9 Responses to “Why do retiring Europeans tend to move to countries with less taxes?”

1. Dicken C
   August 12th, 2009 @ 6:34 am

   Retiring Europeans (ie British) and Canadians move to southern countries for the weather. (ie. Britons to Spain and Canadians to Bermuda/Florida, USA).
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2. Kiss me I have Swine Flu
   August 12th, 2009 @ 7:06 am

   If they have enough money to pack up and move to another country, then they shouldn’t be worrying about a simple tax .
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3. Eric P
   August 12th, 2009 @ 7:53 am

   I can’t imagine someone so greedy they want to keep the money they earned
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4. Stacies Mom
   August 12th, 2009 @ 8:33 am

   Just like here, retired people have to live on less, no matter why. And I would think the publicized medical system would work for them.

   Europe is smaller and more diverse than the US. So moving to another country is probably tantamount to moving to the south here.
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5. tonalc2
   August 12th, 2009 @ 9:19 am

   I would be interested in your source for that statistic; could you provide it?

   And just a note–if they retired to anywhere in the industrialized world except the US, there’s socialized medicine there.

   Here’s some popular places to retire, with their listed benefits.
   http://www.disabled-world.com/entertainment/live-overseas.php
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6. Sadcat
   August 12th, 2009 @ 9:34 am

   No. It has to do with the fact that in European tax systems, individuals are taxed ONLY based on residency, not citizenship (with some modifications in the U.K.).

   In the United States, on the other hand, we tax based on citizenship. If you move to a foreign country and you’re still a U.S. citizen, you’re still taxed on your income as if you were a U.S. resident. Moreover, even if you expatriate from the U.S., you’ll still be taxed for 10 years in the US (section 877A of the Tax Code).

   So it’s not a difference in socialized medicine. It’s a difference in tax laws.

   If the U.S. had tax laws that were like European tax laws, you can bet that Warren Buffett would already be living in the Cayman Islands.
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7. ryoshi100
   August 12th, 2009 @ 9:48 am

   So they can live more comfortably..

   Also, because you might just want to get away when you retire.

   side note.. I know your avatar is calling the president a "joker".. It looks a little too close to some of the racist depictions of black people who "tried to be white" ( by going to college and becoming something)
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8. Moriarty
   August 12th, 2009 @ 10:29 am

   Nope. For these tax havens tend not to have "socialised" medicine and therefore medical care is as expensive, if not more so, than the extortionate US variety and this is right at the time when these retirees are more likely to need medical assisstance. A good example would be the Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs, who upon discovering he was seriously ill returned from Brazil to the UK to get treatment.
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9. Bamford1000
   August 12th, 2009 @ 11:12 am

   Retiring Brits mainly stay in Britain, however those that do go abroad tend to go to Spain, France and around the Mediterranean.

   France actually has a higher rate of tax than Britain, and Spain has Universal Health Care and a Welfare System, and has a complex tax system.

   World Map of Countries with Universal Health Care

   http://www.blogcdn.com/www.gadling.com/media/2007/07/healthcareworldbig.jpg
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