Posted Mon May 18 15:32:00 UTC 2009

The British Empire gets unsettled by the announcement of the British government to increase tax rates for the upper incomes by 10% to 50%. People with salaries more than £150’000 are thinking about to leave or actually impend doing so.

While several British Medias feature articles on high profiles residents and their moving plans, another source, “Scorpio Partnership”, takes the same line and published a list of the most preferred locations for “tax refugees”. The specialty of this company is market research for the asset management industry. Scorpio compiled a list with eleven regions/cities which are considered first class locations to live and work for the wealthy. In that list, Switzerland has obtained first position right before locations such as Monaco and New York (please see the graphic). This reflects the overall opinion about Switzerland to be one of the most sought-after places in the world in terms of living. Standards in lifestyle, security and healthcare, just to name a few, are very high and really appreciated by foreigners. The favorable tax situation is just another advantageous issue on that list. On the topic of the lately heavy discussed Swiss tax issues, the country only holds the fifth place, what also reflects that’s its not only the tax situation which is so important to many of the wealthy. So the argument that Switzerland is a tax oasis can’t really rank that high as discussed in the past. Switzerland’s German speaking northern part of greater Zurich as well as the French speaking western part around Geneva are the traditional regions of interest to foreigners, but Ticino, the most southern part of Switzerland, is getting more and more interesting, especially for those coming from countries with a more comfortable climate or even very wet and cold climate like UK and therefore will enjoy the Mediterranean influenced climate of Ticino.

Also important to mention is the still stable real estate market and with some negotiations there can be achieved quite some good deals..

Scorpio Partnership 2009, NZZ am Sonntag – Selection of criterias chart

Posted By: Peter Rabitz