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Europe French taxation
欧洲 法国税收
A bas les riches!
对富人的严厉打击
Francois Hollande remains intent on introducing a punishing top income-tax
弗朗索瓦·奥朗德继续致力推行严厉的富人税
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.
作为法国总统社会党候选人，弗朗索瓦·奥朗德承诺将高达75%富人税用于促进其所在左翼党派的名声，并摆脱来自共产党撑腰的竞争者的威胁。作为法国总统，奥朗德2013年预算的核心是税收改革。然而，12月29日，在税收政策实施前几天，宪法委员会驳回了这个一流的方案，认为此法案不符合宪法要求。
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.
奥朗德试图对委员会的评论置若罔闻。新年晚会的电视讲话上，他说道，最高税率将会重新调整，但不会改变它的目标。我们将要求最富的人缴纳更多的税率。总理埃侯（Jean-Marc Ayrault）补充道，这个富有争议的75%所得税会重修修订，并提交议会，仅在一年后实施。
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.
然而委员会的裁定暗示法国政府不是技术能力有限，就是政治上鬼鬼祟祟行动 。委员会拒绝此方案违背了家庭间财务公平的原则，这个原则是法国税收准则的奠基石。75%的税收适用于年收入超过100万欧元（130万美元）的个人，而不是整个家庭收入。所以说如果一个家庭中夫妻2人的年收入都是900,000欧元，将不会受到该政策的影响，而如果一个家庭中个人的年收入刚好超过100万欧元将会受到影响，即使他的另一半没有收入。
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.
这些技术专僚应该已经预测到了政策实施的这个障碍，但是一些评论员争议到75%的所得税有个更大的潜在的本质问题。委员会说道在裁定拒绝这个方案时，没有衡量其他违背税收的因素，比如税收可能有充公的因素。1789年的权力宣言中，税收必须根据按公民的收入比例征收。在最新的裁定时，关于其他税收问题，委员会认为说超额的税率侵犯了这个原则。
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.
奥朗德从未装腔作势说75%的所得税会提高很多资金，但是称赞这是一个象征性的方案。这样的方案可能会帮助他赢得选举，但也会带来长久的问题。
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.
委员会的裁定促使左翼党派的人高呼被欺骗了，他们担心富人会“出逃”，并且法国的香烟税、啤酒税以及其他基本物品的税收将会上涨。他们不需要担心。不管75%的富人税会不会实施，政府将向公司、资本收益、创造的财富、收入征收新的比例更高的税收。正是这些政策共同的影响促使法国影星杰拉尔·德帕迪约（Gerard Depardieu）离开法国，企业家们纷纷谴责政府是创造财富的梦魇。奥朗德75%富人税可能现在不会实施，但是这个象征性的危害已经造成了。翻译：杨芸祯
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