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Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Inside the ultra-luxury lives of Formula One stars as drivers head 'home' for the Monaco Grand Prix
The illustrious and glamorous Monaco Grand Prix is set to take centre stage this weekend - one of the most eye-catching races on the Formula One calendar. Staged in the tight, winding streets of Monte Carlo, the event is always the focus of attention with celebrities coming from afar to witness the spectacle. A riviere stacked with superyachts, rich millionaires flaunting their cash and supercars lining the streets, it is certainly the centrepiece of the sport's agenda that cannot be missed. The Monaco Grand Prix is one of the sport's oldest races, first held in 1929, thanks to Prince Louis II and is ready for the 96th edition on Sunday. The principality also offers the wealthy refuge from high taxes on their personal income - an inviting proposal to the world's richest people. Tennis big hitters Novak Djokovic and Boris Becker are among some of the sporting stars who reside in the small principality. Even musicians such as U2's Bono and Beatles member Ringo Starr have lived in Monaco during their outstanding careers. It is a billionaire's paradise, offering a stupendous financial advantage to its residents with its zero personal income tax policy, saving drivers millions on their overall earnings. So, as the world's attention turns to the exuberant Grand Prix, who are some of the Formula One driving stars currently residing in the tax-haven paradise of Monaco? Lewis Hamilton British driving superstar Lewis Hamilton has homes across the world but prefers to spend most of his time in Monaco. The seven-time world champion, who has a reported net worth of £300m, keeps his property locations private, reaping the tax benefits. Supposedly, the former Mercedes driver resides in the exclusive Fontvieille district. He enjoys partaking in water sport activities when he is away from the track as he settles into life at Ferrari. The 40-year-old has had a mixed start to the 2025 season, but flew through the field to finish fourth at Imola last week, and will hope to build on that in his hometown this weekend. Max Verstappen Max Verstappen also lives in Monaco, having moved to the principality on his 18th birthday, with 78 laps a season of the Monte Carlo streets clearly not enough for him. While the Dutchman still pays taxes on income earned in the Netherlands, the Red Bull driver reportedly rents a £16m apartment on the Mediterranean coast. Verstappen, like Hamilton, enjoys water sports, typically riding a Red Bull-sponsored jet ski. Right now, he may be spending more of his time enjoying family life, having recently welcomed his first child with his girlfriend, Kelly Piquet. Verstappen was back to his imperious best to win at Imola last weekend as he chases down McLaren's Oscar Piastri in pursuit of a fifth straight world title. Charles Leclerc Ferrari's Charles Leclerc is the only current driver who is from Monaco, holding a golden Monaco passport. The Monegasque has no concerns about tax residency issues and is often seen relaxing off the track cruising on his yacht or playing golf. Leclerc won the Monaco Grand Prix last year, an emotional victory in front of his home fans. But he has rarely been at the front of the grid this year, and will need a big upturn in form to repeat his win of 2024 on Sunday - starting from second on the grid. He is a popular figure in his hometown, though, as shown when a banner depicting him as a saint was unfurled on a Monaco boat earlier this week. Lando Norris Lando Norris is the most recent Formula One driver to move to Monte Carlo as driving stars head back to Monaco for the Grand Prix. The 23-year-old left Woking for the tax-haven of Monaco after the end of the last season. He may have hoped a change of scenery would help him win his first world title, but Norris has been overshadowed by his McLaren team-mate so far this season. Norris is currently 13 points behind Oscar Piastri in the drivers' standings in what promises to be a thrilling title race. Oscar Piastri The championship leader also lives in Monaco. Piastri had previously resided in the UK before moving to the principality in 2024. His new luxury lifestyle appears to be aiding his title bid as he has shone in the opening months of the season. It has been some rise for the Australian, who has been taken under the wing of his fellow countryman Mark Webber, who also challenged for world titles during his own career with Red Bull. George Russell Mercedes star George Russell has resided in Monaco for the last two years. The Brit has been seen getting himself into peak condition at a nearby running track as he chases down his first world title. Russell is currently dating Spanish fashion influencer Carmen Montero Mundt, with the couple first meeting in 2020. Mundt had originally been due to go on a date with Russell's friend, but a late change of plans led to Russell and Mundt getting together. Five years on, they remain with one another, and spend most of their time in Monaco. They enjoy time together in the local area, and were spotted at the Monte-Carlo Masters watching some of the world's biggest tennis stars in action back in 2023. Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz moved to Monaco last year, and reportedly lives just five minutes away from Leclerc. The two men raced alongside each other for Ferrari, but have since been separated, with Sainz now at Williams. It has been a difficult start for Sainz at his new team, with the Spaniard only earning 11 points so far this season. He is currently 29 points behind his team-mate, Alex Albon, in the standings.
