Johnny rocks off to Switzerland

                                         Johnny Hallyday, the ultimate rock idol  -- if you are French -- has landed with a splash in the French presidential election campaign.

Le rockeur national  (April post), going strong at 63, is the biggest celebrity supporter of Nicolas Sarkozy, the centre-right candidate for the April elections. So it was hardly good timing for Johnny to make it known that he is moving to Switzerland and taking his money with him. After selling 80 million records since the early 1960s and still touring and topping the charts, Johnny no longer wants to pay the punishing income and wealth tax that is inflicted on rich French residents. [vintage Johnny video]

He is joining hundreds of thousands of other well-heeled French citizens who have fled the wealth tax. Living in the Swiss mountain resort of Gstaad, Johnny will pay no wealth tax and he will negotiate a deal to hand over only a tiny part of his income to the local treasury.  Other French celebrities, including Charles Aznavour, Alain Delon and Yannick Noah, have been enjoying the Swiss deal for decades.

Johnny, who styles himself as a blues-singing drifter fresh off the railroad, tried to make his first tax getaway last year when he applied for Belgian nationality. Brussels has become a haven for French nationals because Belgium has no wealth tax and is closer to Paris than Switzerland. But the Belgian authorities told the singer that they were unlikely to grant his request even though he claimed that he wanted to rediscover his Belgian roots. Jean-Philippe Smet -- Hallyday's real name -- was the son of a Belgian salesman who was visiting Paris during the war.

Hallyday’s planned exit has embarrassed the Government and Sarkozy. Jean-François Copé, the Budget Minister and government spokesman; said. “I regret that a number of our compatriots move abroad for tax reasons.”

Ségolène Royal and François Hollande, the Socialist candidate and her partner, the party leader, have been denouncing Johnny for his tax flight today. "The least you can do when you are rich is pay your taxes in your own country," Hollande said.  Royal said that Sarkozy should choose his friends more carefully.    

Sarkozy's people are making the best of it by arguing that the departure of France’s most beloved pop icon was shocking proof that the country’s wealth tax drove talented people abroad. “The tax situation in France is no longer acceptable,” said Christian Estrosi, Minister for Town and Country Planning, who is a Sarkozy supporter. “Johnny Hallyday is a source of national pride and part of the heritage. I am proud that he supports Nicolas Sarkozy,” he said.

Sarkozy has dropped earlier promises to abolish the wealth levy but he is promising to limit the annual personal tax burden to no more than 50 per cent of income. This would still represent a hefty sum for Hallyday, whose annual earnings are in the millions.

Everyone knows that the Impôt de Solidarité sur la Fortune, first introduced in the 1980s by the Socialist administration of President Mitterrand, is counterproductive. It forces capital to flee and is expensive to administer. The state loses an estimated annual 5-10 billion euros of potential treasury take because the money has left the country.  On top of that, the tax is beginning to hurt the middle classes because it kicks in at 750,000 euros of assets. With the property boom, this snares tens of thousands of baby boomers and others who have accumulated wealth along the way. The initial annual rate is 0.55 percent of assets.    

The problem is political. Soaking the rich is a very popular concept in France. No candidate will win favour by promising to abolish the ISF. Reducing ordinary income tax is not even a priority for most voters. Only the better-paid half of France pays income tax at all. The big whack from most peoples' earnings comes from the huge Social Security levies that are rarely questioned.

Comments

[Robert Marchenoir]

According to Peter Rothenbühler, editor of Swiss daily Le Matin, the population there welcomes the French fiscal exiles, because they spend a lot and pay taxes locally. The French rich are happy, because they get a better deal than in their own country. It is a win-win situation... except for France.

And Mr. Rothenbühler goes on saying that he would hate to be seen as hectoring, but that he would certainly be contemplating fiscal reforms if he were French.

http://www.6url.com/11AD

The notion that a smaller part of a huge revenue stream is better than no revenue at all is completely foreign to the French, who have never been very good at percentages.

And the stupid Socialists go on the record to say: "The rich should be happy to stay here and pay taxes". Well, yeah, maybe. They should. But they don't. And they won't, unless France turns into a police state and physically prevents its citizens from going abroad.

