what should it say about the effects of US double taxation on middle class people, and even people earning welfare and unemployment benefits? How would it see the heinous and excessive FBAR and FATCA non-compliance fines?
I have not yet found the written opinion of the Council, it would be interesting to see what arguments they use and if any of the language and rationales could be applied by analogy to our issues.
The Guardian: France’s constitutional council rejects 75% tax rate
I see no connections at all.
Incidently, in 1944 the marginal tax rate for high income individuals ($200,000+ per annum) in the US was 94 percent.
@Shrike Therefore unconstitutional, if I understand what the French Constitutional Council says.
It was a great headline but a bit misleading.
The conseil constitutionnel doesn’t have a problem with a 75% tax rate per se. What they object to is how it is being applied. The way the law is written defies an important principle of l’égalité. Le Figaro explain it in this article:
http://www.lefigaro.fr/impots/2012/12/29/05003-20121229ARTFIG00302-le-conseil-constitutionnel-censure-l-impot-a-75.php
“Un ménage, dont chaque membre percevrait un revenu de 900.000 euros, se trouverait exempté, tandis qu’un autre, dont un seul membre gagnerait 1,2 million d’euros et l’autre rien, devrait l’acquitter. De quoi constituer «une rupture d’égalité au regard de la faculté contributive»”
A household in which each member has a revenue of 900,000 euros would be exempt (from the 75% solidarity tax) while another household with one member that makes 1.2 million Euros must pay it. This results in “unequal treatment with regard to the ability to pay.”
I think Hollande’s people blew it when they wrote the law. 🙂