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More of France’s top earners leaving the country

The wealthiest of the French are leaving the country in their thousands, according to a new report.

More of France's top earners leaving the country
And they're off! Photo: Christian Junker/Flickr
From 2013 to 2014, there was a 10 percent increase in the number of departures from France for those earning over €100,000 a year. 
 
In fact, a full 4,109 households up and left France in 2014 (the most recent year with available statistics), according to a report submitted to the French Parliament's Finance Commission that was seen by Les Echos newspaper
 
And the trend has continued ever since 2007 for those earning over €100,000, though it's a slightly different story for the super wealthy.
 
For those earning over €300,000 a year, 589 decided to leave France in 2014, down from 659 the year before.
 
Of those lucky enough to be raking in €700,000 or more per year, 127 left France in 2014, down from 179 in 2013. 
 
So why were the wealthy leaving France in 2014?
 
Despite taxes being heavily increased in 2012 with a “super tax” of 75 percent on the rich (which was dropped in 2015), very few high earners actually blamed the tax man for causing them to move. 
 
Numerous studies on the topic say that any kind of exodus from France is more likely to be for a new job, a change of scene, or for family reasons.
 
A report from 2012 found that over half of these wealthy French people leave for “professional reasons”, while 30 percent move for personal or family reasons.
 
While they may say the reasons for leaving aren't tax related, the choice of top countries to resettle in tell another story, with the UK, US, Switzerland and Belgium filling out the top four.
 
It remains unclear now, given the recent Brexit vote, if the UK will remain a top choice for France's high earners going forward. 
 
 

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