The big United European Union? (Unless you are French of course

[youngmafbog]

Seems that our good neighbours may be setting a precident by taxing foregn home owners (Including other Europeans).

If that is the case I suggest the UK also adots a similar approach and taxes ALL foreigners at 60% (70% for the French) on their income and refuses to pay any benefits to anyone not British and the same for the NHS.

Afterall what is sauce for the goose etc ..

And, before the liberal left jump up and down too much lets not forget this idea is a French lefty idea.

[shoota]

This was suggested last year and subsequently shelved - have you any knowledge of it being re-introduced?

[MoonRocker]

the French are correct, we should emulate them.

[AliceTickband]

I wish we could be more like the French and say 'chuff off' to any part of EU balderdash they don't agree with, but ideal would be for UK to 'chuff off' to the EU itself!

[emmie]

just leave, i know that may be difficult if one has settled there, but if the new President wants to play silly buggers, then up sticks and find somewhere else.

[New Judge]

Yes it has reared its ugly head again, shoota:

http://www.telegraph....unconstitutional.html

It was shelved before because it was deemed unlawful. You would have thought M. Hollande knew this.

Not too easy to up sticks if you are permanently resident, em, especially if you need to sell to buy somewhere else.

[emmie]

NJ, i know, but confess that the man is a twit, and an even worse candidate than Sarkhozy, he has said that anyone who earns over 800k, a not inconsiderable sum will have to pay 75 percent tax, that will set the cat amongst the pigeons, and they will fly the nest and leave him and his policies up the creek.

[FredPuli43]

The French used to adopt a curiously generous attitude to 'second homes' owned by foreigners. They didn't tax capital gains on the sale of such properties, reasoning, no doubt, that a French citizen would not pay a capital gains tax on his own, one, home in France. They do now, but the tax is set against British tax , by a taxation agreement between our two countries.

The French already have a wealth tax, an annual levy on large assets privately held by those citizens who are tax resident in France.

But this 'new' idea is not going to get anywhere, though it sounds good to the new President's supporters.

[emmie]

isn't he a socialist, with designs on the wealthy, no matter where they come from

[bazwillrun]

"he has said that anyone who earns over 800k, a not inconsiderable sum will have to pay 75 percent tax, "

the bloke must be a phucking idiot if he thinks people will tolerate that, even the most ideological socialist leftie wouldnt stand for it

[emmie]

baz, it was in his manifesto or what passes for it in France.
Don't forget the good/bad old days when our well off paid a small fortune in tax, it's what led to many departing these shores. I forget the top rate but 90 percent comes to mind. I would have to look it up..

[emmie]

here you go

http://www.bbc.co.uk/...world-europe-17189739

[pdq1]

This is in revenge for Cameron in suggesting that rich french people should move and set up sticks here after imposing a 75% income tax rate on individuals.

[bazwillrun]

"it was in his manifesto or what passes for it in France"

and since when do governments actually do what they say in a manifesto that gets them voted into office

just like here in the uk when there was a 90% tax rate, people move shop and take their money with them.

Nobody in their right mind should or would pay at those sort of levels

[bazwillrun]

one of the comments from the above bbc link

"If a person is smart enough to earn a million euros, he/she would be smart enough to live elsewhere too!"

too true

[emmie]

that is why if you punish people via massively high tax, they take their loot elsewhere, thus depriving the exchequer of revenue.

[FredPuli43]

When Harold Wilson was Prime Minister, the top rate of income tax was 83 per cent.But it could be as high as 98 per cent because the government imposed an extra levy of 15 per cent on 'unearned income', meaning investment and dividend income. That was in 1974. The top rate was for income over £20,000, roughly £155, 000 now.

The result was a) that people left the country, to become tax exiles, or just took employment abroad. It was income that was targetted, and therefore moving the generator of that income, the taxpayer, was not very difficult.
b) people took advantage of company law, to get companies they controlled or were directors of to supply them with what they would otherwise have paid for out of income. With care taken, these benefits escaped being classified as income.
c) they relied on capital gains. Throughout the Labour governments of the 60s and 70s, capital gains were not heavily taxed. At one time, as I recall, capital gains were tax free unless the gain was made within 6 months of the acquisition. That measure was introduced to stop speculators (!)

There were, in consequence, a great number of people whose declared income, though quite large for the time, mysteriously fell just short of the highest rate bands, when it had been well within them before.

Did it work and bring benefits to the country? No. But it made the Left happy and pleased accountants and tax advisers.