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France allows 'millionaire's tax'

December 29, 2013

France's Constitutional Council has approved Francois Hollande's 'millionaire’s tax.' The tax will be levied on companies paying salaries of more than 1 million euros a year.

https://p.dw.com/p/1AiFD
Conseil constitutionnel französisches Verfassungsgericht
Image: AFP/Getty Images

French President Francois Hollande's high income super-tax has finally been approved after the country's highest court upheld the latest version of the law.

Hollande originally promised a 75-percent tax on income over 1 million euros ($1.38 million) on parts of an individual's income which exceeds that amount. The Constitutional Council rejected this, saying 66-percent was the legally permissible maximum for individuals.

The measure, introduced after Hollande's campaign promise to do more to make France fairer for the middle class, has infuriated business leaders and soccer clubs, which have in the past threatened to go on strike should the law be enforced.

The levy has since been re-worked to include companies instead of individuals to the pay the tax, angering entrepreneurs.

The Council ruled that the tax will now include a 50-percent levy on the portion of wages exceeding 1 million euros paid in 2013 and 2014.

The Constitutional Council is made up of former French presidents and judges.

jlw/rc (AP, Reuters)