00:00It's a subject that has caused a stir in French politics, the so-called Zuckman tax.
00:06The proposal, devised by economist Gabrielle Zuckman, suggests that tax households that own more than 100 million euros in assets
00:15contribute at least 2% of their wealth every year.
00:19It aims to restore a greater amount of tax justice, whilst at the same time generating revenue as France struggles to balance its budget.
00:27The first one is that it's a very popular measure.
00:29So like the latest poll that I've seen, I think, place it at an approval rate of like 86% across the population
00:36and also, importantly, across the political spectrum.
00:40The second thing is that it does respond to a problem.
00:44So the problem being the ultra-rich pay less.
00:48According to Zuckman, the scheme would make it possible to make up part of France's deficit without making deep budget cuts.
00:55The tax could bring in around 20 billion euros for the French government.
01:01The cumulative effect at an EU level would be even greater.
01:06It's estimated that such a tax would bring in 67 billion euros for member states.
01:12But other economists say that these figures don't add up.
01:15We won't reach 20 billion euros.
01:17I absolutely don't believe it.
01:19Some estimates are at 5 billion euros.
01:24But I even ask myself questions.
01:26I think it's possible that it doesn't bring anything to happen.
01:28Because as I said, there's a dynamic of adjustment of behavior, which is often very sous-estimated by economists,
01:33which makes people not let themselves do.
01:37There are strategies that are used to try to avoid this impôt.
01:42In Europe, Spain has had a solidarity tax on large fortunes for three years.
01:49Norway and Switzerland also apply a tax on very high incomes.
01:53But these two countries have particularly high financial resources.
01:57Other countries have a partial taxation of the ultra-rich,
02:00such as France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy, which tax very specific assets.
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