DAVID GREENE, HOST: NPR's business news starts with a tax hike for la creme de la creme.</s>DAVID GREENE, HOST: Yesterday, French President Francois Hollande's millionaires tax got the official go-ahead from the nation's Constitutional Council. Now all salaries over a million euros will be taxed at a rate of 75 percent.</s>DAVID GREENE, HOST: Part of the tax hike will be shouldered by companies who are paying the higher salaries. Business leaders complain the new tax will only drive more entrepreneurs and wealthy into exile.</s>DAVID GREENE, HOST: France already has one of the highest tax rates in the entire world. Last year, you might remember, one of France's most recognizable actors, Gerard Depardieu, and in his passport over his tax bill and moved to Russia.
The millionaire tax was a campaign promise from French President Francois Hollande. Film star Gerard Depardieu famously fled the country to avoid paying the tax.