Meanwhile, as Mr. Bremner correctly points out, the huge Social Security levies are seen here as "good" and painless, since it is businesses that fork out the biggest part, and they support public health, which is "priceless" anyway, as the French love to say.

[Edward Johns]

Perhaps not completely relevant to this thread but in my estimation a vastly over-rated performer who would not be missed were he to relocate to the planet zog.
As regards the taxation issue, there are no surprises here--it's just the French bureaucratic way. I was astounded on first moving here to learn that I needed to obtain from my doctor a twenty euro certificate to show that I was fit enough to participate in a local rambling club's activities. The state refunded me thirteen euros from the twenty, my "mutuelle" another six. All that administration, time and expense-to take a cynical view, simply to create artificial employment ?

[Valentin, Paris]

"The rich should be happy to stay here and pay taxes" is somewhat contradictory to another line from Mme.Royal, that private companies should be frightened. Thing is, rich are leaving, and entrepreneurs-to-be would rather build a new company in a foreign country.

Also worth noting how every commentator hurries to pass moral judgement on Hallyday - and this, as a patriotic duty.
"I'm so shocked", "what a scandal" is all we could hear this weekend. Apparently, the guy owns his success to France and instead of happily paying back, he's running away with his own money! Luckily we're in 2006, or the singer would have risked lapidation for not giving away his money in order for fonctionnaires to enjoy juicy early retraites. Maybe the SNCF fellows should put on a strike to protest this scandalous event. Oh I forgot, they ARE on strike for weeks already !
And a law should be passed to outstrip the ungrateful fugitives of their citizenship (and the rights that come with it, like voting in a country where pure benefitors' vote outweighs that of hardworking contributors').

I only wonder if similar reactions are voiced in Germany or England when their celebrities move to Monte Carlo.

[Robert Marchenoir]

It is significant to read the outright, in-your-face lie that was printed in Le Monde about this Johnny affair -- or at least published on its web site, the appalling quality of which does not encourage me to ever read the paper version again.

All mainstream politicians rushed in to castigate the singer for respecting French and Swiss law, that is, establishing residence in Switzerland in a perfectly legal manner.

Except the minister of Interior and presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, who had the only sensible reaction by saying: "This proves there is a problem [with French fiscal policies]".

Translated by the crypto-marxist apparatchiks at Le Monde, it produces the following headline: "Nicolas Sarkozy défend l'exil fiscal de Johnny Hallyday"
(Sarkozy supports Hallyday's fiscal exile).

One reads on, expecting to discover some fact or quotation justifying that headline.

The texte goes thus: "Nicolas Sarkozy a pris la défense du chanteur, soutien affiché du candidat à la présidentielle, en estimant, vendredi 15 décembre, que le départ de Johnny Hallyday en Suisse prouvait qu'il y avait un problème en France. 'Je n'ai pas de commentaire à faire sur une situation personnelle. Je veux seulement dire une chose : un pays où tant de nos artistes, de nos créateurs, de nos chercheurs, où tant de gens se disent qu'il faut partir, c'est bien qu'il y a un problème', a déclaré M. Sarkozy."

Summing it up, the article says, in that order:

1) Sarkozy supports Hallyday's decision to emigrate to Switzerland. (Not a quotation, but the journalist's statement.)

2) "I don't want to comment on an individual's situation." (Sarkozy's quotation.)

3) "I will only say this: a country where so many of our artists, of our creators, of our scientists, where so many people are contemplating emigration, this country has a problem on its hands." (Sarkozy's words, again.)

Points 2) and 3) specifically disprove the journalist's statement in point 1).

What Sarkozy's actual quotations reflect is that he refused to pass any judgement on the star's behaviour, but passed a negative judgement on France's policies instead.

And also, that he did not refer only to the very rich emigrating for fiscal reasons, but also to young unemployed graduates without a dime, fleeing to Great Britain, China or the United States just in order to get a job, or to scientists who are not part of the super-rich elite such as Professor Montagner, co-discoverer of the AIDS virus, who had to flee to the United States in order to continue working, because he was deemed to old by the French bureaucratic public system.

