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Paris - French presidential candidate Francois Hollande said on Monday that top earners would be taxed up to 75 percent of their income if he were elected, as he pounded home the idea of a fairer economy for the lower and middle classes.
The Socialist Hollande, with a comfortable lead in the polls over his rival Nicolas Sarkozy ahead of the April-May election, appeared relaxed and jovial as he fielded questions for more than two hours on prime time television.
Asked if he would modify France's tax code as president, Hollande said he would undo tax breaks enacted by Sarkozy and seek to make the system fairer by hiking capital gains taxes and levies on income for top earners.
“I can announce here that above one million euros (per year), the tax rate should be 75 percent, because it's not possible to have that level of income,” he said on TF1 television.
Taxation for the rich has become a hot campaign issue, with tax advisers in neighbouring Switzerland saying that higher taxes for the wealthy in France could spark an exodus. Many of France's richest celebrities already live abroad.
Paris - French presidential candidate Francois Hollande said on Monday that top earners would be taxed up to 75 percent of their income if he were elected, as he pounded home the idea of a fairer economy for the lower and middle classes.
The Socialist Hollande, with a comfortable lead in the polls over his rival Nicolas Sarkozy ahead of the April-May election, appeared relaxed and jovial as he fielded questions for more than two hours on prime time television.
Asked if he would modify France's tax code as president, Hollande said he would undo tax breaks enacted by Sarkozy and seek to make the system fairer by hiking capital gains taxes and levies on income for top earners.
“I can announce here that above one million euros (per year), the tax rate should be 75 percent, because it's not possible to have that level of income,” he said on TF1 television.
Taxation for the rich has become a hot campaign issue, with tax advisers in neighbouring Switzerland saying that higher taxes for the wealthy in France could spark an exodus. Many of France's richest celebrities already live abroad.