(Image Source: The First Post)

BY EMOKE BEBIAK

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Who wants to pay higher taxes to help save their government? Well, the richest people in France are quite willing. In fact, they asked for it this week in an open letter. According to the The Wall Street Journal, 16 wealthy citizens signed a petition saying,

“We, … wealthy citizens, call for an exceptional levy that would target France's richest taxpayers. This exceptional tax should be calculated in a reasonable way and designed so as to avoid undesirable effects, such as capital outflows and an increase in tax evasion.”

Among the petitioners were L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt and Air France-KLM CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta. The petition came as France was trying to lay out an austerity plan to avoid losing its AAA credit rating.

An analyst for BBC News explains the gesture may not be as selfless as it seems...

“It is unusual, isn’t it? I guess from their point of view it is probably in their own interest to see that the country is really remaining healthy and doesn’t become entangled in crises...”

Regardless, the French government heard the cry of their wealthy citizens. On Wednesday, France unveiled an austerity plan including a 3% tax hike for those making more than $700,000 a year. But a blogger for Time points out the rich got so many tax breaks in the previous years that the 3% hike won’t help much in the government’s goal to cut $17 billion from its budget...

“... Sarkozy-sponsored tax breaks the rich enjoy worth $2.2 billion to $2.8 billion annually will in no way be compensated by the estimated $280 million in receipts that Fillon's 3% charge will bring in—for as long as it lasts.”

Interestingly, France’s tax musketeers issued their petition a week after Warren Buffet’s similar plea in The New York Times calling for higher taxes for wealthy Americans.

The tax increase for the wealthy in France is temporary--the rate is expected to go down in a few years once the country is in better financial shape.

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