# bouclier fiscal



## dark cat

Hello everybody! I'd like to translate "les promesses électorales au sujet du bouclier fiscal" but I can't find a fine translation. Can somebody help me, please?


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## Joke2

Si tu veux une réponse il va falloir que tu explique ce que tu comprends dans "bouclier fiscal"!
C'est du jargon et moi, locuteur français - et pas tout à fait illitré - je ne comprends pas ce que ça veut dire !
Alors un anglophone!
S'agit-il d'un "protection contre les impôts" , "une manière d'en payer moins ou pas du tout"????


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## Joke2

Ou bien peut-être d'impôts ou taxes pour "protéger" un secteur d'activité ou un produit??? (mesures de protectionisme)


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## FAC13

Wikipedia: -

L'expression *bouclier fiscal* est un néologisme récent. Le terme de bouclier évoque la protection contre les taxes de l'Etat. L'impôt y est présenté comme l'opposant du contribuable, à qui l'Etat offre alors une protection lorsque l'imposition est jugée (de façon subjective) trop importante. C'est donc une expression paradoxale, où l'Etat s'accuse lui même de trop imposer certains citoyens.


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## Joke2

Merci pour les précisions. En anglais? "tax shield" ?


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## FAC13

Joke2 said:


> Merci pour les précisions. En anglais? "tax shield" ?


 
I think so - though the idea of the state providing a shield against its own taxes is, as the wikipedia author says, bizarre.


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## capitaliqer

"tax shield", which is the proper translation of "bouclier fiscal" is a politically-charged concept. in emerging economies, it is devised to welcome foreign investors or spur local investments in specific industries. at the same time, american politicians use the promise of tax shields to lure voters. for example, hillary clinton to proposes to make the costs of university education tax deductible. if enacted, it will be a "tax shield" for students or parents of university students.


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## Quantz

Why not "fiscal threshold", as the whole idea would be to set a maximum tax "seuil".


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## rosieg

A threshold is a limit beyond which something happens. But in this case you cannot exceed the limit so I don't think it is quite right here. Unless you were explaining that the excess beyond that point would be refunded. I have been writing about the bouclier fiscal for weeks now thanks to our friend Sarko. 

If you find tax shield is not what you want, try simply "maximum tax limit", or "maximum tax payable as a proportion of income", depending on if you want something precise or on the contrary something explanatory.

bon courage!


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## Joke2

Thank you for your help... and the Devil bless Sarko !


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## justenallen

I think "cap on taxes" or "tax cap" would be best.


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## amoroscathy

Un bouclier est une piéce en fer qui sert à protéger le soldat ou le CRS des coups de leurs adversaires. Le bouclier fiscal sert à protéger les riches .En ces temps de crise ,beaucoup de Français vivent mal cette décision du Président de la république.


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## ABQ

I think "taxable limit" makes sense in the following from RFI (Radio France Internationale), 31 March 2010:

"Il les a reçus à l'Élysée pour tenter de les remobiliser derrière le  gouvernement. Parmi les points de divergence, le bouclier fiscal. 13  députés UMP veulent abolir ce dispositif qui plafonne les impôts à 50%  des revenus."


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## allezallez

"Taxable limit" works fine, although I think the "tax cap" phrasing is more commonly brandied, particularly because in the States, politicians favor less-technical jargon in order to appear more like an everybody's-body, if ya' get mah drift.


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## franc 91

Isn't there the American expression - tax break? (or even tax brake!)


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## ABQ

I'm not an accountant, but in the US, "tax break" refers to a special population which receives special tax benefits.  It could be short term or long term.
Examples: 
To stimulate the economy, first-time home buyers have been able to purchase their first house with a "tax break" from the federal government of approximately $6,500-$8,000.  They actually receive this entire amount.  This "tax break" expires soon.
But, as a current home owner, I receive a "tax break" of $2,000 as "head of household" on my annual county and city real estate tax bill.  I don't receive $2,000, it is subtracted from the appraised value of my house, and the tax formula applies to the house value minus $2,000.  So, the "tax break" may mean a very small dollar amount.
Another example: My city wants to attract a business to locate here, so it offers the business a "tax break" of a certain amount (perhaps a lower rate of city taxes, or no taxes at all, for the first several years).
The tax system in the US is very complicated!


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## alltwisty

"Tax shelter" may also be a good translation??


