[throwaway60607]

Here's how you do it if you're rich:

Every European country (even Finland) has harmonized rules about "tax residency". The rules are simple: If you actually and honestly live there at least half a year and one day of a calendar year, that place becomes your tax residency for that year.

The rich person buys a property in Monaco and goes there for half a year + 1 day. That year Monaco is their tax residency. They take out dividends from their off-shore (or Netherlands) holding companies. Boom, perfectly legal personal income taxed at super-low (or 0) rate that Finland has no idea about.

Then the person returns back to Finland and again accumulates their income into the holding company for a few years until they run out of whatever they got as a dividend.

Repeat until...

[theshrike79]

Just being "rich" isn't enough to get a citizenship in Monaco. You need to be either famous+rich or wealthy.

But that's how it goes and there are other countries you can use to evade taxes too.

[throwaway60607]

You don't need citizenship at all. Not even permanent or temporary residency. You will become a tax resident of a state even if you have just a tourist visa. You don't need to own the property either, a rental apartment is just fine. Even living in a hotel would work if you can prove it was your "base of operations" during that time.

Not sure what's the distinction between rich and wealthy, sounds the same to me.

[theshrike79]

Rich people have money, wealthy people have assets.

Rich people have high incomes, wealthy people own a lot of valuable things (properties, land, art, stuff that keeps its value).

New money vs old money/generational wealth pretty much.

[throwaway60607]

Well I think I meant something in between. You don't need to be from old money to get a property in Monaco and much less in other places in EU - I got several, and I started literally from 0. And you definitely don't need to be from old money to rent an apartment in Monaco for half a year. A senior software engineer (contractor) could afford it and would profit from the operation if they live in Scandinavia/Germany/Austria/France.

I have a good enough tax regime where I live in Central Europe - for 2022 I paid 8% including income tax, health and social insurance. But I'd definitely consider doing this if it was over 20%.