PARIS, France – French President Emmanuel Macron announced a tough new tax aimed specifically at Americans. It’s a tourism tariff, and it applies to every purchase made anywhere in lands owned by France.
Going forward, customers in France will have to show their passports when buying things or visiting tourist destinations like Notre Dame and the Louvre. Anyone taking money who sees an American passport will then add 50 percent to the bill of sale. As an incentive to always carry ID, Macron said that anyone failing to show their passport or equivalent identification papers, even if not American, would incur the 50-percent markup; failure to do so risks a lengthy jail sentence. He said that the tax would also be added in French Polynesia, Martinique, New Caledonia, and other overseas French entities.
“We’ve had enough of Americans not paying their fair share,” Macron said. “It’s time they start. Besides, we’re still paying the bill for the Olympics.”
Asked how he arrived at the markup percentage, Macron said it just seemed easier for people to do the math. He also acknowledged approval for a large purchase of French-language calculators, to be shipped around the country.
A government spokeswoman also confirmed that Macron would be going ahead with a planned international lawsuit to compel McDonald’s and other food sellers to rename French fries.
