Reports that American billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson is considering a move from his native New York to the low tax jurisdiction of Puerto Ricois, in my opinion, further evidence that wealthy Americans are increasingly feeling ‘taxed-out’ at home and that international tax migration is becoming ever-more mainstream.

57-year-old Paulson, according to Bloomberg, recently viewed a luxury property on the Spanish-speaking Caribbean island and should he decide to move there he would join another 10 ultra-high-net-worth Americans who have moved there in order to benefit from a new law that excuses new residents from paying all local or US taxes on capital gains.

This, of course, would be hugely attractive for Paulson as he would eliminateNew York’s 50 per cent tax rate on the $9.5 billion he has invested in hedge funds.

deVere Group US tax mitigation study

Last month, the deVere Group highlighted the phenomenon of international tax migration when we released the findings of a study that showed that between January and February of this year there was a 48 per cent month-on-month jump in the number of wealthy Americans seeking advice from us on moving from theUSin order to protect their funds.

Anecdotally too, we can see that there’s a clear trend.  For example, in recent times, golf-pro Phil Mickelson, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, songwriter and socialite Denise Rich, actor Gérard Depardieu, and Louis Vuitton magnate Bernard Arnault, have all moved from their native countries to low tax jurisdictions or have expressed a desire to do so imminently.

To my mind, the concept of moving from one location to another to mitigate one’s tax liabilities is becoming increasingly established, as individuals.

Nigel Green deVere Group

Blog written 11th March