法国宪法委员会首度批准推行"富人税"

President François Hollande’s controversial 75 per cent marginal tax rate on high earners has finally been given the green light by France’s constitutional council, clearing the way for its imposition on salaries above 1m paid in 2013 and 2014.

法国总统弗朗索瓦•奥朗德(François Hollande)对高收入者征收75%边际税率的争议性提案终于获得法国宪法委员会的批准，这为法国在2013年和2014年向年薪超过100万欧元的雇员征税扫清了道路。

The council struck down the tax a year ago in a blow to Mr Hollande, who had made it a key proposal in his successful 2012 election campaign against former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

一年前，法国宪法委员会否决了上述税收提案，对奥朗德造成了打击。在2012年成功击败前总统尼古拉•萨科齐(Nicolas Sarkozy)的大选中，奥朗德将该提案作为一项关键的政策主张提出。

Despite strong protests from business leaders and others that the levy symbolised an excessively high tax regime that was driving many people into exile, Mr Hollande’s socialist government reformulated the tax to make it payable by companies or organisations paying salaries above 1m.

尽管商界领导人和其他人士表示强烈抗议，称它象征着税制过高，正促使许多人逃离法国，但奥朗德领导的社会党政府对提案做了修改，提出由企业或组织负责缴纳这项税收。

This got around the constitutional council’s objection that it was unconstitutional to levy it on individuals rather than on households, as is the norm for French income tax. The government balked at imposing it on households as that would have greatly widened the number of people hit by the tax.

这绕过了宪法委员会反对该提案的理由，即向个人而非家庭征收所得税是违宪的。法国以家庭为单位征收所得税。法国政府不愿对家庭开征这个税项，因为它将极大地扩大该税收影响的人群。

In a ruling published yesterday, the council said the reformulated tax “conforms with the constitution”. In its revamped form, employers will have to pay 50 per cent income tax on the portion of salaries they pay above 1m – other taxes and social charges will bring the effective rate up to 75 per cent. The tax, capped at 5 per cent of a company’s revenues, will apply for incomes paid this year and in 2014, before lapsing in 2015.

法国宪法委员会在昨日发布的裁决中表示，修订过的提案“符合宪法规定”。按照修订后的提案规定，雇主将为职员100万欧元以上部分的薪资缴纳50%所得税，再加上其他税收和各项社会费用，实际税率将达到75%。该税收最高占到企业收入的5%，将对企业在2013年和2014年支付的薪水征税，在2015年废止。

In practice, the tax amounts mainly to a political gesture intended to emphasise the extra contribution being made by the rich to help overcome the post-2008 financial crisis.

在实际运作中，该税收主要作为一种政治姿态，旨在强调富人应为帮助克服2008年后金融危机做出特别贡献。

It will raise only a few hundred million euros, including a significant proportion from football clubs paying high wages to their star players. Mr Hollande has said it was also intended to encourage companies to curb excessive executive pay. But it became a symbol for critics of the heavy increase in taxes imposed by Mr Hollande that has seen the overall tax burden rise to more than 46 per cent of gross domestic product, one of the highest levels among advanced economies.

该税收只会为法国政府带来数亿欧元的收入，其中一大部分来自向明星球员支付高薪的足球俱乐部。奥朗德表示，该法案也旨在鼓励企业减少向高管支付过高薪水。但批评人士指出，这项税收象征着奥朗德的大幅增税措施，目前法国总体税收负担已上升至国内生产总值(GDP)的46%以上，从而使得法国成为发达经济体税收水平最高的国家之一。