No. of Recommendations: 9
If his mother had no other assets, and he did not want to spend his own money paying the tax, than any tax would require sale of one apartment to pay the tax, even if the tax is only 5%.
This.
More realistically, I’d hazard a guess that the tax was in the 30%-40% range on the two apartments.
I suppose “confiscatory taxes” are in the eye of the beholder. But to provide the level of services France does to its citizens, you’ve got to have tax revenue.
There’s also a public policy component. Without looking, based on those estate/inheritance tax rates, I’d hazard a guess that France doesn’t have as much a problem with wealth disparity as we do in the US.
—Peter
