Depardieu says he paid 85% of his 2012 income to taxes [View all]

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Last edited Mon Dec 17, 2012, 03:45 PM - Edit history (2)

(edited to include links from other news sources so I can't be accused of only quoting right-wing rags)

And France is outraged that he's leaving.

"We no longer have the same country. I'm a true European, a citizen of the world," Depardieu wrote in the letter. He said his 2012 tax bill – 85 percent of his revenue – is fully paid.

Depardieu, who turns 64 this month, said he has worked since the age of 14, first as a printer, and that in last 45 years he has paid (EURO)145 million ($190 million) in taxes.

"I hand over my passport to you and my social security card, which I have never used," the letter said, referring to Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.

Last week, Ayrault called Depardieu "pathetic" and "unpatriotic" for the actor's decision to move to Nechin, a Belgian village barely a mile (1.6 kilometers) across the border from Lille in northern France.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/gerard-depardieu-passport_n_2311561.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/world/europe/gerard-depardieu-says-he-is-giving-up-french-citizenship.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20760572

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-17/depardieu-will-give-up-french-citizenship-over-taxes