Top French court approves 75% tax rate for millionaires

GlobalPost

A top French court has approved a controversial new tax hike that would see those making over one million euros ($1.4 million) taxed at a rate of 75 percent.

France's president Francois Hollande's plan includes a proposal that companies will have to pay a 50 percent duty on wages above 1 million euros, which along with other charges, amounts to about 75 percent in taxes.

The law was announced in February 2012 as part of the Socialist president's campaign.

The first proposal for the law was rejected by the constitutional court as being "confiscatory."

Hollande revamped the plan, focusing the tax on salaries and to be paid by employers rather than individuals.

It is limited to 5 percent of a company’s revenue.

The constitutional court was called to examine the issue after 60 members of the national assembly and another 60 senators voiced their opposition to the plan.

The tax will apply to incomes paid this year and in 2014.

The law has many of France's wealthy business people and celebrities up in arms and threatening to leave the country for Switzerland, Belgium and the UK.

French actor Gerard Depardieu was the first high profile French person to seek citizenship abroad to avoid high taxes.

Even former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has reportedly looked at moving to London in the face of the tax.

Hollande is one of the least popular presidents in recent French history, mostly for his handling of the economy.

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