Critics savage Depardieu's new role as tax exile

[WestVirginiaRebel]

France24:

AFP - French politicians reacted with dismay on Monday after it emerged the country's leading actor, Gerard Depardieu, has taken up the role of tax exile in neighbouring Belgium.

The move is the latest chapter in the career of a star who is rapidly becoming as famous for his erratic and sometimes controversial behaviour as for his achievements on the silver screen.

Whether it has been urinating into a bottle during a flight to Dublin, taking an inebriated tumble from his scooter or associating with the daughter of a central Asian dictator, the 63-year-old has been generating headlines for all the wrong reasons in the last few years.

He was front-page news once more on Monday following confirmation that he has taken up residence in Nechin, a tiny village just over the border in Belgium which is a favoured spot for wealthy French nationals.

Local mayor Daniel Senesael suggested Depardieu had been drawn to Nechin by the attractions of country life as much as the fiscal shelter it offers.

"He wanted to find somewhere to stay in Belgium to escape French taxes but he could just as easily have settled in Brussels," the mayor told Belgian TV.

"He wanted to get out of Paris with all its noise and find a bit of peace and quiet."

Nechin's bucolic charm has already seduced a number of Depardieu's compatriots. A quarter of the village's population is French, among them the Meunier and Mulliez families, respective owners of the Carrefour and Auchan supermarket chains.

"It is sad because he is a great actor and someone I know and like," said Bertrand Delanoe, the Socialist mayor of Paris. "He is a generous man but in this instance he is not showing that."

Jean-Francois Cope, one of the leaders of the main right wing opposition group, the UMP, also expressed his regret, while pointing the finger of blame at President Francois Hollande's tax policies.

"I don't want to cast judgement but it is distressing for the country and its image," Cope said. "You don't see leading business figures or huge stars moving out of Belgium, Britain, Germany or Italy."

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Er, actually you have...

 

[SrWoodchuck]

Not only must you be taxed @ 75%......you must like it! Who doesn't like an anti-government role model? Commies.