PARIS: France’s President Francois Hollande is quietly letting his nation’s 75% tax rate on high incomes expire as the year ends. The measure raised very little revenue, but aptly expressed the envy and hatred for the rich that animates many on the left. In fact, Hollande campaigned on the measure to punish the successful. Hannah Murphy and Mark John of Reuters write:
Hollande first floated the 75-percent super-tax on earnings over 1 million euros ($1.2 million) a year in his 2012 campaign to oust his conservative rival Nicolas Sarkozy. It fired up left-wing voters and helped him unseat the incumbent.
