An interesting news item has surfaced in France during the last week. The famous French rock and roll icon, Johnny Hallyday (not his real name- several French rock & roll singers took on English sounding names when they started, another example is Eddie Mitchell) has decided to give up his French citizenship to avoid paying high taxes in France. Since he has such a high profile and is still France’s most popular singer (he’s also an actor in numerous films), all the major politicians have made comments, including President Jacques Chirac. Chirac said essentially that he admires Hallyday as a performer but not as a responsible citizen, or words to that effect.
Hallyday would have to reside in Switzerland for 6 months each year in order to take advantage of lower taxes there and not pay them in France. Segolene Royal, the candidate of the PS for President, also called on Hallyday to continue paying French taxes. Many other wealthy French people are doing the same thing, but none are in the public eye like Hallyday. He said in effect that he didn’t care what the politicians thought, and he was tired of paying so much in taxes when he didn’t have to. Nicolas Sarkozy, who will probably be the other major presidential candidate and who will challenge Royal, said that this shows that France has a problem with its tax system.
Another famous French person, Yannick Noah, had done this in the past, but he has since moved back to France and is paying taxes there.
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