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Monopoly money used to pay for €6 million jewels

A Greek jeweller was left empty-handed and red-faced after selling over €6 million ($7.5 million) worth of jewels to two con men who paid him with a suitcase full of Monopoly money.

Published: 3 October 2014 16:05 CEST

Monopoly money used to pay for €6 million jewels

A Greek jeweller won't ever want to play Monopoly again. Photo: Dominique Faget/AFP

A jeweller who thought he’d found a way to avoid the tax man on a €6 million sale, instead painfully learned the meaning of “Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.”

It started several weeks back when two people who claimed they were French contacted the Greek man to buy four “rare” rings and a necklace, French daily Le Parisien reported on Friday.

After some discussions online and over the phone, the trio decided to meet in Paris to do the deal. So it was on September 25th the men got together in a place on Rue des Mathurins in the 8th arrondissement.

The buyers came with a suitcase filled with €6 million in cash, which is not uncommon in deals for pricey antiques or jewelry where the parties want to avoid paying taxes.

SEE ALSO: Poker game with Monopoly money ends in death

At this point, the jeweller later claimed to police, to carry out his due diligence on the money.

He says he plucked one of the wads of €500 bills out of the case and took it around the corner to currency exchange for verification.

Once the veracity of the bills was verified, the jeweller says he headed back to the hotel and concluded the sale.

However then things took a turn for the worse from his point of view.

“After his clients left the jeweller checked the rest of the bills. That’s when he realized there was a problem. The majority of the bills bore the name of the famous game Monopoly,” an unnamed source told Le Parisien.

The jeweller then desperately tried to reach the buyers, but not surprisingly they didn’t pick up.

Instead he ended walking into the police station and recounting the whole sad story.

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Explained: France's exit tax

Like some other European countries, France does have an exit tax for those (French or foreign) who are leaving the country. It’s known by the English name l’Exit tax.

However, it won’t affect most people.

Only those who have been tax resident for a minimum six years of the 10 years immediately before they permanently move out of the country are liable to pay an exit tax – if, that is, they own property, titles or rights worth a minimum of €800,000, or that represent 50 percent of a company’s social profits.

If that affects you, the best advice is to seek expert individual financial advice before moving out of France for good. The relevant page on the French government’s impot.gouv.fr website says it is possible to defer payments, and some relief is available.

Because of the relatively high figures involved, this tax is irrelevant for most people. That said, however, you will still have to inform tax authorities that you are moving out of the country because you may still have income, property and capital gains taxes to pay.

Income tax

You must inform the tax office that you are moving and give them your new address so that your tax declarations can be transferred to your new address.

You are liable for tax on everything you earned in France prior to your departure as well as on any French earnings that are taxable in France under international tax treaties that you earned after your departure.

The year of your departure, you declare your previous year’s earnings as normal – declarations in spring 2024 are for earnings in 2023.

A year later, you will have to declare any earnings taxable in France from January 1st up to the date of your departure, and any French-sourced income taxable source until December 31st of the year of your departure.

If you continue to have any French-sourced income – such as from renting out a French property – you will have to declare that income annually, using the non-residents declaration form.

Property taxes

You will have property taxes to pay if you own a French property on January 1st of any given year – whether it is occupied or not.

Property tax bills come out in the autumn, but they refer to the situation on January 1st of that year, so even if you sell your property you will usually have the pay a final property tax bill the following year.

Moreover, if you receive income from property in France or have rights related to that property (such as shared ownership or stock in property companies), as well as any additional revenue connected to the property, during the year you leave France, you will be required to pay taxes on these earnings.

If any property assets in France exceed €1.3 million on January 1st of a given year, you may also have to pay the wealth tax (IFI).

READ ALSO What is France’s wealth tax and who pays it?

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Capital gains tax

If you sell your French property or share of a French property, you may be liable for capital gains tax at a rate of 19 percent. It will also be subject to social security contributions at the overall rate of 17.2 percent.

Capital gains tax varies depending on how long you have owned the property and whether it was a second home or your main residence.

READ ALSO How much capital gains tax will I have to pay if I sell my French property?

The good news is, if you move to another EU country, or any country that has a specific tax agreement with France, you may be exempt from capital gains tax for non-resident sellers on the sale of a property that was your principal residence in France.

If you move elsewhere, you may be able to claim exemption on capital gains tax up to €150,000. As always, you should seek expert financial advice.

Tell Social Security

Inform social security that you are leaving France permanently – and return your carte vitale if you have one. If you do not, you may be liable for any benefits you receive to which you are no longer entitled.

More mundane tasks involve informing utility and water companies, your internet provider, if you have one, the phone company, your insurance companies, banks – and La Poste, who will be able to forward your mail for up to 12 months, for a fee…

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