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## ABQ

Actually, "tax shelter" refers to something else in the US:  it's a way to invest money so that it is not subject to taxes.  Example: if you allow your employer to deposit a certain amount from your salary directly into a special type of retirement savings account (401k), it is not reported as taxable income during that year.  Or, if a corporation makes a charitable donation, a percentage is not subject to corporate taxes.  There are many conditions and limitations, but these are two examples.  
So, "bouclier fiscal" would need to be translated as "taxable limit" or "tax cap" in my opinion.


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## orlando09

As this is (as far as I know) a specifically French policy (a cap on people's  taxes so they will not pay more than 50% of their income in a given year in all combined taxes - and they get a refund if they are found to have done so) then I think calling it a "tax shield" (ie. a literal translation) is good.


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## ABQ

Thank you, orlando09, for explaining how the "bouclier fiscal" works in France.  
I just asked a friend who is an accountant.  
Her reply: if we're referring to the 50% maximum taxable limit or cap, the term might be something like a "refundable maximum tax on income".  If we're referring to the other 50% that is not taxable, then that portion could be called a "tax shelter."   
Or, as you suggest, use the term "tax shield", knowing that it cannot be translated directly.


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## edwingill

see here  for a definition: http://www.toupie.org/Dictionnaire/Bouclier_fiscal.htm


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## ABQ

edwingill, thank you very much for this resource of French political vocabulary, "le toupictionnaire": http://www.toupie.org/Dictionnaire/index.html


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## orlando09

ABQ said:


> Thank you, orlando09, for explaining how the "bouclier fiscal" works in France.
> I just asked a friend who is an accountant.
> Her reply: if we're referring to the 50% maximum taxable limit or cap, the term might be something like a "refundable maximum tax on income".  If we're referring to the other 50% that is not taxable, then that portion could be called a "tax shelter."
> Or, as you suggest, use the term "tax shield", knowing that it cannot be translated directly.



It's more the first one - it's the fact that you are "shielded" from paying more than a certain amount. And as I said, it works retrospectively, so once you have paid all the taxes relating to a given year and compared them to the income you made in it, you can apply for money back if you paid more than you should have. It partly works to limit the impact of France's wealth tax (on capital possessions -  homes, cars, boats etc, if you have possessions above a certain value).


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## tellect

the best is probably "tax cap scheme"


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## tellect

The best is probably "tax cap scheme"

"Tax shelter" rather conveys the idea of "niche fiscale" in the French tax system.


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## nayyan

France's tax cap: Sarkozy faces internal revolt 
When Nicolas Sarkozy was elected in 2007, one of his emblematic reforms was to lower the maximum level of personal taxation from 60% to 50% of revenues. The left denounced this so-called 'tax shield' as an unfair gift to the super-rich.


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## Budd

The correspondents suggesting "tax cap" are correct as far as AE is concerned.  It is often used in a specific sense regarding real estate tax assessments.  For example, in Washington, D.C., where I live, the city finally got around to making realistic tax assesstments forcing everyone's real estate taxes up.  To make it bearable a "tax cap" of x%, I do not remember the amount, was placed on all further possible increases.

"Tax shield" as far as I know it not a term used in the US.  Tax break is as defined above, a special or general advantage for a certain kind of income, investment, or circumstance.

As ABQ defines the term in French finance, it would not apply the same way.  A tax cap avoids having to refund taxes.

"Tax shelter" refers to an investment that is either not taxed, allowed to be depreciated or written down at an outrageous rate, or actually loses money for people who need to show losses.


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## Transfer_02

In this article (and several others), the Economist refers to it as "the tax shield":_

So why does Mr Sarkozy think that 2011, a pre-election year, is the  right time to strike? The answer is that he is trapped by an unpopular  fiscal rule known as *the tax shield. *This caps at 50% the overall tax  rate on all personal income. Mr Sarkozy introduced this partly to tempt  tax exiles home._


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## kathers1000

Or maybe tax boundary en anglais?


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## Budd

Transfer, The Economist was simply giving a literal translation of _bouclier fiscal  for _Anglophone readers.  That is, they were treating it as a foreign phrase--and possibly a foreign idea.

Kathers, I have never heard or read "tax  boundary" in American English, but I think it is used in BE to describe "tax brackets," i.e., points where the percentage of tax rises or falls.


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## Pierre Simon

Good evening,

My two pennyworth : _'a (guaranteed) tax ceiling'_


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