Rocker Johnny Hallyday is just one of the famous or anonymous French nationals who pull out of the country's tax base daily in a rarely discussed phenomenon fueled by European fiscal competition. "Like many French people, I've had enough of the taxes we are forced to pay and this is it, I've made my choice," Hallyday told French radio Thursday during the launch of a Hallyday fashion line at a Paris boutique.
The 63-year-old, who has sold 100 million discs over the past 40 years, will now live part of the year at his Swiss chalet in the tony ski resort of Gstaad.
Shockwaves from Hallyday's announcement spread quickly, rocking the campaign he strongly supports of Nicolas Sarkozy, France's interior minister who has thrown his hat into the ring for the 2007 French presidential election.
"As you know, I like Johnny very much," Sarkozy said Friday. "I have a lot of respect for his talent. But I would like us all to feel that we can live in France even after we have succeeded."
The presidential candidate nonetheless added that in "a country where our artists, our creative people and researchers, where so many say they must leave, there is a problem."
The issue of fiscal exile from France has long been almost tabou.
The number of those who move abroad, often quietly, to escape burdensome income and wealth taxes is estimated at "one per day" by Gilles Carrez, a member of Sarkozy's UMP party that oversees budget questions in the national parliament.
Other French personalities who live abroad include actor Alain Delon, actor/singer Charles Aznavour, former formula one champion Alain Prost and tennis champion Amelie Mauresmo.
The former head of construction group Vinci, Antoine Zacharias, who stepped down amid sharp controversy over his pay package, has recently settled in Geneva, the financial daily Les Echos reported.
It is a perfectly legal choice, as long as one lives more than 183 days a year outside France.
But like many of his compatriots, French President Jacques Chirac expressed regret at Hallyday's decision, after praising his human qualities and talent.
"I nonetheless regret -- though I appreciate the artist -- the citizen's behaviour," Chirac told a press conference at the European summit in Brussels.
In 2003, the finance ministry estimated at around 370 the number of "delocalisations linked to the wealth tax," a figure that had remained stable since 1997 according to a report by UMP parliament deputy Olivier Dassault.
Since then, no figures have been made available, and tax authorities told AFP they did not have "sufficiently reliable" data for the past few years.
It is known however that in 2003, 149 people with incomes that qualified them for the wealth tax moved back to France, though their net worth was said to be less than those who left.
Favored destinations include Switzerland with its tradition of banking secrecy, but also Belgium, in particular for entrepreneurs who have sold their companies and seek to avoid both capital gains and wealth taxes.
Britain and the United States welcome others with more modest fortunes, according to Dassault's report.
While the number of taxpayers who qualify for the wealth tax increases on a regular basis, the departures represent lost income that is hard to quantify but which is grist for the mill of those who oppose the levy.
Conservative deputy Lionnel Luca called on the French government to abolish the wealth tax instead of mourning Hallyday's departure. "Johnny voted with his feet," he said.
The government has already tweaked the fiscal code via tax breaks and a ceiling that limits direct taxes at 60 percent of income.
But tax official Vincent Drezet said that while France would never rival Switzerland as a tax haven, it should "work urgently towards fiscal harmonisation within the European Union".
Consultations among the 25 current EU members have made little headway, however.
