French court rules thumbs down for wealth tax

In a surprising update on France’s tax hike for the ultra-rich, France’s highest court has thrown out the controversial plan to tax the wealthy at a rate of 75 per cent, saying it was unfair.

In a further blow for the embattled French president, Francois Holland, the constitutional council found that the way the tax was designed was “legally unconstitutional’’.

Although the tax would have applied to only a small number of taxpayers with incomes more than $1.32 million, the threat of the wealth tax had led to an exodus from France to Switzerland, Belgium and even Britain by many wealthy French families.

High profile actor Gerard Depardeau made a much-publicised move to Belgium renouncing his French citizenship and handing back his French passport in a rejection of the tax.

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