So it becomes obvious that Le Monde not only deliberately lies to his readers, but does so in a truly Orwellian manner, by doing it openly, thus insulting both their intelligence and their honesty.

It is difficult to show more contempt to one's readers.

Of course, the underlying assumption is that the only permissible opinion on the subject is to condemn Johnny Hallyday.

Anything less -- and especially not saying anything -- will not do: if you are not with us, you are against us. If you stay silent, if you do not say what the chattering classes (thank you, Frank Johnson) and the crypto-marxist political correctness want you to say, you are a traitor to the Cause, and the most dishonest ways to smear you are permitted.

This also gives you an insight on the way the left commentariat builds up their image of Sarkozy-as-the-devil, by systematically skewing his words and his positions.

The habit of turning Sarkozy facts into lies has been obvious ever since the "scum" episode, where:

1) Sarkozy was stoned by hoodlums while visiting an estate,

2) An estate dweller shouted to him, from her window: "I hope you will get us rid of that scum, Mr. Sarkozy",

3) And Sarkozy replied: "Do not bother, Madam, we will get you rid of that scum".

That was translated by the left-leaning journalists (meaning most of them) as: Sarkozy calls estate dwellers "scum".

In a nutshell: pure Stalinist propaganda.

You have to ponder the fact that Le Monde is no marxist rag, but a centre-left newspaper, and was supposed, until some time, to be the touchstone of media reliability, truthfulness, professionalism, lack of bias and restraint.

That must have been a century ago.

[Valentin, Paris]

Cleaning "au karcher" and "racaille" have been labels stuck on Sarkozy, and no rational analysis can change that now - except his own deliberately balanced and well, peaceful behaviour.
It seems another hit at Sarkozy is in preparation, concerning the book of Pascal Sevran. In short, the author, in a pretty much a "stone coal" language, was claiming that most problems of the African continent come from the fact that families have WAY more children than they could afford, and the solution might very well be to sterilize half the population (as educating them to birth control doesn't seem to work at all).

Well, the book has been released a year ago, nobody seemed to find anything scandalous at the time, and it all explodes now, 5 months before elections. Sevran is the new "bete noire" of the media with Johnny Hallyday, and of course, someone happens to discover that Sevran is a friend of Sarkozy's.

[Valentin, Paris]

The problem with the French, and the Western media in general, is that while they are well educated in detecting the extreme right propaganda (because of the nazi destruction), they're hopelessly idiotic when it comes to extreme left one (and anti-communist militants in the Eastern Europe could tell stories about how that one goes). Different experiences.

Eric Brunet released a decent book not long ago, called "Etre de droite: un tabou français" where he speaks about the astonishing way French media leans to the Left.

" S'affirmer de droite dans un pays, pourtant majoritairement... de droite, expose au risque d'être taxé de " réac ", voire de " facho " dans le monde de la culture, dans les salles de rédaction, à l'Education nationale, dans la fonction publique et la plupart des entreprises où il est de bon ton et plus payant de revendiquer son appartenance à la gauche."

"Claiming oneself to the rightwing in a country voting however mostly to the right puts one at risk of passing for a reactionary, if not fascist, in the world of culture, in the editing boards, amongst civil servants and in most companies, where it's fashionable and lucrative to claim being a leftwinger."

He also shows how for instance only 6% of the journalists confess a sympathy to the right, while for instance most Le Monde journalists come from the extreme left (and some might remember Le Monde claiming, on 17 april 1975, that Phnom Penh has been "liberated" by the genocidal regime of the Khmer Rouge).

Just to say that in what concerns me, Le Monde actually IS a marxist rag.

[john gregory Flinn]

This thread has drifted somewhat into a
general critique of left-leaning journalism in France.
Despite the fact that there appears to be a right-wing government, the left are very well entrenched in the organs of State here.
Indeed, President Chirac always seems to behave like a closet leftist; perhaps this is what M.Sarkosy means when he talks of 'rupture'.

