The 2025 Version of a “Sniveling and Despicable French Thief”

September 5, 2025 by Dan Mitchell @ International Liberty

Back in 2012, I mocked French politicians because they were whining about upper-income taxpayers escaping from France.

That column discussed well-to-do French taxpayers moving to Belgium, which is also a high-tax welfare state, but has the advantage of having no capital gains tax.

Today will feature a new version of that column.

But instead of being about French politicians complaining about tax refugees going to Belgium, the new controversy is French politicians complaining about tax refugees going to Italy.

Let’s look at some excerpts from an article in the European Conservative by Javier Villamor.

Try not to laugh as you read about Prime Minister Bayrou’s complaints.

 

French Prime Minister François Bayrou has accused Italy of luring away France’s wealthy taxpayers… In a televised interview on Sunday evening carried by four news channels, Bayrou accused Giorgia Meloni’s government of pursuing a “tax dumping” policy that, according to him, is driving wealthy taxpayers out of France and weakening the state’s revenues. “The wealthiest people are leaving. …Italy is currently applying a tax dumping policy,” Bayrou stated… The exchange has once again highlighted long-standing tensions within the European Union over tax competition between member states.

Like Belgium, Italy is a high-tax welfare state.

But it is also like Belgium in that it has a specific policy – in Italy’s case, a special flat tax regime – that makes it attractive for wealthy foreigners.

For the most part, Italy is defending itself. Here are some passages from a story in Bloomberg by Donato Paolo Mancini.

 

Italy and France sparred over tax competition within the European Union… Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office replied with an unusual personal rebuke that called the claim “utterly baseless.” …In Italy, measures include incentives for high net-worth individuals to move their fiscal residence to Italy in exchange for a flat tax on their worldwide assets and earnings… Italy’s plan — known in private wealth circles as “empty London” — has lured rich foreigners from the UK, attracting a range of wealthy emigrants from hedge fund managers to ex-CEOs and Middle Eastern billionaires. The law also includes tax breaks for inheritances. …Marco Osnato, the head of the economic department in Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, said in an interview. “France would do better to reflect on its own conduct rather than accuse others.”

The final sentence in the above excerpt is key.

Taxpayers are escaping France because the French tax system is bad. Rather that whining about Italy, politicians in Paris should lower tax rates (I’m not holding my breath).

P.S. The United Kingdom used to have a “non-dom” policy that was very similar to the Italian system. But greedy and short-sighted British politicians have eroded that system. So many of the affected taxpayers have moved and Italy is a favored destination – hence the “Empty London” moniker.