France drops plans to scrap 'Exit Tax' on entrepreneurs - Les Echos

PARIS (Reuters) - France will not abolish in 2019 a 30 percent tax on entrepreneurs who take their money out of the country, reversing a pledge made by President Emmanuel Macron earlier this year, business daily Les Echos reported on Saturday.

Citing anonymous sources, Les Echos said the idea now was a "simplification" of the tax rather than removing it completely from the 2019 budget, which is due to be presented to parliament this month.

A spokesman for Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire declined to comment.

"The text is not yet finalised but as it stands it would be more of a restructuring and a simplification," the newspaper quoted one source within parliament's finance committee as saying.

Macron, a pro-business former investment banker, announced his plans to scrap the so-called "Exit Tax" in an interview with Forbes in May, saying it was a brake on business creation.

France forecasts a budget deficit of 2.8 percent of national income in 2019, just below the European Union's cap of 3 percent, though this could come under pressure if economic growth is weaker than expected.

(Reporting by Richard Lough; editing by Jason Neely)