Berita 10 September 2016 (Asli)

France to cut taxes on businesses and households: minister
PARIS, Sept. 9 (AFP)

France's government unveiled Friday plans to lower taxes on households and companies, as
the ruling Socialists lined up their budget for the 2017 election year.
The gesture to households would "take the form of a reduction in income taxes by 20 percent
for the middle class," Finance Minister Michel Sapin told AFP.
Around 5 million households would benefit from the 1-billion-euro ($1.1 billion) reduction
in income taxes, worth about 200 euros per family.
Sapin also said that the headline tax rate for small and medium-sized companies would be
reduced to 28 percent -- the European average in 2017 and 2018 -- and for all companies from
2020.
That is a drop from the current headline rate of 33 percent, although small companies benefit
from a lower rate on a certain amount of profits.
However Sapin said that despite the tax cuts France would honour its pledge to the EU to
reduce its public spending deficit to 2.7 percent of gross domestic product in 2017.
"We've made that promise to parliament and EU authorities and we're going to keep it," said
Sapin.
The announced cuts to income tax, coming just over seven months from the presidential
election, would take the total reduction since 2014 to six billion euros.
Polls show that President Francois Hollande, who has not announced his intentions regarding
a run for a second term in office, and other prominent Socialists would face an uphill battle to
make it to a runoff vote.
Criticised for sharp tax hikes at the start of his five-year term, Hollande has since turned
towards a gradual reduction in tax rates, although the French economy has posted only modest
growth and unemployment remains near record highs.
Sapin also announced a change allowing all retirees to deduct expenses for at-home services,
a change which should benefit 1.3 million households at a cost of a billion euros.
In addition, Sapin announced an increase in the tax credit for companies with low-wage
employees, which he said would put an extra 3.3 billion euros in their accounts.
New Zealand PM outlines efforts to battle illegal fishing in Pacific

WELLINGTON, Sept. 9 (Xinhua)
New Zealand is working with Pacific island countries to fight illegal, unreported and
unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Pacific as part of a package of aid to protect the ocean resource,
Prime Minister John Key said Friday.
Key and New Zealand officials were Friday briefing Pacific leaders at the annual Pacific
Islands Forum in Pohnpei, Micronesia, on the strong progress made in combating IUU fishing in
the Pacific.
"The Pacific's tuna fishery is the region's greatest natural asset and is currently valued at
more than 3.2 billion NZ dollars (2.44 billion U.S. dollars)," Key said in a statement from his
office.
"At last year's Pacific Islands Forum, New Zealand committed 50 million NZ dollars (38.2
million U.S. dollars) to support fisheries management in the region, to ensure as much benefit as
possible is returned to its people," he said.
"This work is well under way, with almost 30 million NZ dollars (22.92 million U.S. dollars)
now allocated to important projects including strengthening the management of coastal fisheries,
improving long-line tuna management, and tightening monitoring and control of fishing boats in
ports."
IUU cost the Pacific tuna fishery an estimated 850 million NZ dollars (649.48 million U.S.
dollars) every year and affected the sustainability of the fishery.
Addressing IUU was critical to the success of the region's efforts, said Key.
"We are working with Pacific countries to increase controls at their ports to better monitor
fishing vessels and to reduce the practice of fishers transferring catches between boats outside of
ports, in order to under-report their total haul. This is a major problem in the region," said Key.
"These efforts sit alongside progress being made to develop a sustainable, catch-based
management system for South Pacific albacore tuna to better protect the resource for future
generations."

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France to cut taxes on businesses and households: minister

PARIS, Sept. 9 (AFP)

New Zealand PM outlines efforts to battle illegal fishing in Pacific

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