Hollande plans to soften millionaire tax

French President Francois Hollande is backing away from his campaign pledge for a 75 percent income tax in the highest bracket. Hollande, a Socialist, promised to impose the tax on all income above 1 million euros ($1.28 million) a year, The Local.fr reported. But the newspaper Le Figaro, without citing sources, said that capital gains on assets, dividends and interest will be exempt, and the threshold will be increased for heads of households and couples. Critics said Hollande's plan would lead to a mass exodus of high-income French residents and there were rumors of companies planning to move managers elsewhere. Le Figaro said Hollande also plans to postpone a tax cut for small businesses until after his 2013 budget.