September 28, 2012

Perverse Results Guaranteed

France taxes rich and business to slash deficit


President Francois Hollande's Socialist government unveiled sharp tax hikes on business and the rich on Friday in a 2013 budget aimed at showing France has the fiscal rigor to remain at the core of the euro zone.
The package will recoup 30 billion euros ($39 billion) for the public purse with a goal of narrowing the deficit to 3.0 percent of national output next year from 4.5 percent this year - France's toughest single belt-tightening in 30 years.
Anyone want to take bets on the over/under of moneys actually collected by the new tax rates? I want the under, with a side bet on the rate of higher-income individuals moving out of French taxing jurisdiction.

UPDATE 10/07/12: Rich businessmen pulling out of France as tax-hit looms Yeah, who could've seen that coming?

UPDATE 10/16/12: French business erupts in fury against "disastrous" François Hollande
France is sliding into a grave economic crisis and risks a full-blown “hurricane” as investors flee rocketing tax rates, the country’s business federation has warned.