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Inside the tiny island nearly 100 miles from the UK where no one pays income or inheritance tax... and you don't need a CV to get a job
A tiny island nearly 100 miles from Britain with only three pubs, a population of less than a thousand and a ban on cars does not sound like the obvious location for the latest Gen Z revolution. But for Jade Right, a 23-year-old from Oxfordshire, the idea of swapping island-life for the hustle and bustle of the mainland makes no sense whatsoever. Surprisingly Jade, and an ever-growing cohort of twenty somethings from England to Australia, are flocking to idyllic and genteel Sark, 80 miles off the coast of Dorset. Jade told MailOnline: 'I originally came here for a three-week holiday and stayed. 'It's easy to get a job in hospitality, CVs aren't a thing and employees treat you really well.' The island, much to the amusement of older locals, has started to get attention on social media. Gen Z has found Sark and clips of young people gushing about its beautiful scenery and unique way of life have started to flood onto TikTok. But while some 20-somethings living back in the UK are swooning over the island's picturesque coastline - others have moved there with money on their minds. Sark, like the rest of the Channel Islands, is considered a tax-haven where residents don't have to pay income tax, inheritance tax, capital gains tax or VAT. Their tax form is one-page and takes five minutes to complete, asking residents to pay a property tax proportionate to the size of their home and a small personal capital tax. These perks attract a range of people to the island, which Jade says is one of the many great things Sark has going for it. She said: 'You've got people from different backgrounds but everyone's really humble, it's a massive community. 'There's a lot of tax avoiders, Germans come here and buy properties. 'If you travel in winter you don't have to pay tax but it's only £500 for the whole year, £67.10 a month and that's only if you're here in January and February.' The main industry in Sark is tourism; their season running from March to October so the available jobs on the island, which are plentiful, are in hospitality or trade. The last time a census was taken of the island was in 2022 and it recorded that the population was 562, doubling during the 'season'. Several seasonal islanders will take advantage of the tax breaks to save and use their earnings to fund their travels over the winter. Sark has started to make a name for itself on TikTok - helping Gen Z learn all about life on the island Cerys Lockeridge, 24, has been doing that since graduating from university two years ago and loves island life. 'I was studying Events Management at university in Preston and came to Sark for my placement year in 2021,' she told MailOnline. 'No one had heard of it, the decision was last-minute and random. 'My mum was really worried when I first came here and then she visited and said it was fine.' And Ms Lockeridge isn't the only Gen Z who has moved to the remote island after graduating. The 'freer' lifestyle is what attracted Amie Strode, 21, to the island. The Oxfordshire native visited Sark by herself for two weeks in October and praised the freedom that living on an island brings. She initially planned to work in Sark over their tourism 'season' but now wants to stay for the winter - having been attracted by the prospect of parties round a bonfire and 'raves' at the harbour. Most Gen Z on the island will tell a similar story, Josh Davis, 22, was studying at Manchester University and came from the big city to Sark to visit family. Mr Davis, who grew up in Sark says he now finds it 'weird' returning to the city. While a person walking across the practically empty 5.5 km-long by 2.5 km-wide island can anticipate vast green hills and sweeping views of the ocean, an Aussie accent is probably the last thing they would expect to hear. But Molly McLaughlin, 27, is one of five Australians who recently moved to Sark and has lived there for five years because of the serenity and beauty the island has to offer. She said: 'I always thought I wanted to live in a bigger city. 'But when I think about work-life balance and the sense of community there's nowhere else quite like it. 'I can't envision myself getting the quality of life I have now.' Ms McLaughlin grew up in Australia and trained as a pastry chef moving to the UK seven years ago where she lived in both Yorkshire and London. 'I was living in London and hated how busy it was, cars, smog. 'So I googled all the chocolate shops and emailed asking for a job and they got back to me and I just went for it and came here. 