However I fear this leftist embedment is manifest most everywhere in journalism, maybe our host could do a blog on its origins and causes. At the same time explaining how Olivier Besancenot can be described as a 'charismatic young Trotskyite'! (ref. blog Sego/Sarko rally their troops. And compare these tones to those reserved for M Le Pen).
Surely this is (almost) an oxymoron! Since Besancenot is a committed leader of the LCR, or League of Communist Revolutionaries.

As I remember Leon Trotsky was the one who kept an armed guard outside his office in the Kremlin, and a loaded rifle by his desk inside - just in case he needed to settle an argument quickly!

[Valentin]

Sometimes the problem is that one just cannot react to everything :)

No, seriously, Besancenot, 'charismatic young Trotskyite' ? I feel I'm getting carried away again. Here's what that means in real life:

"L'histoire n'a trouvé jusqu'ici d'autres moyen de faire avancer l'humanité qu'en opposant toujours la violence conservatrice des classes condamnées à la violence révolutionnaire de la classe progressive. ... C'est la guillotine, cette remarquable invention de la Grande Révolution française, qui a pour avantage reconnu celui de raccourcir un homme d'une tête, qui sera prête pour nos ennemis."

No, that wasn't Ghengis Khan, but Trotsky himself, making the apology of mass crime with his "continuous revolution". It's what bolsheviks, trotskists, marxists and the sort meant by "revolution", not some velvety thing made for western media cameras. (and from Lenin to Che Guevara and Castro, they all did it)
A party should be downright forbidden for claiming itself from such individuals.

Instead, alas, even Mr. Bremner treats it like our cute favourite postman. What to expect from the French public then, would anyone ever make a "cordon sanitaire" around this extreme left? This country will raise as one though against Le Pen, who never dared vent such open support for cruel dictatorships.

[henri]

To Marchenoir, Valentin and the others,

Is it being stalinist to say you're shocked that a citizen distinguished by the legion d'honneur, the highest French distinction, and friend of Nicolas Sarkosy ( former finance minister...) will flee for fiscal reasons for 6 month and 1 day (ridicule...) a year not to pay taxes.I could have admitted this from someone against the system, or someone who doesn't like his country ( like florent pagny who decided to live year long in Patagony), but not from someone which benefited from the system during 40 years.
There is no reason that only rich people should be allowed not to pay taxes. Tax must be paid either by everybody, either by nobody, but you can't say "rich are too rich to pay taxes", because this is ancien regime style despotism. You can't want only the advantages of being a French citizen while refusing the disadvantages (taxes...). And I say this while being against the ISF. And i'm not a Stalinist, only a honest French citizen who don't undersand why he should feel sorry for someone earning about 200 times as much than the average taxpaying citizen.

[Valentin]

Henri,
My ranting against Trotskists was aimed at the reddish colour of most French media; in particular, the way Hallyday's been treated: I almost believed myself hearing communist reprimands for comrades daring to cross the party line. I'm not exaggerating.

About the core issue. I myself don't feel sorry for him and don't judge anyone for earning 2 or 100 times more than I do. Not to give lessons, but I'm not really interested in other people's income. Rich vs. Poor comes from Marx's battle of classes. French are called "râleurs" also because instead of minding their own progress, sometimes they get busy judging and criticizing others', hiding under great notions like "social justice".

Hallyday has not much to gain from being a French citizen. He doesn't, I suppose, get to use the metro very often, even less the splendid public service provided by SNCF. I doubt he'll need the state pension or pre-retraite at 50 - oh wait, he's 60 already and still touring on! I also heard he made money on the back of the French people. This is outrageous, it is the people that loved his music and decided to buy his albums (let alone that that money had been taxed twice already, by buyer's income tax and TVA).

People like Hallyday travel the world, have many residences, they settle wherever they like. In order to keep these people home, one has to lure them, not rip them off. I'm not sorry for Johnny, but I cannot approve taking 60 or 70% of his income as tax. One cannot work and earn more for the State than for himself, it's simply unjust.

[Simone]

Yannick Noah lives currently in the Yvelines in France, close to Paris.

During his stay in Swizerland, he never managed to reside there for 6 months each year in order to avoïd the french tax system.

[m.duforest]

j.Haliday,the singer has left the fiscal inferno in France for the fiscal paradise in Switzerland,is in'it a proof of intelligence and logic?