Warning on tax exiles

13 January 2013

TAX advisers to Ireland’s wealthiest people have warned the government that stricter laws on tax exiles would drive celebrities and rich business executives out of the country.

In a series of submissions to the Department of Finance last year, companies such as Mazars, an accountancy firm, and Matheson, a law firm, predicted Ireland would suffer the same fate as France — its wealthiest citizens leaving — if it introduced new conditions to “ensure that tax exiles make a fair contribution to the exchequer”.

Last week it emerged Gérard Depardieu, the French actor, had been granted a Russian passport. Depardieu is keen to avoid a new 75% tax rate for millionaires in France, and has threatened to leave in protest. The star of Green Card has not said he will actually move permanently to Russia, which has a 13% tax rate.