'On Sark seeing the ocean every day, I can't imagine not living near the ocean now I used to work in a shop in Melbourne with one window and my view was an alleyway. 'It's a good place to save money if you're a young person and you want to make a lot of money quickly. 'For years it's been run by people in their 60s and 70s who didn't understand the power of social media but it will change over time. 'A lot of the older people once they meet someone different to them, if they participate in the community, they're accepted. If you work hard you partake in the community.' The lack of crime is what Elsie Courtney, 79, who works at the island's only tourist office says draws people, especially young women to the island. 'We've always had a lot of solo female travellers,' she explained. 'Recently, we've seen an increase in single ladies coming.' She added: 'I was born and bred here and we've had a lot of women come here, it's a safe place, it's a safe place for anyone. 'Sark is too small to do anything untoward because they wouldn't get away with it.' The small community on Sark is all-encompassing, residents can't walk pass each other without stopping for a half an hour chat. They regularly compare their lives to an 'Enid Blyton novel', where children have the freedom to explore the great outdoors and time feels slightly warped. Most people will say they feel like they're 'living in the 90s' but with the only form of transport being walking, biking, horseback or horse-drawn carriage, it seems more like the 18th century. The small island is ruled by tradition and its unique history is something locals are proud of. In 1565, Helier DeCarteret was granted a charter by Queen Elizabeth I to colonise the island and defend it against pirates and a potential French Invasion. He became the feudal ruler and Seigneur of Sark, a position that is passed through bloodline and is still implemented on the island. Mr DeCarteret brought 40 men to live on Sark, dividing the land into 40 tenements, each tenement had a dwelling house, sea access and arable land. Some smaller parcels of land were later split off from the tenements known as 'freeholds' and until 2021 the island had 40 tenements and 42 'freeholds'. In 2021, land reform legislation was enacted and a further six 'freeholds' were separated from existing tenements. The key issue with this system is that on an island where mortgages aren't available and properties are finite, it is extremely hard to purchase a home. And any person looking to build on virgin land has to have been a resident of Sark for 15 years. Luckily, newer members of the island say if you move to the island for a job most of them will include accommodation. Others explained that it takes just one trip to the pub to find a member of the community willing to help you find a place to stay. Sandra Williams, 60, works at one of the three pubs or social hubs on the island. 'You can go to any pub and see someone you know,' the Sark native told MailOnline. 'We're a bunch of alcoholics clinging to a rock but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. 'I like the notion that people say it's like stepping back in time, we're civilised and we have all the mod cons but we're just that little bit different. 'People work hard when you come here it's very seasonal people work long and hard hours, a lot of the social aspect comes from going to the pub, it's where people hang out.' Despite the community being extremely tight-knit, there is no free welfare system in Sark. In fact, the nearest hospital is an hour ferry ride away and emergency vehicles are pulled by tractors or horses. There is no dentist but you can find a small medical centre on the island as well as one doctor and nurse. While their services are monetary, residents do tend to help each other out when it comes to urgent medical care. 'The no vat on alcohol and tobacco is massive benefit because a lot of the revenue goes to the island and the actual island resources,' explained Ms Williams. Instead, residents say the biggest downside of living in the island is the lack of McDonald's and a 'decent Chinese'. Those who own boats are expected to travel to Guernsey and pick up orange chicken and noodles for the entire island. It is that cold-school community driven attitude that every Sarky (the affectionate term for residents) says makes it an amazing place to live. Ed Stone a 37-year-old accountant who works remotely and spends his free time leading Kayaking, co-steering and star gazing tours, couldn't picture himself anywhere else. 'It's so quiet and peaceful and has an island feel to it and no cars is one of the biggest things that attracted me here in the first place no traffic changes the feel,' he said. 'Work and have a better quality of life/ to me the biggest attraction is the adventure on your doorstep.
