Better Than Bullets

François Holland has gotten court approval for a 75% tax on €1 million:

French President Francois Hollande received approval from the country’s constitutional court to proceed with his plan to tax salaries above 1 million euros at 75 percent for this year and next.

Under Hollande’s proposal, companies will have to pay a 50 percent duty on wages above 1 million euros ($1.4 million). In combination with other taxes and social charges, the rate will amount to 75 percent of salaries above the threshold, the court wrote in a decision published today.

“The companies that pay out remuneration above 1 million euros will, as expected, be called upon for an effort of solidarity on remuneration paid in 2013 and 2014,” the Economy Ministry said in an e-mailed statement.

………

A first proposal to put the change into law was turned down by the constitutional court in December last year because the tax applied to individuals and not households. The country’s top administrative court said any rate above 66 percent would be rejected as confiscatory.

Hollande revived the plan this year, making it apply to salaries and be paid by employers rather than individuals. The total amount is limited to 5 percent of a company’s revenue.

I'm not sure if "company's revenue" means total revenue (turnover) or profit (net revenue).

Hopefully the former.

€1 million is about $1.3 million, and I'm fine with that.  It's a sin tax, like those on alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, (in Colorado) and gambling.

If there is anything that the financial crisis shows, it is that excessive compensation is at least as corrosive as society as anything mentioned above.