I was chatting with a Dutch friend on WhatsApp on Thanksgiving Day, reminding him that we were celebrating our theft of an entire continent from the benevolent peace-loving Earth-preserving Native Americans. I shared a photo from the morning golden retriever walk:
For his part, he shared the European perspective: “There are two ways to live life. Short and violent or long and miserable.”
What else did I learn? “The left-wing parties control Dutch cities and say that they want immigrants to Holland, but don’t want the immigrants congregating in the cities that they rule. So they’ve been trying to force immigrants to settle in the conservative country towns. That hasn’t worked because the provincial towns have refused to provide free housing for migrants. So the Hague just passed a law forcing the country towns to take these immigrants.”
What are the Dutch with money doing? “Moving to Italy,” he responded. “The Italians let foreigners who move there pay 100,000 euro per year in tax. After that you can have 100 million euro in capital gains, dividends, etc. and they won’t even ask about it. It’s actually better than moving to a Caribbean tax haven because you get rebates on all of the withholding taxes on dividends because Italy has a tax treaty with the Netherlands.” (fact check: the scheme seems to have started in 2017) He said “You have to make sure that you don’t stay more than 182 days per year in the Netherlands or have kids in school here. Like New York State chasing after people who move to Florida, the Dutch government will try to find any excuse it can to continue collecting taxes. But it is really not a hardship to live in a Tuscan villa.”
Separately, the newspapers that warned us of the fascist takeover of Italy have gone silent regarding Giorgia Meloni’s dictatorship. Based on this Reuters article, it looks like the main program of fascism is stoking inflation via bigger government:
Italy’s new right-wing government signed off on its first budget in the early hours of Tuesday, a package focusing on curbing sky-high energy bills and cutting taxes…
Next year’s budget deficit is targeted to fall to 4.5% of gross domestic product from 5.6% this year. The package is still expansionary because under an unchanged policy scenario the deficit ratio was headed for 3.4%.
The budget contains almost 35 billion euros ($35.95 billion) of increased spending or tax cuts. Some 60% to be financed through increased borrowing.
Over 21 billion euros to help firms and households pay electricity and gas bills, mainly through subsidies for energy-intensive firms and low income families.
Next year Italians will be able to draw a pension from the age of 62 provided they have paid in at least 41 years of contributions.
That compares with the current rule, put in place for just this year by the previous government, allowing people to retire at 64 provided they have worked for 38 years.
The budget also extends to 2023, with adjustments, an early retirement scheme for women. Beneficiaries will be able to draw a pension at 58 if they have at least two children, at 59 with just one child, and otherwise at 60.
So, just like Americans under transferism, the Italians under fascism are going to work less and spend more!
Related:
- The Italian program wouldn’t work for a U.S. citizen, who must continue to fund whatever Joe Biden dreams up even if he/she/ze/they no longer lives in the U.S. See “How Puerto Rico Became the Newest Tax Haven for the Super Rich” (GQ) for how the Manhattan rich go “Florida squared”.
Phil just wanted to say keep up the good work, I read all your posts, I just don’t favorite them on twitter often bc I try to keep my account non-political.
Best wishes from another blue state refugee / proud newly minted Floridian
@philg: Excuse my befuddled ingorance: when you say “$100,000 a year” in tax do you mean to imply that you pay it every year and you’re not really a citizen of Italy, I know you’re on Permanent Vacation except you pay $100 Grand a year, or is that a one-time thing? If it’s a one-time thing, and you get to stay permanently, what’s a good estimate for a living decently in Italy in addition to the $100,000?
It’s the EU so there wouldn’t be any need for the Dutch citizen to get an Italian passport. And yes, the rich person would have to pay $100k (since euro and dollar are the same) every year. So it would make sense only for those who earn more than about $300k/year. What’s the cost to live decently in Italy? About the same as in the US, I think. Good food is cheaper. Real estate more expensive. VAT makes everything 10% costlier than in states such as California w high sales taxes and 20% more than in New Hampshire.
As I understand it, it’s a flat, yearly tax. Well, I’d rather Italy than Puerto Rico if the situation should arise.
You can as an alternative still buy citizenship in a few EU countries, though “the EU” seems to prefer shovelling in large numbers of random undocumented migrants of no means and no skills, rather than taking on a few rich or well-off people. So that option is being closed off by lawsuits of some kind.
Upscale neighborhoods all try to look like Italy in the movies, but the real Italy is pretty run down like Havanna.
I can’t leave lion’s comment to stand unchallenged.
I avoided Italy for years — I grew up with Italians in a gritty, post-industrial town in Canada, and thought “I don’t need to meet any more Italians”: Tough kids, nonnas who didn’t speak English, bizarre alterations of 1960s-vintage ranch homes to include arches, summer kitchens and waaaay too much tile.
Turns out I was spectacularly wrong. I’ve been to Italy three times in the past four years, for months at a time. From Tuscany and Umbria, to Liguria, Lake Como and over to the Dolomites, Naples, Campania, Basilicata, Sardinia… the list goes on. Literally *everywhere* I’ve been I’ve discovered unbelievable beauty, history, architecture and food. And the people are uniformly warm and welcoming. And the women are beautiful.
I’ve travelled pretty extensively, and Italy is easily in the top five… Top two… OK, my favorite. I plan to go back as soon as possible. Most recently we were cycling through the Dolomites and, honestly, I have never seen such beauty. It almost brought tears to my eyes.
If you’ve never been, go.