How to Find a Cheap Place to Live in Monaco?
Written by Peter Taradash
Why Is It Worth Moving To Monaco?
Many people don’t realize that “income taxes” are a relatively recent innovation. A few countries never had income taxes. Monaco, most Central American countries, and the Cayman Islands are such places.
How do they make money to support the government? Mostly import and export duties and sales taxes or value-added taxes. In Monaco, as in most of the E.U., there is a hefty VAT of around 20% on everything you buy.
French citizens can not escape French income taxes by moving to Monaco, but the French can and do live there and work there. It’s kind of a complicated subject.
However, still today, for someone who makes over a million dollars or euros per year, with taxes sometimes over 50%, moving to a tax haven is a very attractive option.
The USA is (strangely enough) easy-going on citizens who want to move abroad. To be a non-USA-resident for tax purposes, you just have to be “out of the country” for more than a calendar year.
The USA gives a generous (approximately) $100,000 a year income tax exemption per person to non-residents. But the USA always keeps its top-earning citizens as taxpayers unless they renounce citizenship.
How Can a Person on a Very Low Budget Live in Monaco? ?
Strangely enough, to live there you don’t need a permit or anything. A permit is needed to be a legal resident. If you just want to live there physically you don’t need any permits or permissions.
So How Can I Find My First Accommodation?
You just go there and rent an apartment; look for local ads or go online at Craig’s list for “seeking room-mates” or “sharing”. Ads are in the local free newspaper or online “Monaco Apartments /rooms for rent.”
There are usually a few very small places to rent cheaply.
These share the bath deals called Chambres de Bonne — maid’s rooms.
You might find one as cheap as €400 a month. Also, they are not of sufficient size to meet the requirements for legal residence. For the same money as a maid’s room, you can get a real apartment across the street in France. But if you want a status symbol address, go for Chambres de Bonne.
So anyone can move physically to Monaco and rent or buy a condo apartment. There are no income taxes or wealth taxes. But to get legal residence you have to show the Monaco Police mainly that you can support yourself and have no criminal record.
For non-EU citizens, the Monaco legal residence card makes it easier to travel and get visas. If you get into trouble in Monaco, you can and will be summarily kicked out without any legal recourse.
Many countries, like Germany, won’t take you off their tax rolls until you acquire a legal residence and live in a place that is not a tax haven for a few years. Then once off their tax rolls, you can move and get legal residence in a tax haven like Monaco.
Source : http://petertaradash.com