Telegraph
16-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Trump has just crushed Ireland's European dream
To govern, as the adage goes, is to choose. But for decades, Ireland didn't have to. Since the 1990s, it has pulled off a delicate balancing act as both a dutiful member of the European Union and a continental tax haven for America. It pocketed EU subsidies while luring tech giants from Silicon Valley. Brussels paid for the roads; Big Tech filled the coffers. For years, Ireland posted the fastest growth in the developed world. The trick, it seemed, was not choosing at all. But the global order that made that trick possible is coming apart. As Europe braces for Trump's tariffs, Ireland stands uniquely exposed: a victim, in a way, of its own spectacular success. It now holds one of the largest per capita trade surpluses with the US. A mere ten American firms contribute 60 per cent of its corporate tax revenue. Some 350,000 jobs, in a nation of five million, depend on US companies. No other European capital has quite so many eggs in someone else's basket. For years, it fended off Brussels' attempts to crack down on tax loopholes, shielding its golden goose. At the same time, it chose ever-closer integration with Europe. Sovereign powers – over trade, monetary policy, even fiscal discretion – have been surrendered piecemeal to Brussels. The post-crash years saw a car boot sale of much of what remained. 'It's the economy, stupid' became gospel. But now, with Trump plotting a sequel to his 'Liberation Day' offensive on global supply chains and the EU preparing retaliatory tariffs, that doctrine is wearing thin. Tethered to one bloc and dependent on the other, Ireland is quickly running out of room to manoeuvre: all it can do is send polite letters to Brussels and hope domestic price rises force Trump to reverse ferret The tension isn't just economic. Brussels and Washington are pulling Ireland in opposite directions ideologically, too. Last week, the European Commission handed down a two-month ultimatum for Ireland to pass overdue hate speech legislation or it would force Dublin to comply via the courts. The law, shelved last year, would give authorities sweeping powers to prosecute ill-defined speech crimes. The government blamed its failure to pass on a lack of 'consensus'. In truth, it was ineptly drawn up, and the public hated it. The Americans weren't thrilled either. The law could, in theory, apply to users of US social media platforms – many of which are headquartered in Dublin. Elon Musk had offered to fund legal challenges. American lawmakers, including then-Senator JD Vance, warned Dublin to tread carefully. He wrote to the Irish ambassador: 'If this were happening in Russia or China… we would call it totalitarian and threaten economic sanctions'. Voltaire, when asked on his deathbed to renounce Satan, is said to have replied: 'This is no time to be making enemies.' Dublin might consider the same. Trump has already singled out Ireland as a key culprit in 'taking our pharmaceutical companies away.' Fresh tariffs on the sector are reportedly in the works and the industry is scrambling to ship out what it can. Pharma exports to the US from Ireland – now, improbably, the world's third-largest exporter – surged to €28 billion in March, up from €5.5 billion a year earlier. A boom, certainly, but with all the hallmarks of a coming bust. Reshoring the industry would be slow and painful. Some firms may grit their teeth and wait Trump out. But he has other levers. Many US companies book global profits and intellectual property in Ireland, inflating GDP figures to surreal levels: 34 per cent growth in 2017, on paper , at least. A single tax tweak from Washington could knock billions off the Irish economy practically overnight. As recently as January, Dublin was still encouraging a kind of strategic optimism. 'Don't take Trump literally,' was the official line. That line has since disappeared. With the prospect of failed talks between the US and EU looming, ministers are preparing for a lean year. There will be no cost-of-living relief. And forgotten terms like 'budget deficit' are once again being used around the cabinet table. One forecast projects tax receipts dropping to 2020 levels, leaving Ireland €15 billion in the red by 2030. For decades, Ireland thrived by outsourcing its hardest choices: Brussels made the rules; America brought the cash. It was a comfortable arrangement, while the liberal order held. But that consensus is collapsing. Both sides are preparing tit-for-tat tariffs. The EU is narrowing the limits of permissible speech, while the US, under Trump, is likely to retaliate if Ireland enforces those restrictions. Neither is offering much room for ambiguity. And ambiguity, it turns out, was Ireland's real national strategy. The age of not choosing is over. The only question now is who will choose for Ireland – and what the price will be when they do.
