Bernard Charlès, the CEO of software champion Dassault Systèmes and the champion of our French 2012 CEO pay survey is quite right to alarm in an interview in Le Monde about the mad French taxation on equity investments.
« If I can not distribute plots of land, that is to say, a share capital of the company, I will leave. » Without specifying if he speaks of him or his firm …
It belongs not only to the CEO but mosttly to the shareholders who distribute these « plots » if the form of bonus shares or options. But Bernard Charles rightly points » the extremely high French taxes on capital, stock options and free shares . » For a free share of the capital remitted to en employee, inn addditionto the purchase cost or the dilution, » the company and the employee will have to pay in taxes and taxes up to 80 % of its value , it is not bearable . »
Not only our socialists Ministers have done this, the Sarkozy era contributed as well. » Cease fire ! » already cried Jean-Claude Sobel in an excellent in Les Echos of November 2012 .
For the remittance of such share related advantages the employer’s contribution tripled in two years to 30% against 10% and the employee contribution was quadrupled from 2.5% to 10 % ( a « social » contribution without any social compensation for the contributors ) .
At the end of 2013 , the collection of the State’s =taxation on share related plans has become such that these could be considered by Proxinvest as abnormal management act .
Bernard Charles is possibly overpaid with his € 15 million package, but he is clearly right to emphasize the danger to overtax the French digital secgment. Our entire economy is in danger when government and officials ignore the risk attached to any equity investment, the engagement of its shareholders and wehn they sabotage the fair involvement of employees in the companies capital.
November 22, 2013
