Pm tax pledge to france's poorest

MANUEL VALLS PROMISES TO REMOVE THE INCOME TAX BURDEN FROM 650,000 OF FRANCE'S LOWEST-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS PRIME Minister Manuel Valls has promised to remove the income tax burden from

650,000 of France’s poorest families. “That’s enough tax increases,” he said, adding that the government will work to provide significant tax cuts in 2015. The plan to remove 650,000

households from income tax is part of a supplementary budget due to be voted through Parliament in June, and is set to help households whose key breadwinners were earning up to 1.3 times the

minimum wage. The number of people liable to pay tax has risen after the threshhold was frozen under former President Nicolas Sarkozy and maintained, with adjustments by Francois Hollande.

“In recent years almost 650,000 households have had to start paying income tax again. They must come out,” Mr Valls said during an interview on broadcaster TF1’s 8pm news show last night. He

said: “We want to have lower taxes by the autumn, but we are working towards significant tax cuts, including on income tax. “We need to reduce the tax burden. This is my commitment to you,”

he said. The tax cut is also set to help households earning up to 2.5 times the minimum wage, said radio broadcaster Europe1, which means it could affect up to six million homes. Europe1

said the tax cut could amount to €100 for single people and €200 for couples. TF1 / screengrab