Changing Citizenship to Avoid Tax

“How so? Is it that easy?” let’s give the answer. The right to citizenship is an inalienable right that a person has from birth. This right, which protects the individual, is also protected in the Turkish Constitution. But are there any examples in our country? Of course there is. However, we are not even aware of many of them.

As with everything else, of course, there are costs to renounce citizenship. Not everyone can change citizenship in their own way. Actress who recently gave up citizenship to avoid high taxes in France Gerard Depardieu We had heard this news. But in fact, there were similar examples before and after that. Let’s see if this is really possible.

First of all, let’s start by specifying the conditions for relinquishing citizenship in Turkey.

As stated in the 3rd paragraph of Article 66 of our Constitution, we have acquired this citizenship right since we were born. we may lose with the conditions specified in the same law. In other words, we can lose Turkish citizenship by gaining citizenship of another state.

Article 25 of the Turkish Citizenship Law This point has been touched upon. Certain conditions have been determined to renounce citizenship; Persons who meet these conditions also have a permit or exit document from the ministry. The conditions in the article are as follows:

• Adult and have the power to distinguish is one of the conditions. To have acquired the citizenship of a foreign state or to have credible indications that it will acquire it, not to be a wanted person for any crime or military service, and not to have any financial or penal constraints.

There are quite a lot of people in the world who change their citizenship by “avoiding high taxes”, which we have not heard much about in our country.

In past years Actor Gerard Depardieu, who settled in Belgium after avoiding high taxes in FranceHe announced that he would renounce his citizenship. In fact, the famous actor wrote to a magazine that the French government “achievement, creativity and ability“punish”I go because they think success, creativity, talent, anything different should be punished.” he criticized. This decision was also described as “misery” by the Prime Minister.

Countries with low tax rates for people with high incomes The number of people trying to get citizenship is increasing day by day, if we assume that this situation is still fresh in our country, it is a subject that can be a candidate for the most wanted list on Google.

Again, looking at the data of the US National Revenue Service, the number of people who renounced their Green Card application and citizenship in order to avoid high taxes reaches a record high.

It is thought that this increase is due to the fact that the US citizens living in different countries are also subject to taxes. Those who want to renounce their citizenship and those who fall into the high tax bracket due to their income and U.S. citizens living in different countries.

“Is something like this possible?” Our answer to those who ask: Yes, it is possible. People in this group, which includes many celebrities, politicians, actors and business people, either voluntarily leave or are stripped of their citizenship.

Here are a few of the famous names who gave up citizenship to avoid paying high taxes:

Sociologist who pioneered the civil rights movement in America William Edward Burghardt DuBois He became a citizen of Ghana.

one of the beauties of hollywood Elizabeth TaylorHe is said to have renounced his US citizenship in 1965 and became a British citizen. Earl Tupper, the inventor of Tupperware, sold his company and divorced his wife in 1958 to avoid paying taxes. He later renounced his citizenship and continued his life on an island in Costa Rica.

co-founder of facebook Eduardo Saverin is another name that comes out of US citizenship. Ranking 634th on the list of billionaires, Saverin became a Singaporean citizen with no capital income tax.

Legendary actor we know from the movie “The King and Me” Yul Brynner, Due to taxes, he renounced his American citizenship in 1965 and continued his life as a Swiss citizen.

In Turkey, there are a few names who have lost their citizenship:

We have not heard of people who changed their citizenship to avoid taxes in our country. However, there are a few names that we know, who have come out of Turkish citizenship. One of those names is the famous poet who comes to mind first. Nazim hikmet. He was stripped of his Turkish citizenship by the decision of the Council of Ministers in 1951, and after 58 years, he became a Turkish citizen again with a decision.

Turkish cinema Yılmaz Güney, “The Ugly King” He was stripped of his Turkish citizenship in 1981 when he escaped from Isparta Semi-Open Prison and fled to France.

Again, Cem Karaca is among those who have been stripped of his Turkish citizenship.

In our country, there are examples of transitioning to citizenship of a different country for political, political and personal reasons rather than leaving citizenship in order to avoid paying taxes. We While we pay tax on the water we drink And even as you read this article right now, many people may be looking for a way around it.