2011 budget voted through

THE 2011 budget law has been finalised with a vote in the Senate 179 to 152. Overall it includes money-saving measures meant to help cut France’s deficit from €150 billion in 2010 to €92 billion next year.

Some of the headline measures include:

• The top rate of income tax to rise one per cent to 41 per cent.

• Removing special tax arrangements that reduce tax for newly-weds in the year of their marriage.

• A new tax on the special retraites-chapeaux top-up pensions enjoyed by big business bosses.

• Freezing money given to local councils.

• A reduction on wealth tax for investment into small business is cut from 75 to 50 per cent.

• “Triple-play” offers (TV/internet/landline telephone) to be taxed at 19.6 per cent, not 5.5 per cent.

• A “Google tax” at one per cent payable (by the advertisers) on online advertising, set to be introduced in July 2011.

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Photo: David Monniaux