No New Taxes

France's Top Tax Rate Nixed

Would have raised taxes on top earners to 75 percent.

Guess France has its own version of Grover Norquist. France's constitutional council ruled against a new tax rate for top earners on Saturday, citing "equality before public burdens.” The tax, which was a flagship policy of Socialist President François Hollande, introduced a top income tax rate of 75 percent for those earning over a million euros. But the policy angered the country's business community and its wealthiest citizens because it applied to individuals, not households: if one member of a household earned over the limit but another had no income, that household would fall under the tax, but if both members earned 900,000 euros individually, it would not. The council has also rejected all new methods for calculating such a tax.