Stars Who Have Left Blighty

Following Gordon Brown’s recent announcement that earnings over £150,000 a year will be taxed a whopping 50% as of April, many stars are fleeing the nest to protect their bank balances. Moving abroad to cut your tax bill is not a new phenomenon – in the seventies the Rolling Stones became tax exiles, moving to the French Riviera to avoid paying British income tax. It was during this time that Mick Jagger and co wrote their aptly-titled classic album, Exile on Main Street.

Then in the nineties, the Spice Girls did it too – maximising their earnings at the peak of their popularity in 1997 by spending fewer than 90 days of the year in Britain, which reportedly saved the girls a cool £1 million each through tax exemptions.

Robbie followed suit in 2005, fleeing the UK for the States, where he called Los Angeles home for over three years. The singer swears he didn’t make the move to save on tax though: “I would never ever do a tax year out,” said Robbie, “it's only money and I love Britain!” That said, Rob is considering moving back to America as that’s where girlfriend Ayda Field is said to be happiest.

"It was a tough decision. My dream for years was to move to London – I stayed at a friend's house this weekend in London and I woke up in the morning and just knew it was where I wanted to be," he added. "But I'll meet new people, new faces and I do have a few friends there and my family and friends from home will be able to come and visit me."

 

But since then, Hamilton’s father has admitted the move was for financial reasons. "If I have any regrets," Anthony Hamilton told The Mirror, "it is the way we managed the move to Switzerland. It was my idea. I always said that if he started to make any money he would have to move abroad. It could be a very short career and you have to take care of what you have got. He had been to Geneva and liked it, and it was me who suggested moving there."

 

Other high-flying celebrities to have been attracted to the slopes (and savings) of Switzerland include Phil Collins, who has been a resident for 10 years, American singer Tina Turner and German F1 champion Michael Schumacher.

 

James Blunt was another of our home-grown stars to be lured by foreign climes. The You’re Beautiful singer had originally made plans to move to the ski resort of Verbier in Switzerland, but ended up choosing Spain instead – his main residence is in Ibiza. The 35-year-old, who earned £5 million with his 11-times platinum selling debut album Back to Bedlam, bought a 150-year-old £1.7 million hilltop property on the island. His wealthy neighbours include the likes of Jade Jagger and French footballer Zinedine Zidane.

But not all stars leave us behind for monetary reasons: Brian McFadden had called London home until he met Australian singer Delta Goodrem in 2004 and relocated to Sydney. Since setting up shop Down Under, the former Westlife star has built up an impressive career – both his solo albums have gone top five in the Australian charts, he presents a football show on Aussie telly, has a semi-regular slot on radio and was recently a guest judge on the panel of Australian Idol, the country’s equivalent of X Factor.

 

Numerous others have left Blighty for work opportunities and never looked back. Hugh Laurie, star of US drama House, has lived in West Hollywood since 2004. The show’s success – it was the most watched show in the world in 2008 – means the Blackadder star will be based in America for the foreseeable future.  Laurie’s Stateside location has also boosted his film career – in recent years he has had a starring role in Street Kings alongside Keanu Reeves, and he voiced one of the leads in animated flick Monsters vs Aliens.

 

So, be it for love or money (or love of money), more and more stars are giving Blighty the boot. If only we could have this “problem” of having too much money!


The views in this column are those of the author alone and not of MSN/Microsoft.

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