Two months after Bernard Arnault's bid for Belgian citizenship shocked France, another major cultural figure has crossed the border in a quest for lower taxes.
Indeed, according to Belgian newspaper Le Soir, French superstar actor, Gerard Depardieu, has recently bought a mansion in the southern Belgium's francophone region. His new home is in the town of Nechin, located just about a mile from the border, where French expats notoriously make up 27 percent of the local population.
The move could allow the quintessentially French actor to escape the tax increases put up by the recently elected Socialist government in France.
Indeed, the budget unveiled in September by French President included one of his most controversial campaign promises: a 75 percent tax for incomes over 1 million euros ($1.27 million). On Tuesday, Hollande renewed his attachment to the measure in his first official press conference since taking power, and re-affirmed that the tax will only be a temporary one—for the next two years—in an effort to tackle the current economic crisis.