New tax laws introduced in Monaco have earmarked the area as a good choice for wealthy expats looking for European property investments.
The new law in sees Monaco has slashed registration tax on sales down to 4.5 percent along with the added bonus that owners are allowed to rent out property without paying tax income derived from rent.
Over in France, even though wealth tax has been cut by 50 percent on a €10 million property, the rules concerning ownership of property via companies and trusts are now more restrictive than before, making Monaco the more attractive investment opportunity.
Buyers in France have also been put off by the fact the sliding scale for French capital gains tax now takes twice as long to reach zero for all new purchases.
Monaco’s new law, dubbed Law 1381, significantly decreases the tax payable by individuals purchasing a property in their own name or through a Monaco SCI, while slightly increasing the tax on a purchase through an offshore entity.
Also, the top rate of wealth tax in France has been lowered to 0.5 percent from 1.8 percent.
John Busby, director of French Private Finance, said: “Monaco has always been a popular destination for the wealthy to reside or to own property in owing to the advantageous fiscal status. We are now seeing an increase of activity and enquiries after an exceptionally quiet last quarter of 2011 for Monaco, though the Riviera is still performing well as expats can easily country-hop to neighbouring Monaco, Italy and Switzerland to maintain their non-resident status in those countries.”