Griffin pushes 20% peak tax
- Commentators on X revived a tax-policy argument around a simple 20% top rate for wealthy taxpayers, tying it to cross-border residency planning. - The most concrete example was Greece’s non-dom regime: €100,000 a year on foreign income after a €500,000 Greek investment. - The debate leans on real mobility options, from Greece’s tax incentives to the United Arab Emirates’ no-individual-income-tax system. (aade.gr)
A tax debate on X turned into a how-to guide for wealthy people weighing whether to pay more at home or move abroad. (aade.gr) (u.ae) The posts argued for a simpler peak tax rate of about 20% on high earners and high-net-worth individuals instead of steeper, more layered systems. The same thread of discussion pointed readers to residency options in lower-tax jurisdictions. (x.com 1) (x.com 2) One example cited repeatedly was Greece’s “non-dom” regime under Article 5A of its income tax code. Greece lets qualifying new tax residents pay alternative tax on foreign-source income if they were not Greek tax residents for seven of the previous eight years. (aade.gr) To qualify, the applicant must make a minimum €500,000 investment in Greece within three years, unless they already hold a qualifying investment residence permit. Applications are filed by March 31 of the relevant tax year. (aade.gr) The headline number in that Greek regime is €100,000 a year. That fixed amount covers foreign-source income under the alternative system, which is why it features so prominently in tax-migration conversations aimed at wealthy households. (aade.gr) (taxlaw.gr) That is separate from Greece’s Golden Visa, which is a residency-by-investment route rather than a tax regime by itself. Recent market guides say the property-investment thresholds now vary by asset type and location, with higher tiers in prime areas than the old nationwide €250,000 model. (globalcitizensolutions.com) (investmentvisa.com) The other jurisdiction in the discussion was the United Arab Emirates. The UAE government says it does not levy income tax on individuals, though it does impose value-added tax and corporate tax in other parts of the system. (u.ae) That gap between tax residence and citizenship is what makes these posts travel. A person can keep one passport, shift tax residence, and legally change how foreign income is taxed if the destination country’s rules are met. (aade.gr) (u.ae) The argument underneath the thread is straightforward: if a home country pushes top-end tax rates too high, mobile capital may compare that burden with fixed-tax or no-income-tax regimes elsewhere. The posts did not create those options; they surfaced rules that already exist in Greece and the UAE. (aade.gr) (u.ae) The thread ends where it began: with a simple domestic tax pitch colliding with a global market for residence, investment, and tax status. (x.com 1) (x.com 2)
