FRENCH TAXES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 22 December 1938, Page 8

FRENCH TAXES

PLIGHT OF VISITORS BRITONS FORCED TO PAY PRISON AS ALTERNATIVE LONDON, 28th November. It is announced from Paris that scores of British people who have been living in France to escape English taxation are finding the merciless squeeze of the French collector w'orse than that of the British, and are returning home. Until recently foreigners resident in France w’ere immune from almost every form of taxation except a moderate house duty and the usual annual tax on radio sets Now they are placed on the same footing as French people, and taxes at the present time are excep- j tionally high. They also find the cost 1 of living soaring. For some of those who suddenly decided to come back to the homeland an unpleasant surprise was in store. According to the Paris correspondent of the “People,” customs officers held [ them up, stating that no foreigner who had incurred tax liability in France under the decrees made last May could leave until the full amount of that liability was met. The home-comers, therefore, have had to choose between paying up or staying behind, with the certainty that if they do not pay within the time limit fixed they will be lodged in French prisons.

Because of the increased taxation there is a slump in the number of Britons going to the South of France for the winter. They have been told that they will be taxed even if they live a part of the year in France. Some of these part-time residents who arrived during the past few days were presented with demands for last winter They had to pay or come home. In cases where those affected have balances in banks there, these are being impounded while there is additional payment for delay.