Newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron is anxious to get his domestic economic agenda off the ground, but he's had some difficulties due to the perception he's a symbol for rich people. True or not, his left flank political opponents smell blood, but Macron is apparently ready to counter them. The Independent reports that Macron's administration will soon propose a tax on luxury items, such as yachts, precious metals (jewelry) and supercars in the upcoming 2018 budget.

This is actually pretty interesting considering it was Macron who recently abolished the wealth tax, hence the left-wing anger. Macron originally favored a simple real estate tax on the wealthy, but has decided to also include supercars and the like. Thing is, the amount of tax revenue generated by taxing supercars, yachts, etc. isn't really all that much. Sure, there are plenty of wealthy French supercars owners, but the vehicles' value and subsequent tax isn't anywhere near those same peoples' real estate holdings. While owning a couple of supercars could be valued at, for example, less than 1 million euros, owning two high-value pieces of real estate can easily be worth several million.

It's simple math, really. Macron originally hesitated with this luxury item tax, mainly due to concerns it would deter investors. For example, will brands such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce and Bentley still keep all of their respective French dealerships open, or opt to consolidate them and kill some jobs in the process? Additional taxes could hurt sales. The French parliament's finance commission will begin studying Macron's proposed bill later this week.