1. I don't condone tax evasion

2. the riches part of the total nation's taxable capital is very little compared to the total wealth

see : http://obouba.over-blog.com/article-3627560.html

even a country like Germany is slightly more "inequal" than France. Of course we haven't reached the Nordic level yet, despite a similar level of taxation. The diagram validates the point made in previous posts. The French taxpayer money goes largely to an inefficient administration of public services. There is no other rational explanation.

3. "their money is ... poorly used". Don't make me say what I didn't say. It's MY money that is poorly used. As an example, until recently it costed one and half more money to collect the national public service TV license than the total money collected. Finally the Finance minister (Sarkozy BTW) had the genial idea to collect it as a part of the local tax. And OMG, OMG !!!! the TV collectors duties were transformed into other duties within the local tax collection. Of course the unions were there chanting about the "destruction of the public service.

4. Most riches in France pay their taxes, cases of fraud are minimal. The problem is that they can completely legally nearly "evade" their taxes through a very complicated fiscal system with plenty of wormholes. The interesting part is that this system has never been reformed by any socialist government and plenty of "wealthier" socialists have of course been keen to use it. Besides income tax in France is lower for EVERYBODY than in similar European countries and France is one of the few countries with a tax on fortune, which is payed by a minimum of tax payers.

All this reminds of Sarkozy's son scooter story. Oh horror, the police did a terrible efficient inquiry - with even DNA tracing - when Sarkozy's son scooter was stolen. The same cops would tell Mr Dupont to go and fuck himself in a similar case... the problem is that exactly the same kind of inquiry was done 2003 when Hollande's (socialist party first secreterary) son scooter was stolen... as by magic the socialist criticism against Sarkozy's prerogatives became very quiet when this became known...

5.

"But we are dismayed to see some presidential candidates putting forward demagogic tax measures and justifying the social secession of the richest."

"and cannot consent to tax cuts whose price would be the weakening of the means given to the social protection of the poorest, to education, research, health, housing or to protection of the environment."

I'd like to have specified which proposed tax cuts on the rich (or others) are today threatening the welfare of of the majority of the French... when 20% of the state budget has to be loaned abroad to cover the current depenses...

In my opinion the threat "to the social protection of the poorest, to education, research, health, housing or to protection of the environment" is not primarily caused by the lack of money but by archaic laws, inefficient administration, pork, political cowardice (all parties apply), franco-centrism (cite the Nordic model but avoid to tell people what are the market rules there) and unrepresentative unions protecting their own nomenclatura to the detriment of the majority...

start with solving the above problems and then go and squeeze the balls of the rich. Because in the later case it would be at least REALLY motivated...