Here is what I know about taxation in France for 2006 income and profits:

Company profit taxation is at 33.33%.

Marginal effective income tax rate is at 40% (kicks in  after 66 679 euros of income).

When you receive a dividend, up to 1 525 euros per person, you can remove 40% of the amount, the rest is counted as income.

Some fixed interest products (including state debt) has a marginal rate of 27% (if you choose "prélèvement libératoire" as most "rich" people do, otherwise it is taxed as income - interesting for low revenue).

French "Plan d'Epagne en Action" (financial vehicle where you can put pretty much whatever you want: shares, indices, ...) capital gain is taxed at 11% after 5 years, but there is a investment cap at 132 000 euros per person (current value can be above).

The big french saving product is "assurance vie", after 8 years capital gains are taxed at 7.5% for the part above 4600 euros per person per year (if I understand correctly, I have no such product).

Unsurprisingly "assurance vie" is the most popular financial product in France, and I guess managers of such funds encourage share buybacks.

• example of tax optimisation for a SME owner (in french)

• french income tax brackets

• Prélèvement libératoire