Which is a better place to live: Switzerland or the USA?
This is one of those questions with many different possible answers. Personally, I don't like broad brush comparisons and have always resisted them. As a Swiss living abroad (Auslandschweizer) for more than forty years I have gained some insights and experiences that shape my opinion on this topic. Growing up in Zurich, I could hardly wait to leave the city which in the '60s I found a confining and stifling place. Did it mean the quality of life was bad? No, not at all, but for me the desire to discover the world outside was the goal and the desired destination was the USA.For many different reasons, I ended up living for twelve years in Japan instead and found that country at first challenging, frustrating, confusing but ultimately fascinating and perfectly enjoyable for me personally. This was due to the two rules I live by: The first is NOT to compare or judge countries and cultures but try to understand, accept and embrace their differences. After all why choose to live abroad if you expect the experience to be the same as living in your native place? The second rule was never to expect the local people to change their behavior and customs to conform to my expectations or to please me but to realize it was up to me to accept them on their terms while living amongst them.In the intervening years, having lived four years in Canada, five in the UK and the last twenty years in the USA, these personal rules have served me very well and allowed me to enjoy a very exciting and varied life and to become much more of a global citizen and a more tolerant person who believes in "vive la difference!"
Can I buy tax free cars from switzerland and import into UK and save money?
Even if you do, you might struggle to find right hand drive cars to buy in Switzerland.. This of course will massively upset the resale value of anything you bring in and will prob. cost you money in the long run. Insurance companies will also try and clobber you for driving an import, this isn't insurmountable with a lot of shopping about though, sometimes takes a while but I've usually managed to end up with reasonable insurance costs on my Japanese Imported cars.
What does the S.A. stand for in Rolex S.A.?
I do not know exactly what the "SA" means, but I am pretty sure S means Swiss. The company was known as Montes Rolex before moving from the UK to Switzerland. I think it has something to do with the tax and liability status like "LLC" in the USA. Rolex is a privately owned company, and not a corporation. Rolex gets a lot of credit that actually belongs to other watchmakers. They just happen to have a name that any American can pronounce. Most of the other high end watchmakers have French, or Swiss names, and few Americans can pronounce them.
Will Paul MCArtney pay 40% inheritance tax? How do the rich manage to avoid paying inheritance tax?
Inheritance tax is charged on the taxable value of your estate, less debts that you owed, that exceeds £285,000. This does not apply if your estate passes to your spouse or legal partner. It also does not apply to assets that you have given away more than 7 years before your death. Small value gifts are also exempt. Very rich people are able to dispose of much of their wealth without it affecting their lifestyle. This can be done directly or, more likely, by establishing Trusts. To work, it is necessary that the donor completely gives up all rights to the assets. This device means that the value of their estate on death has been reduced, possibly below the £285,000 threshold, and so no tax is paid on the value of these assets. Unfortunately for most of us we are not able to give up our assets and still afford to live. These days, most people are brought into the IHT regime through the value of their home so you cannot give that away.
Why don't US, UK, France, Switzerland companies IPO on the MSM (Oman's Stock exchange)? There are no capital gains tax or dividend withholding tax. Oman seems like Heaven for day traders and long term investors alike.
The stock exchange doesn't determine cap gains rates... The investor's own domicile does. U.S. investors cannot escape cap gains by buying Hong Kong stocks, for example.The Oman capital market is likely too small for companies to bother going there.
I am an Italian citizen living in Switzerland and have a business in the UK. Where do I pay my personal income tax?
Probably both in the UK and Switzerland, maybe Italy as well. The interaction between income taxes in different countries is complex with different parts of your income being taxed in different places. There are also double taxation agreements to prevent you paying tax on the same income twice. You really need to get specialist advice - initially in Switzerland as that’s where you are living.
Does UK want brexit because EU is starting to dry out tax havens like Cayman Islands?
No
Is UK wanting brexit to become a tax haven like Monacco and Switzerland?
The U.K is already a tax haven, but not like Monaco or Switzerland. The City of London is a gateway to the tax havens run by Britain: the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, the Channel Isles, the Isle of Man, and whatever I have missed.Sorry if any residents are offended by the term “run by Britain”, but from a tax avoidance perspective, they are.What some Brexiters want to avoid - the few, rich, influential ones, not the normal people - is to keep those tax havens humming.The EU wants, by and large, to stop them, or at least to prevent people using them for tax evasion (as opposed to avoidance, which is legal). A certain subset of Brexiters see the opportunity to get the UK out if the EU before that day comes.