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Article: Wealth of the nation; French taxes.(France's finance minister takes controversial aim at the wealth tax)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- July 16, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Why plans to cut France's wealth tax are unlikely to succeed
IT HAS become a well-worn ritual. A politician suggests reforming France's wealth tax; the government dismisses the idea out of hand. So it was to some surprise that the proposal was made this week not by a maverick backbencher but by the finance minister, Thierry Breton.
In an interview with Le Figaro, Mr Breton declared that the tax had become "no longer a wealth tax, but simply yet another tax on the savings and housing of our fellow citizens, who are by no means all wealthy". Moreover, it was a "costly" tax, which "can be economically dangerous". The prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, ...