(Bloomberg) — France’s left-wing alliance would raise the top marginal income tax rate to 90% if it takes over the government after parliamentary elections that last through July 7.
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Eric Coquerel provided this figure in an interview on the Cnews television channel, saying that the New Popular Front’s proposal would receive the approval of the French courts and would not be considered confiscatory because it would only impact the highest part of a taxpayer’s income.
Although Coquerel, who chaired the National Assembly’s finance committee before its dissolution on June 9, did not specify at which level the 90% rate would apply, the plan was previously in the program of his far-left France Unbowed side. . In a budget amendment proposed in 2019, the top rate would apply to taxable income above €411,683 ($440,213).
The income tax rate in France is currently 45% on income above €177,106.
The New Popular Front is second in the polls in terms of voting intentions for the first round of parliamentary elections on June 30, behind the far-right National Rally and ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron’s party and its allies.
The last time a government tried to introduce a top income tax rate close to the level proposed by Coquerel – a plan for a 75% rate on incomes over 1 million euros – this was rejected by the French constitutional court rejected. That forced then-president Francois Hollande to convert it into a levy paid by companies on salaries above 1 million euros.
The tax introduced by Hollande, who is running for a parliamentary seat in the current parliamentary elections as a member of the New Popular Front, expired at the end of 2014.
On Friday, the left-wing alliance unveiled its plans to tackle the country’s economic challenges with a massive increase in taxes and government spending. The French business community has criticized the group’s economic programs and raised concerns about plans to raise the minimum wage, reintroduce taxes on the rich and capital and roll back Macron’s pension reform.
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