Yes, studies point at the french wealth tax being a net loss to France $ wise, but it's a thorny political issue there. Hard to remove and so touchy that few wealthy french who've left trust any scaling back from that tax to head back home, as it is modified every few years. Punish the rich is one of the rallying ideas of the left there, and the local right doesn't dare to go too much against that notion, it being so widespread.
Remember some surveys about a decade ago , french people (on average I guess) considered 4000eur monthly income to make someone rich. One of those countries which became way less attractive while CRS and other tax information treasons were booming.
Taxes are hard on the people in France. These types of protests / riots against the fuel taxes are common place now. Yellow vest members have triple since 2018. Regardless, it still doesn't get a lot of coverage from the media but in today's climate...there will be an eruption in protest violence. Can you imagine what will happen if someone is murder by police and the murder is recorded on video by other people...the fuel tax will be easily forgotten. In fact, when you see the elderly and handicap out there protesting too in their wheelchairs or using their walkers...that's a big problem for President Emmanuel Macron. wrbtrader
But note the protests above are against taxes that affect most sharply lower income folks, wealthier folks usually don't feel consumption taxes that much, plus they are not numerous enough or have better to do than burn down shops and cars, in France many of them protested by heading to tax friendlier countries. But sure, taxes are high for everybody there, a few years back France managed to reach the top spot in the list of nations with the highest taxes, I think calculated on ratio of taxes to gdp.
Today its not about the fuel tax but more about Macron's government...anything that the government does. I think now its more about the planned reform of the pensions system and anything related to high costs of living. Also, now that France has lifted the lockdown...the Yellow Vest activists will be much more active. wrbtrader