Le tax fairness

In other words, a household with two people earning a little under €1 million would not be subject to the tax, while an individual making even a dollar more than €1 million would have to pay. So while it is fair to take 75% of what someone earns, it isn’t fair unless the law confiscates 75% from all rich households equally. Come to think of it, that sort of social and economic leveling was the point of the French Revolution.

Alas, no government heads are likely to roll after the narrow ruling, which Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault quickly dismissed as a mere inconvenience on the road to true tax equity. He said the government will merely change some details to accommodate the ruling, and the “exceptional contribution,” as the 75% rate is known, will return to confiscate again. So in the end the court ruling may only mean that the 75% rate will apply to even more French citoyens than the 1,500 or so originally anticipated.