Sunday, January 13, 2013

Socialism Alert: French Minister in charge of ferreting out tax evasion accused of tax evasion...

When the rates are high enough, almost everyone cheats...

Via Time:
Though it may not have the same celebrity appeal as the Gérard Depardieu exile controversy, France now faces another roiling scandal over alleged cross-border tax evasion — this one focusing on Socialist Budget Minister Jérôme Cahuzac.

French justice officials announced on Jan. 8 that they’re launching an inquiry into claims Cahuzac hid money in a secret Swiss account as a tax dodge for nearly 20 years. Cahuzac — whose current job makes him France’s top tax enforcer — energetically denies the allegations, and had previously requested an official investigation he claimed would prove the charges false. That may well be borne out over time. But coming as it does amid swirling headlines of Depardieu’s flight from France to protest rising income taxes, the mere suspicion of a government official having illicitly stashed income away is creating new troubles for beleaguered French President François Hollande in dealing with France’s financial crisis.

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