After 60 years of fierce debate, France has finally decided to reform its income tax system and to shift the burden of income tax collection from the State to employers, thus aligning itself with all other EU Member States and most western countries which deduct income tax under a Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system. As of 1 January 2019, employers will be compelled to collect income tax through deducting it from their employees’ salaries and to pay it to the French Tax Department.

Global Benefits Vision: Hello Wendy – please tell us about your background and your career to date. Wendy Liu: I am an actuary by background, and I started my career in consulting before joining Zurich. The majority of my career has been related to global employee benefits. I began on the U.S. domestic side, expanded to international benefits and now am based in Europe covering global benefits.

In the December 2018 issue The “Macron” French Tax Reforms – Claire Toumieux, Camille Wattrelos EU Commission Propose Directive to Protect Whistle Blowers – Markulf Behrendt, Inge Vanderreken Fighting Infection-Causing Biofilms – Nicholas Fitzkee Toxic Workplaces Are Feeding the Impostor Phenomenon – Amina Aitsi-Selmi, Theresa Simpkin The Five Stages of Grief Don’t Come in Fixed Steps – Nick Haslam Could Your Fitbit Data Be Used to Deny Health Insurance? – Andrew Boyd Why Health Apps Are Like the Wild West – Michael L. Millenson Can Persuasive Technology Change Behavior? – Samir Chatterjee Wendy Liu, Zurich Global Employee Benefits Services – Interview How an E.B. Captive Can Help HR – Paul Woehrmann, Reto Heini

French insurer Apicil in December 2018 launched an EUR 10 million insurtech fund along with private equity firm Odysseus Alternative Ventures (OAV). The fund will invest in European startups “seeking to develop new technologies, new business models and new forms of delivery for the insurance sector”. APICIL Group is France’s 4th largest provider of occupational health, life, and retirement plans. OAV is the private equity and venture capital arm