Tax paying in France

**Marion** · 10-21-2010, 03:50 PM

I was talking on this same board on how I had to work to pay for my semester abroad... and something came to my mind. I don't want to talk about France's whole tax paying/raising system, because I clearly don't know it enough and it's not an issue I'm that interested in, but I was thinking of something awesome in this system (which is, just like everything in France, super-criticized) : because I worked, making minimum wage, instead of having to pay taxes... the state gave me money (around 950 dollars) because I worked, it's basically called "bonus for having a job". Let me explain: most people who make minimum wage or a bit higher than that would actually make more money if they did not work. Indeed, they'll have unemployment allowance, which is often, at the beginning, nearly as high as a normal salary, and they wouldn't have to pay for gaz to go to work everyday, they would spend less on food etc. This is something many people resent, because some people who do not work make more money (/spend less) than people who take the trouble to go to work every morning. Though, thanks to the bonus for being employed thing, you actually feel rewarded for working and being part of the economy (which is so rare, in France). It more or less pays for commuting fees, sometimes for more than that, sometimes for less. Anyway, I just felt like it was awesome. I was granted a comfortable sum of money this summer and I felt really excited about it.
Oh, and it's the government that we have today that granted that (the same one that outrageously ask people to work until 62), because before them, when you worked for the 1st time, you had to pay a lot of taxes (as in the equivalent of 1 monthly salary to pay per year). This is something new and it feels right: my brother and all my friends who work got it (because French people nearly always start around minimum wage, whether you went to college or did not graduate from high school).
I guess I have no other point than asking you what you guys think of this system (?). What are the tax-raising systems like, in your countries? Do you have anything to reward you for working ? (I'd guess not, because in most countries, you don't live more comfortably while being unemployed haha)
And I thought it was nice to hear something good about French government, for once haha.

**straightXed** · 10-21-2010, 04:09 PM

Originally Posted by Marion

I was talking on this same board on how I had to work to pay for my semester abroad... and something came to my mind. I don't want to talk about France's whole tax paying/raising system, because I clearly don't know it enough and it's not an issue I'm that interested in, but I was thinking of something awesome in this system (which is, just like everything in France, super-criticized) : because I worked, making minimum wage, instead of having to pay taxes... the state gave me money (around 950 dollars) because I worked, it's basically called "bonus for having a job". Let me explain: most people who make minimum wage or a bit higher than that would actually make more money if they did not work. Indeed, they'll have unemployment allowance, which is often, at the beginning, nearly as high as a normal salary, and they wouldn't have to pay for gaz to go to work everyday, they would spend less on food etc. This is something many people resent, because some people who do not work make more money (/spend less) than people who take the trouble to go to work every morning. Though, thanks to the bonus for being employed thing, you actually feel rewarded for working and being part of the economy (which is so rare, in France). It more or less pays for commuting fees, sometimes for more than that, sometimes for less. Anyway, I just felt like it was awesome. I was granted a comfortable sum of money this summer and I felt really excited about it.
Oh, and it's the government that we have today that granted that (the same one that outrageously ask people to work until 62), because before them, when you worked for the 1st time, you had to pay a lot of taxes (as in the equivalent of 1 monthly salary to pay per year). This is something new and it feels right: my brother and all my friends who work got it (because French people nearly always start around minimum wage, whether you went to college or did not graduate from high school).
I guess I have no other point than asking you what you guys think of this system (?). What are the tax-raising systems like, in your countries? Do you have anything to reward you for working ? (I'd guess not, because in most countries, you don't live more comfortably while being unemployed haha)
And I thought it was nice to hear something good about French government, for once haha.

It happens here that people can be better off in receipt of benefit opposed to working. There are some benefits for those who work the main one being the "working tax credit". Its means tested but its unfortunately open to some unfair abuse. Some people are able to claim this and other benefits when they really shouldn't be, they usually make these claims somewhat fraudulantly but theres a large grey area where things become unclear and the system can end up being abused. This ends up making people who are not in receipt of said benefits feeling a little penalised when they see people getting more than adequate help. The worst case of this is when people actually could make more by changing their full time job to a part time job in order to make more money by collecting benefits alongside.

**xVeganAnarchistx** · 10-21-2010, 10:10 PM

man, in France the conservatives do that.... You are lucky haha

**Marion** · 10-22-2010, 01:59 AM

Originally Posted by xVeganAnarchistx

man, in France the conservatives do that.... You are lucky haha

Haha, yeah indeed... It's like when we compare our left-wing and right-wing parties to, say, the American parties, we feel like our right-wing is more or less alike to the democrats, for some issues, while the Republican would be more like our far-right ideas (again, on some issues), and our left-wing could be considered extreme far-left groups in the US, I guess.
That's why everyone in France hated Bush and that's why we love Obama.

**Lifestyle_X** · 10-22-2010, 05:42 AM

I'm not following I think. You get that bonus, even if you are a student ?

**Marion** · 10-22-2010, 09:01 AM

Originally Posted by Lifestyle_X

I'm not following I think. You get that bonus, even if you are a student ?

Because I work, yes. The years before now, while I was just working on vacations, I did not have the bonus because I hadn't worked enough. But now i do because I work a lot more.
Students who work a lot have it (well, if they make minimum wage or just above), but an important part of students (at least 1/3 I think) do not work that much because they have scholarships (which are never based on school results or on how much you work hard for your classes, but which only depends on how much your parents make, or how much you lie about it haha.... even if your parent are not giving you a dime. Being middle class, I can't have any of these scholarships).
Does that answer your question?