Japan Times
07-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
America is becoming the world's largest tax haven
Donald Trump is quickly turning the United States into the greatest tax haven in history. One need only note the Treasury Department's mandate to withdraw from the transparency regime that shares the real identities of company owners; the administration's withdrawal from negotiations to establish a U.N. Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation; its refusal to enforce the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; and massive crypto deregulation. This seems to be part of a broader strategy to undermine 250 years of institutional safeguards. The Trump administration has violated international treaties, ignored conflicts of interest, dismantled checks and balances and impounded congressionally allocated funds. The administration isn't debating policy; it's trampling the rule of law. But Trump does love one tax: import tariffs. He appears to believe that foreigners are footing the bill, thereby providing the money to cut taxes for billionaires. He also seems to believe that tariffs will eliminate trade deficits and return manufacturing to the U.S. Never mind that tariffs are paid by importers, driving up domestic prices and are being levied at the worst time possible, just as the U.S. is recovering from an inflationary episode. Moreover, elementary macroeconomics shows that multilateral trade deficits reflect the disparity between domestic savings and domestic investment. Trump's tax cuts for billionaires will widen the gap, because deficits subtract from domestic national savings. So, ironically, policies like tax cuts for billionaires and corporations increase the trade deficit. Since Ronald Reagan, conservatives have claimed that tax cuts pay for themselves by boosting economic growth. But it didn't work that way for Reagan and it didn't work that way for Trump during his first term. Empirical research confirms that tax cuts for the rich have no measurable impact on economic growth or unemployment, but do increase income inequality immediately and persistently. The proposed extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — the biggest corporate tax cuts in U.S. history — would add around $37 trillion to the U.S. national debt over the next 30 years, without delivering the promised economic boost. Trump is worsening the trade deficit at the microeconomic level, too. The U.S. has become a service economy. Among its largest exports are tourism, education and health care. But Trump has systematically undermined each. What tourist, student or patient would want to come to the U.S. knowing that he could be arbitrarily detained and held for weeks? The undermining of America's premier education institutions, the arbitrary cancellation of student visas and the defunding of science research have cast a deep pall over these critical sectors. Trump's strategically flawed approach is already backfiring. China is one of America's biggest trading partners and the U.S. depends on it for critical imports. China has already retaliated. Fear of stagflation — higher inflation combined with stagnant growth — has hit the stock and bond markets. And this is just the beginning. Thanks to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, tax revenues could plummet by over 10% this year because of weaker enforcement and compliance. A reduction of some 50,000 IRS workers would result in $2.4 trillion of forgone revenue over the next 10 years, compared to the projected $637 billion increase under provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act that aimed to boost the IRS workforce. The agenda is clear: not just lower tax rates for the rich, but weaker enforcement. In a world where capital and rich individuals can cross borders freely, international cooperation is the only way for governments to ensure that multinational corporations and the ultrarich are fairly taxed. In this context, halting the enforcement of beneficial-ownership data collection, tolerating anonymity-enhancing crypto markets and abandoning the process to conclude a new U.N. tax convention and a global minimum tax reveal a deliberate pattern: dismantling multilateral frameworks designed to combat tax avoidance and money laundering. The 'pausing' of enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act indicates that the U.S. no longer minds even bribery and graft. What we are witnessing is an apparent attempt by Trump, Musk and their billionaire cronies to forge a kind of capitalism modeled after the lawless zones of the offshore world. It's not just a tax revolt; it's an all-out assault on any law that threatens the extreme accumulation of wealth and power. Nowhere is this more evident than in their embrace of crypto. The explosion of underregulated crypto exchanges, online casinos and betting platforms has boosted the global illicit economy. Under Trump, the Treasury Department has lifted sanctions and regulations on platforms that obfuscate transactions. Trump has even signed an executive order to establish a 'strategic cryptocurrency reserve' and has held the first White House crypto summit. The U.S. Senate followed suit, killing a provision that would have required crypto platforms to identify and report users. Trump, who himself issued a controversial meme coin and may soon launch a crypto-based video game based on 'Monopoly,' has now installed a crypto insider at the helm of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Paul Atkins is a member of a policy group that advocates for crypto assets and nonbank financial systems. Cryptocurrencies are about one thing: secrecy. We have perfectly good currencies in the dollar, the yen, the euro and others. And we have efficient trading platforms for buying goods and services. Demand for cryptocurrencies comes from the desire to hide money. People involved in nefarious activities, including money laundering and tax avoidance and evasion, don't want what they do to be easily traceable. The rest of the world cannot stand by and watch. We've seen that global cooperation can work, as shown by the global 15% minimum tax on the profits of multinationals, which more than 50 countries are now introducing. Within the Group of 20, the consensus forged last year under Brazil's leadership calls for the superrich to pay their fair share. The U.S. has distanced itself from international agreements but, paradoxically, the absence of its diplomacy may help strengthen multilateral negotiations to deliver a more ambitious outcome. In the past, the U.S. would demand that an agreement be weakened (typically to benefit one special interest or another), but in the end, would refuse to sign. This is what happened during the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development negotiations for the taxation of multinational corporations. Now, the rest of the world can get on with the task of designing a fair and efficient global tax architecture. Addressing extreme inequality through international cooperation and inclusive institutions is the real alternative to rising authoritarianism. America's self-isolation creates an opportunity to rebuild globalization on truly multilateral grounds — a G-minus-one for the 21st century. Joseph E. Stiglitz, a former chief economist of the World Bank and former chair of the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers, is a professor at Columbia University, a Nobel laureate in economics, and the author, most recently, of "The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society" (W. W. Norton & Company, Allen Lane, 2024). © Project Syndicate, 2025
