France Taxes

France, facing a social security deficit of $4 billion, announced a series of temporary taxes on salaries, capital and real estate investments that the government said would raise $3.55 billion. Premier Jacques Chirac released a statement Friday night detailing the government's plans after the evening television news programs and at mid-point of a holiday weekend. The announcement was timed to attract minimal media attention and released after the stock exchange had closed.

Has French President Francois Hollande's regime of fiscal austerity -- cutting spending and raising taxes on rich people -- gone too far with France's "Nutella tax"? On Wednesday, France's Senate approved a so-called Nutella amendment in an effort to encourage eating more healthfully. The government plans to quadruple taxes on products containing palm oil, an ingredient in the creamy hazelnut-chocolate spread that the French slather on toast, smear on crepes or eat by the spoonful.

In its most important decision since taking office last month, France's left-wing government announced Monday that it will slap new tax surcharges on big business to help plug a widening budget deficit and qualify for the single European currency next year. Under the $5.3-billion deficit-reduction package, government spending will also be cut by $1.7 billion, including the reduction of $330 million in credits earmarked for the Ministry of Defense.

PARIS - To mixed reaction, France's Socialist government unveiled a get-tough budget Friday that contains $25.8 billion in tax increases and a "supertax" rate of 75% on those earning more than $1.29 million a year. Critics said it would make France unattractive to "top talent" entrepreneurs and business leaders; supporters described it as fair and constructive. The hardest hit will be major businesses and the rich, as President Francois Hollande stuck to his May election pledge to introduce the new "supertax" rate on the nation's wealthiest citizens, applying to about 2,000 to 3,000 people.

France Raises Value-Added Tax: The two-percentage-point increase brings that country's value-added tax to 20.6%, making it one of the European Union's highest. The move is part of the new government's efforts to cut public debt and deficits. Only food and cultural goods--from circus tickets to books--will continue to be taxed at the lower 5.6% rate.

In American terms, it's as if Uncle Sam had fled to Castro's Cuba to escape the IRS. Enter any of the 36,000 town or city halls in France and you'll find a bust of Marianne, the embodiment of France and its republican virtues. In the past, screen beauties such as Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve served as the models. Last October, a 21-year-old cover girl and actress from Corsica, Laetitia Casta, was chosen to personify the next generation of Mariannes to be cast in bronze.

PARIS - To mixed reaction, France's Socialist government unveiled a get-tough budget Friday that contains $25.8 billion in tax increases and a "supertax" rate of 75% on those earning more than $1.29 million a year. Critics said it would make France unattractive to "top talent" entrepreneurs and business leaders; supporters described it as fair and constructive. The hardest hit will be major businesses and the rich, as President Francois Hollande stuck to his May election pledge to introduce the new "supertax" rate on the nation's wealthiest citizens, applying to about 2,000 to 3,000 people.

Has French President Francois Hollande's regime of fiscal austerity -- cutting spending and raising taxes on rich people -- gone too far with France's "Nutella tax"? On Wednesday, France's Senate approved a so-called Nutella amendment in an effort to encourage eating more healthfully. The government plans to quadruple taxes on products containing palm oil, an ingredient in the creamy hazelnut-chocolate spread that the French slather on toast, smear on crepes or eat by the spoonful.

The French government is mulling a so-called Google tax that it said would help level the playing field between Internet portals that offer free content and the music, film and publishing industries that lost revenue partly because of it. "The world of culture is not only turned upside-down but profoundly threatened by the development of the Internet, and we hope that our action doesn't intervene too late," music producer Patrick Zelnik told the...

PARIS - France and Germany have launched a series of raids on the offices and homes of bank officials and their wealthy customers in an ongoing inquiry aimed at cracking down on those who evade taxes by using Swiss banks. On Tuesday, German police searched the homes of an unspecified number of Credit Suisse bank customers suspected of tax evasion. In France, detectives raided the offices of Swiss banking and finance house UBS in three major cities: Lyon, Bordeaux and Strasbourg.

PARIS - France and Germany have launched a series of raids on the offices and homes of bank officials and their wealthy customers in an ongoing inquiry aimed at cracking down on those who evade taxes by using Swiss banks. On Tuesday, German police searched the homes of an unspecified number of Credit Suisse bank customers suspected of tax evasion. In France, detectives raided the offices of Swiss banking and finance house UBS in three major cities: Lyon, Bordeaux and Strasbourg.

The French government is mulling a so-called Google tax that it said would help level the playing field between Internet portals that offer free content and the music, film and publishing industries that lost revenue partly because of it. "The world of culture is not only turned upside-down but profoundly threatened by the development of the Internet, and we hope that our action doesn't intervene too late," music producer Patrick Zelnik told the...

In American terms, it's as if Uncle Sam had fled to Castro's Cuba to escape the IRS. Enter any of the 36,000 town or city halls in France and you'll find a bust of Marianne, the embodiment of France and its republican virtues. In the past, screen beauties such as Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve served as the models. Last October, a 21-year-old cover girl and actress from Corsica, Laetitia Casta, was chosen to personify the next generation of Mariannes to be cast in bronze.

In its most important decision since taking office last month, France's left-wing government announced Monday that it will slap new tax surcharges on big business to help plug a widening budget deficit and qualify for the single European currency next year. Under the $5.3-billion deficit-reduction package, government spending will also be cut by $1.7 billion, including the reduction of $330 million in credits earmarked for the Ministry of Defense.

France Raises Value-Added Tax: The two-percentage-point increase brings that country's value-added tax to 20.6%, making it one of the European Union's highest. The move is part of the new government's efforts to cut public debt and deficits. Only food and cultural goods--from circus tickets to books--will continue to be taxed at the lower 5.6% rate.

France, facing a social security deficit of $4 billion, announced a series of temporary taxes on salaries, capital and real estate investments that the government said would raise $3.55 billion. Premier Jacques Chirac released a statement Friday night detailing the government's plans after the evening television news programs and at mid-point of a holiday weekend. The announcement was timed to attract minimal media attention and released after the stock exchange had closed.

Ashley Jensen, who plays wardrobe mistress-seamstress Christina McKinney in the ABC sitcom "Ugly Betty," and her husband, actor Terence Beesley, have sewn up a deal to buy a house in Los Feliz for close to $1.7 million. The British couple, who met in London while appearing in a production of "King Lear," were married in Big Sur in January in a ceremony attended only by a minister and their dog, Barney, who served as ring bearer.

From the country that introduced Americans to fahrvergnuegen, German for driving pleasure, comes another tongue-twisting emotion in these trying times of sky-high gas prices: schadenfreude--happiness at someone else's misfortune. U.S. drivers who have been fuming about fill-ups costing $1.75 a gallon should take a moment to smugly ponder the plight of Germans and other Europeans who are shelling out $4 to $5.75 for the same amount of unleaded.