News today out of France that actor Gerard Depardieu is selling his massive manor house in the swanky Saint Germain district of Paris. He intends to move to Belgium to escape the French socialist government’s pending 75 percent surtax on income exceeding one million euros. Residents of Belgium pay neither a wealth tax nor a capital gains tax on stock sales.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Depardieu’s action was “pathetic” and unpatriotic.
In addition to Belgium, wealthy French are said to be eyeing Britain as a place to escape the tax man.
But, as the French prepare to flee north across the Channel, the British have tax problems of their own, with about a half-million of them looking to move abroad to escape rising taxes and crime.
Meanwhile, a fresh round of articles verify a continuing pattern of migration from America’s largest state to its second-largest state-a trend that is likely to continue, now that California has the highest income tax in the nation while Texas levies no income tax. Yet, Golden State Democrats deny that tax rates influence behavior, claiming that high California taxes won’t spark an outmigration of wealth.
We’ll see.
In the meantime, Texas will be more than happy to receive into its welcoming arms people who want to work hard, invest, and create jobs.
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