French actor Gerard Depardieu made international headlines earlier this year when he left France due to that country's exorbitantly high tax rates.
American tennis star Serena Williams apparently agrees with Depardieu telling Rolling Stone magazine, "Seventy-five percent doesn't seem legal."
HONG KONG -- We read about famous people like French film star Gerard Depardieu, who moved to Belgium to avoid a 75 percent income tax on millionaires proposed by France's Socialist government (a measure rejected last week by a French council, though French leadership has vowed to resubmit a similar proposal). Then there is Eduardo Saverin, who took the extreme step of giving up his U.S. citizenship and could see a savings of $39 million on his Facebook investment, according to the research firm Wealth-X. He says business reasons, rather than high taxes, were his primary motivation.
I had read about financially motivated expatriates but never knew one who had taken the ultimate step until I visited with my longtime friend "Sam" (I'm withholding his real name to protect his current employment). Sam works for a large investment firm. He has lived here for the last 25 years.
Today's starter topic: He hasn't been relevant in a long time but the publicity French movie star Gerard Depardieu is getting for moving to Belgium to avoid France's new income tax laws can't be good. Exit question: How do wealthy leftists who advocate for politicians who want to raise taxes justify evading them once they are raised?