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The Powerlessness of Employees in France: The Spread of Income Taxation, 1945–1980

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Worlds of Taxation

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in the History of Finance ((PSHF))

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Abstract

Income taxation was first introduced in France during the First World War, but it was not until after 1945 that it was gradually extended to cover a majority of households. Levied on the previous year’s declared income, or in the case of agriculture the estimated income, it raised less as a proportion of total tax revenue than in almost any other Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member state. The purpose of this chapter is to explain why this was so. By using the official records of the Ministry of Finance as well as a database, EuroPTax, in which the effective rates of income tax levied in France and other European states are calculated, both the motives and outcomes of the major reforms of 1948 and 1959 are explained.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Kato, Regressive Taxation, 94.

  2. 2.

    Piketty, Hauts revenus, 347.

  3. 3.

    There is a proposal to introduce PAYE in 2018. See also Isaac W. Martin in this volume.

  4. 4.

    Kato, Regressive Taxation, 94.

  5. 5.

    Lynch and Weingarten, EuroPTax.

  6. 6.

    Piketty, Hauts revenus.

  7. 7.

    Hansen and Snyder, Fiscal Policy, 158.

  8. 8.

    Schremmer, Taxation, 372; Mitchell, Historical Statistics, 21, 25.

  9. 9.

    Dutton, French Welfare, 212.

  10. 10.

    Archives du Ministère de l’Économie et des Finances (AEF), B-1457, Note sur le quotient familial et la limite d’exonération. September 18, 1966.

  11. 11.

    Dutton, French Welfare, 219.

  12. 12.

    In practice this was seldom the case and in 1990 a CSG was finally set up, based on both taxes and contributions. Plagnet, L’impôt, 169–94.

  13. 13.

    Delalande, Batailles, 370–7.

  14. 14.

    Piketty, “Hauts revenus,” 347.

  15. 15.

    Baum, French Economy, 164; Lynch, Tax for Europe, 73–6.

  16. 16.

    Lynch, France, 83, 94–5, Margairaz, L’état, 111–415, Chapman, “Réformateurs,” 323.

  17. 17.

    Plagnet, L’impôt, 170–1.

  18. 18.

    AEF, B-64459, Communication en conseil des ministres, March 8, 1982.

  19. 19.

    Baum, French Economy, 139.

  20. 20.

    Ibid., 143.

  21. 21.

    Pinay, Un Français, 59–75.

  22. 22.

    Chapman, “Réformateurs,” 332.

  23. 23.

    AEF, B-1457, Étude présentée par M. André Furst, June 16, 1964.

  24. 24.

    AEF, B-52489 Note pour la commission d’étude, from R. Blot, April 26, 1961.

  25. 25.

    Nizet, Fiscalité, 90–1.

  26. 26.

    Delalande, Batailles, 386.

  27. 27.

    Ibid., 385.

  28. 28.

    Hansen and Snyder, Fiscal Policy, 152–3.

  29. 29.

    Nizet, Fiscalité, 17; Hansen and Snyder, Fiscal Policy, 153–4.

  30. 30.

    Nizet, Fiscalité, 176.

  31. 31.

    AEF, B-52489/1 Note pour la Commission d’étude from R. Blot, Directeur général des impôts, April 26, 1961.

  32. 32.

    Ibid.

  33. 33.

    AEF, B-1457 Article in Time magazine, May 10, 1963, ‘Liberté, Égalité—Mais Vérité?

  34. 34.

    AEF B-1457, Étude présentée par M. André Furst, June 16, 1964.

  35. 35.

    Lynch and Weingarten, EuroPTax calculations for France.

  36. 36.

    AEF B-52489, Note from Laxan, Observations sommaires sur les conclusions du rapport de M. Furst relatives à l’évolution de l’impôt depuis 1951–1952.

  37. 37.

    AEF B-1457, Enquête sur les revenus des ménages, July 31, 1967.

  38. 38.

    AEF B-1457, note for the Prime Minister, October 10, 1966.

  39. 39.

    AEF B-1457, Memorandum from J-R Bernard.

  40. 40.

    AEF B-1457, note for the Prime Minister, “Il ne faut pas faire trop de philosophie avec la fiscalité: il y a des charges publiques, il faut les couvrir. Voilà tout.” October 10, 1966.

  41. 41.

    Ibid.

  42. 42.

    Ibid.

  43. 43.

    Ibid.

  44. 44.

    Nizet, Fiscalité, 176.

  45. 45.

    AEF B-71335 Résultats d’un sondage de la SOFRES, March 1975.

  46. 46.

    AEF B-71335 Letter from Salin to Papon, “Le consentement à l’impôt est. le fondement même de la démocratie. Sans information claire et largement diffusée auprès des électeurs-contribuables la démocratie ne peut réellement fonctionner. Or le monopole de l’expertise en matière fiscale semble actuellement détenu par les hommes de l’État, gouvernants, élus et fonctionnaires, qui sont à la fois juge et partie.” March 22, 1979.

  47. 47.

    AEF 620.5 REC.

  48. 48.

    Lynch and Weingarten, EuroPTax.

  49. 49.

    Spire, “L’inégalité,” 164–87.

  50. 50.

    See Alex Hertel-Fernandez and Cathie Jo Martin in this volume.

  51. 51.

    Piketty, Hauts revenus, 285–6.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Westminster, London, UK

    Frances M. B. Lynch

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  1. Frances M. B. Lynch
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Correspondence to Frances M. B. Lynch .

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  1. ETH Zurich Institute of History, Zürich, Switzerland

    Gisela Huerlimann

  2. University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    W. Elliot Brownlee

  3. Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

    Eisaku Ide

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Lynch, F.M.B. (2018). The Powerlessness of Employees in France: The Spread of Income Taxation, 1945–1980. In: Huerlimann, G., Brownlee, W., Ide, E. (eds) Worlds of Taxation. Palgrave Studies in the History of Finance. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90263-0_6

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