A tax exile row between millionaire movie star Gerard Depardieu and the Socialist government of President Francois Hollande hides a much older problem with French taxes.
To be sure, Hollande’s headline-grabbing 75 percent income tax band may well be prompting well-off French to consider lives as exiles in Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland or Britain.
But in moving to Belgium, Depardieu, like thousands before him, was only rebelling against far more entrenched French tax rules built up over decades by governments of all political stripes and which the exiles argue punish talent and effort.
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透
For some champions of business, entertainment and finance, the fact that they can pay much less in neighboring countries has won the day over national solidarity.
Yet while the wealth tax was introduced by Hollande’s Socialist mentor Francois Mitterrand in the 1980s, it really began to bite when conservative former prime minister Alain Juppe removed upper limits on total wealth tax bills in 1997.
(Liberty Times)
百萬富翁影星傑哈‧德巴狄厄和法國總統法蘭索瓦‧歐蘭德所領導的社會黨政府之間的避稅爭議,其實隱藏著法國稅務政策的更長久問題。
無疑地,歐蘭德所提出的百分之七十五所得稅率不但引起媒體高度關注,更導致許多法國富人考慮搬到比利時、盧森堡、瑞士或英國等國避稅。
但決定搬到比利時的德巴狄厄,跟在他之前的數千人一樣,其實都是在對抗更根深柢固的法國稅務法,這些法律是由各黨派政府歷經數十年時間所制訂,避稅者認為這種法律只是在懲罰有天份又努力工作的人。
對某些商界、娛樂界和金融業鉅子而言,只要搬到鄰近國家就可以大幅減少繳交稅款的事實,終究戰勝了民族團結心。
但儘管富人稅是由歐蘭德的社會黨前輩密特朗總統於八零年代所引進,卻是到保守派前總理亞蘭‧居沛任內才真正開始產生影響,因為居沛於一九九七年刪除了富人稅法案的課稅上限。
(自由時報/翻譯:俞智敏)
Huge stretches of coral reef around the world are turning a ghostly white this year amid record warm ocean temperatures. On April 15, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed the world’s fourth mass global bleaching event is underway — with serious consequences for marine life and for the people and economies that rely on reefs. WHAT ARE CORALS? Corals are invertebrates that live in colonies. Their calcium carbonate secretions form hard and protective scaffolding that serves as a home to many colorful species of single-celled algae. The two organisms have evolved over millennia to work together, with corals providing shelter to algae,
Taiwanese cuisine boasts a rich culture of thick soups, with various options available at street vendors or high-end restaurants. In English, this style of dish is typically called “thick soup.” Western cuisine typically uses flour, cream, or mashed vegetables to create a creamy consistency, while in Taiwan, thick soups are made by simply incorporating food starch into the soup and creating a smooth and silky texture. Tutuo fish in thick soup is such a soup with fried tutuo fish chunks, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and wood ears. 台灣羹品飲食文化豐富,無論是巷口小店或是高檔餐廳,都有提供羹料理。羹在英文稱作「濃湯」,西式濃湯是以麵粉、鮮奶油、蔬菜泥等達到濃稠的口感,台灣的羹湯用太白粉即能做出濃稠絲滑的湯頭。土魠魚羹就是在勾芡的羹湯中加入炸土魠魚塊、香菇、竹筍、木耳等食材的料理。 boast (v.) 擁有(令人驕傲的事物) consistency (n.) 濃稠度 chunk (n.) 厚塊,大塊 wood ear (n. ph.) 木耳 The star of this
In Taiwan, a quick stop at a local convenience store allows you to grab a hot dog whenever you want. But have you ever wondered how this popular snack got its unique name and became a leading light of American cuisine? First, the name “hot dog” is actually a combination of different ideas. Vendors called the sausages “red hot” to get customers to buy one fresh off their grills. As for the “dog” part, it’s a playful joke to compare the meat of the sausage to that of a dog—specifically , a dachshund. This small, long dog breed was
A: Also, police seized seven pornographic videos featuring minors that entertainer Mickey Huang purchased in his hard disc. B: That’s just outrageous! A: His ex-girlfriend entertainer Little S and some others are calling for a legal amendment to increase the penalty. B: The buyers and sellers should both be punished heavily. A: But the porn sellers’ Web sites are mostly overseas, so they are hard to catch. A: 此外警方也在黃子佼的硬碟裡,查到7部他買的未成年色情片。 B: 真是令人火大! A: 他的前女友小S等人,還呼籲修法,加重相關的罰則。 B: 購買者和販賣者雙方都該重罰。 A: 不過色情網站大多設在海外要抓也不容易吧。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)