High buildings, low taxes
The real estate
consultancy Knight-Frank maintains a Global Cities index that
ranks cities based on how much they appeal to the wealthy. It puts
Singapore third, behind only London and New York, and predicts that it
will keep a high position all the way to 2024.
Western
countries might have to change their tune on taxation if they care to
keep their wealthiest citizens. Legislation signed into law in the US
last year increased both the income
tax and capital gains tax for the richest Americans. French president
Francois Hollande has backpedalled on his 75% “millionaire tax,” saying
that it was “too heavy,” but it remains in place.
Moving
to Singapore has allowed for example Mr. Saverin and his peers to reduce their tax
bills: Singapore has no capital gains tax and offers a much lower
individual tax rate than Western countries, especially for wealthy
people. Saverin also gets to avoid paying American taxes as a
non-resident—the US is one of only two countries that taxes the foreign income
of citizens even if they live abroad (the other is Eritrea).
Saving
millions in taxes is no doubt appealing to billionaires, but it’s not
the only reason they might want to expatriate to Singapore. The country
is financially and politically stable; it’s very clean; the education
system is great; and it has some of most diverse food options
of any Asian city. So unless those rates change, Singapore can probably expect a continued influx of expat billionaires.
Tokyo
is the undisputed champion of mega-cities. With a population of 37.8
million, it dwarves second-place Delhi. The Japanese capital has such a
big lead in population that even though it’s expected to lose about half
a million people over the next 16 years, it will still be the world’s
biggest metropolis in 2030, according to a new report by the United Nations:
Some
of the other mega-cities on the 2014 list won’t be quite as
persisten—by 2030, New York, Osaka, and Sao Paulo will no longer make
the top 10, and Mexico City will barely hang on as the sole
representative outside of Asia and Africa. This reflects the major shift
driven by the urbanization in Asia and Africa, particularly in India
(404 million projected new city dwellers by 2030), China (292 million),
and Nigeria (212 million).
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