75% tax rate is very common in Europe even for workers with average salary. There are many hidden taxes such as 'social security insurance payed by employer'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_France#Taxes_on_inc...
In order to hit 40% income tax, you have to be a single on 70k or a nuclear family on 210k. Even if they have 20% VAT equivalent, that only works out to another 10% of what's left, leaving 50% as disposable income. And that's the highest tax bracket, and given that the average wage in France is supposedly ~30k euro, that's less than half the highest bracket cutoff.
He's taking about hidden taxes such as this one, which is paid by the employer, so many French people I've talked to about it seem to think it's somehow magically not money out of their pocket.
I am not French (Czech living in Ireland), so I dont know what is situation exactly, but I bet it is not much different. In Czech Republic I payed about 55% tax from my 1500 euro/month salary (bellow average for Prague).
From wiki you linked: > Taxes paid by employers on wages, namely social contributions, are not considered as taxes by the French central government.