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今日主題：Europe French taxation-- A bas les riches! / 歐洲法國稅收--對富人的嚴厲打擊

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中英文稿：

Europe French taxation-- A bas les riches!

歐洲法國稅收--對富人的嚴厲打擊

Francois Hollande remains intent on introducing a punishing top income-tax

弗朗索瓦•奧朗德繼續致力推行嚴厲的富人稅

As Socialist candidate for the French presidency, Francois Hollande promised a 75% top income-tax rate in order to boost his left-wing credentials and see off a threat from a Communist-backed rival. As president, Mr Hollande made the tax a centrepiece of his 2013 budget. On December 29th, however, the Constitutional Council struck down this flagship measure just days before it was due to take effect, ruling it anti-constitutional.

作為法國總統社會黨候選人，弗朗索瓦•奧朗德承諾將高達75%富人稅用於促進其所在左翼黨派的名聲，並擺脫來自共產黨撐腰的競爭者的威脅。作為法國總統，奧朗德2013年預算的核心是稅收改革。然而，12月29日，在稅收政策實施前幾天，憲法委員會駁回了這個一流的方案，認為此法案不符合憲法要求。

Mr Hollande has tried to shrug off the council’s judgment. The top tax rate would be “restructured…without changing its objective”, he said in a televised address on New Year’s Eve. “We will always ask more from those who have the most.” The prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, added that the 75% tax rate would be delayed by only a year, after a revised version of the controversial measure is sent to parliament.

奧朗德試圖對委員會的評論置若罔聞。新年晚會的電視講話上，他說道，最高稅率將會重新調整，但不會改變它的目標。我們將要求最富的人繳納更多的稅率。總理埃侯（Jean-Marc Ayrault）補充道，這個富有爭議的75%所得稅會重修修訂，並提交議會，僅在一年後實施。

Yet the council’s ruling hints at either technical incompetence or political stealth. It rejected the measure for breaching the principle of fiscal equality between households, a cornerstone of France’s tax code. The 75% tax would have applied to individuals who earned over 1m euros ($1.3m) , rather than households. So a family in which two earners each took home 900,000 euro would not be touched, while another in which a single earner pocketed just over 1m euros would be, even if his partner earned nothing.

然而委員會的裁定暗示法國政府不是技術能力有限，就是政治上鬼鬼祟祟行動。委員會拒絕此方案違背了家庭間財務公平的原則，這個原則是法國稅收準則的奠基石。75%的稅收適用於年收入超過100萬歐元（130萬美元）的個人，而不是整個家庭收入。所以說如果一個家庭中夫妻2人的年收入都是900,000歐元，將不會受到該政策的影響，而如果一個家庭中個人的年收入剛好超過100萬歐元將會受到影響，即使他的另一半沒有收入。

The technocrats ought to have foreseen this obstacle, but several commentators have argued that there remains a bigger potential constitutional problem with the 75% tax rate. In its ruling, the council said that its rejection was made without examining “other grievances” against the tax, such as its possible “confiscatory character”. Under the 1789 declaration of rights, taxes must be levied on citizens “in proportion to their means”; in this latest ruling, on other tax matters, the council judged that an excessive tax rate breaches this principle.

這些技術專僚應該已經預測到了政策實施的這個障礙，但是一些評論員爭議到75%的所得稅有個更大的潛在的本質問題。委員會說道在裁定拒絕這個方案時，沒有衡量其他違背稅收的因素，比如稅收可能有充公的因素。1789年的權力宣言中，稅收必須根據按公民的收入比例徵收。在最新的裁定時，關於其他稅收問題，委員會認為說超額的稅率侵犯了這個原則。

Mr Hollande never pretended that the 75% tax rate would raise much cash, but hailed it as a “symbolic” measure. Such symbols may help to win elections, but they can bring lasting trouble.

奧朗德從未裝腔作勢說75%的所得稅會提高很多資金，但是稱讚這是一個象徵性的方案。這樣的方案可能會幫助他贏得選舉，但也會帶來長久的問題。

The council’s ruling has prompted cries of betrayal from those on the left who fear that the rich could now be let off, whereas taxes on cigarettes, beer and other basic items rise. They need not worry. Whatever the fate of the 75% tax rate, new and heavier taxes on companies, capital gains, wealth and income have not gone away. It is their combined impact that has prompted figures such as Gerard Depardieu, a French film star, to quit the country and entrepreneurs to denounce the government as hostile to wealth creation. Mr Hollande’s 75% rate may have been struck down for now, but the “symbolic” damage has been done.

委員會的裁定促使左翼黨派的人高呼被欺騙了，他們擔心富人會“出逃”，並且法國的香煙稅、啤酒稅以及其他基本物品的稅收將會上漲。他們不需要擔心。不管75%的富人稅會不會實施，政府將向公司、資本收益、創造的財富、收入徵收新的比例更高的稅收。正是這些政策共同的影響促使法國影星傑拉爾•德帕迪約（Gerard Depardieu）離開法國，企業家們紛紛譴責政府是創造財富的夢魘。奧朗德75%富人稅可能現在不會實施，但是這個象徵性的危害已經造成了。