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The French are paying the most taxes out of all of Europe’s workers, an annual report shows, but are they getting value for money?

The annual tax freedom day for Britons this year was back on May the 9^th – long before the Brexit referendum and Euro 2016.

In Ireland it was April 30^th, before the sun had even come out for spring. In Germany workers were still paying off the country’s tax mannshaft up until July 11^th.

The study reckoned that although the French earn higher wages on average than their German counterparts, those across the Rhine actually have 17 percent less spending power.

In Sweden, where the tax man also has a gluttonous reputation workers stopping paying into his pockets on June 22^nd – the same day Zlatan and co were knocked out of Euro2016.

The Institute also chose to look at whether the French were getting value for their money in terms of the social and welfare services all their taxes were being spent on.

But their conclusion was not positive noting that France’s public services are not the best performing.

“It seems that the high level of collective spending in France is not matched by better well-being that would justify the higher taxation,” the report said.

The institute pointed out that France was placed 9th in Europe in the UN’s latest Human Development Index, and 11^th in the OECD’s Better Life index, which look at overall quality of life.

James Rogers, associate researcher at the Institut économique Molinari said: “The Belgian and French workers spend more than half of the amounts distributed by their employers and taxes. It is worthwhile to ask why they do not get back the best schools, the best health care or the most generous pensions. ”

The French president François Hollande has vowed to cut taxes before the 2017 presidential election.

The expected move is seen purely as a tactic to win votes with the president’s popularity ratings as low as they’ve ever been.

http://www.thelocal.fr/20160726/french-workers-paying-the-most-taxes-in-europe

As the U.S. Presidential Election heats up, the U.S.-based group, Tax Foundation, has analyzed the leading presidential candidates’ tax plans. See the comparison in this diagram here: http://taxfoundation.org/…/fi…/docs/Comparison%20-%205-4.pdf

(Note: This was prior to Senator Bernie Sanders dropping out of the race.)

Letter from the WTA Chairman Troy Lanigan July 2016

The French taxpayer group, Contribuables Associés, has come up with a fantastic way for their organization and their message to stay in the minds of their supporters, lawmakers and activists – a witty annual calendar. See here: CALENDRIER 2016 You can purchase one here. Even Troy Lanigan has it up in his office in Canada!

Some readers aren’t going to like this, but the so-called pink tax reflects economics not gender bias.

Sorry, but sometimes the truth is hard.

The idea of a pink tax is that products aimed at women are priced higher than similar ones aimed at men. The reaction by some has been a series of screeds attacking corporate America as the home of a bunch of evil misogynists.

Their arguments are often like skimpy clothing: Short on substance.

While there may be women-haters in the halls of big business, the evidence regarding the pink tax just isn’t there. In fact, if anything, economics explains any price differences far more easily than bias.

Same economic principles, different circumstances

Men and women buy things in different ways and that changes how retailers price things. The examples often used are with razors or deodorant, but I think clothing retailers provide another useful example.

It’s fair to say that few clothiers ever get rich catering solely to men. The big money to be made is in catering to women’s fashion, and in general women demand more choice. Most men on the other hand will buy the same product year after year after year. That’s true for me and many of my male friends. I learned a lot about these differences a few years ago when talking with Angela Ahrendts, who was then the CEO of luxury fashion house Burberry.

Successful retailers respond with more items for women to choose from.

The result of these gender differences in shopping habits is that the floor space devoted to apparel aimed at women far outstrips that aimed at men. Here are some key points:

• Retail floor space costs a lot, especially in high traffic areas.
• Who pays for the extra floorspace dedicated to the women’s apparel? Ultimately the customers do. Because the business has to make a profit over and above the costs of operating.
• Retailers who carry more women’s clothes in inventory will require more working capital.
• Who pays for the extra working capital? Ultimately, the customers do.
• Then there is also more inventory management needed for those extra products. People need to be paid to do that job.
• Who pays for the extra costs? Ultimately, the customers.

You get the idea.

It’s not just women’s apparel. I’m always shocked that wide-fitting mens shoes cost a lot more than do those with a medium fit. The fact is that fewer wide shoes are sold, so to make enough money to carry them retailers need to charge more. In the end, I’d rather pay more for shoes that fit.

At the other end of the scale, take Henry Ford. He is famous for saying his cars were available in any color as long as it was black. That wasn’t aimed at restricting choice so much as in keeping costs down. More choices cost more, even if it’s just the paint color. So he went with one color and kept the price low.

That’s all it is — simple economics.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/simonconstable/2016/07/07/pink-tax-accusations-are-short-on-substance/2/#719224e632eb

Troy Lanigan and Eudes Baufreton, along with Benoite Taffin, had a great meeting in Paris recently! Good conversation, sound planning, and idea sharing all in the City of Lights – wish I could’ve been there 🙂

When there is a massive humanitarian crisis in Syria, the World Health Organization (WHO) has decided that it needs to push for plain packaging in Syria! Out of touch can they be?!

Check out this piece in The Spectator written by Christopher Snowdon of the Institute for Economic Affairs in the UK.

The UN’s warning to Syrian smokers is beyond parody

It was a real pleasure last week at the Atlas Liberty Forum in London to meet Maryan Zablotskyy in London from the Ukraine, who has established the group, the Ukrainian Economic Freedoms Foundation – http://www.en.ueff.org/.

They are already issuing reforms, monitoring government spending, and winning battles. Find in the document here, UEFF PROJECTS, for their goals and focus for the year. We are happy to have them join the WTA as our newest member!

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I am happy to announce that Spain now has a taxpayer protection group: Unión de Contribuyentes! They are the WTA’s newest member. Run by Juan Pina, Secretary-General, and Civismo’s Cristina Berecht, Director General. Their partnership originated after meeting at the WTA Conference in Berlin! Check out their website here!