From The Daily Mail:
France needs it's [sic] new lower tax on wealth in order to stem its exodus of millionaires, the country's Prime Minister has warned.
Edouard Philippe defended President Emmanuel Macrons' economic reforms, which have seen thousands take to the street this week, saying they are needed to make France attractive [to] the wealthy again...
The annual millionaire's migration report by New World Wealth found that around 10,000 millionaires left France for other countries in 2015...
France's wealth tax currently applies to personal assets of more than 1.3 million euros, but as of Macron's new budget, it will only apply to real estate. Any other forms of wealth, such as shareholdings, will be exempt as of 2018, the government announced this week.
Bravo! An annual recurring 'wealth tax' which only applies to land and buildings is pretty damn' close to Land Value Tax. And a general 'wealth tax' is a stupid idea for various reasons, not least the practicalities of it.
Caveat: it ought to apply to all land and buildings in France, however much or little it is worth, whoever own it and wherever they are tax resident. They can make this look more like a 'wealth tax' by introducing a personal annual exempt allowance for French residents. Admittedly, that is probably against EU law, so residents of other EU member states would also have to get the personal allowance as well. I once did this for real, and the higher charge for a UK resident was waived in the end.
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