French Entrepreneurs Launch Online Protest Against Hollande's Capital Gains Tax Plans
French entrepreneurs have set up a Facebook page and Twitter hashtag to protest against Francois Hollande's plans to tax capital gains at the same rates as income.
They're calling themselves "the pigeons" — French slang for the fall guys — and they have got over 23,000 likes on Facebook so far.
Jean-David Chamboredon, chief executive of ISAI, a venture capital fund, spoke to the Financial Times' Huge Carnegy about the proposed change to tax rates for capital gains. He argued that the tax would, in some cases, increase from 63% from 32% for investors and entrepreneurs selling a business.
“We are different from the grands patrons on their big salaries," Chambordon told Carnegy. "We work 24 hours a day and we need help. We need investors. If this new tax goes ahead it will be very difficult for new businesses to find investors.”
Francois Hollande's "soak the rich" budget — especially the proposed top 75% tax rate — has met with a lot of skepticism from the markets. Hollande has also seen one of the sharpest falls in popularity in other a decade, according to a Ifop poll for Sunday newspaper JDD conducted last month. He fell from 54% in August to just 43%, his lowest numbers yet.
More From Business Insider
