In today’s world, where it has become fairly easy for a taxpayer to move back and forth from one country to another, it has become quite a common tax strategy, especially among wealthy individuals and multinational companies, to transfer their residence, income, and assets abroad mainly to reduce tax burden. Particularly in Europe, many wealthy individuals have moved their residence abroad mostly for tax purpose. Thus, tennis legend Bjorn Borg, who was known to have transferred decades ago his residence from Sweden to Monaco, is obviously not alone. A more recent, well-publicized case was Grard Depardieu, who showed his intention of leaving France after having acquired Russian citizenship in 2013. This famous French actor and entrepreneur is reported to have made a comment that the French governments recent plan of raising the top marginal individual income tax rate is just like penalizing talented people who have achieved success in their careers.
