These super-rich people are leaving Switzerland for Italy
Since it was revealed that two Geneva bankers had taken up residence in Italy to take advantage of a more favorable tax regime, the press in both countries has been wondering what the “ultimate haven” for millionaires in Europe really is. According to the Italian media, the flat tax for millionaires introduced in 2017 is not having the expected economic impact on the national scale.
The news was greeted philosophically and with a good dose of Swiss humor by Le Matin , the Lausanne daily newspaper. “The rich are very mobile, they come and go depending on their moods,” the French-language newspaper joked. “ Just as others go from the kitchen to the bathroom whistling.”
The wealthy individuals in question are two bankers, Renaud de Planta and Bertrand Demole, who, according to a leak reported by almost all the French-speaking Swiss press, have recently decided to pack their bags and take up residence in Italy. Not to enjoy the Mediterranean sun, but rather to take advantage of a favorable transalpine tax regime, the flat tax.
Introduced in 2017 by the center-left government, the flat tax is a scheme reserved for wealthy foreigners. It “allows those who have not been tax residents in Italy for at least nine years in the last ten to obtain, by moving their residence to Italy, the application of a fixed annual tax on all income generated abroad,” explains the business daily Il Sole-24 Ore . Thus, regardless of the person's income abroad, the Italian tax authorities will “only” require 200,000 euros per year.
A measure that has met with great success, regrets Bryan Lo Guidice, a Swiss banker worried about his country's downgrading, in the columns of Le Temps . "Switzerland, long perceived as the ultimate haven for wealth, is only 4th in the 2025 ranking of the most popular destinations for millionaires," the businessman castigates. "This observation is already worrying. But what is even more worrying is to note that Italy is now ahead of us, occupying 3rd place in this ranking." Has the misfortune of some made the gain of others?
This time, the adage may not be valid, if we are to believe the various comments in the Italian press, which is not exactly happy about the fact that Italy has become a new El Dorado for millionaires. And it's not just an ideological question, underlines Il Sole-24 Ore.
“Italy may attract wealth, but there is no transparency about the benefits it brings to the real economy,” accuses the Milanese media, basing its criticism on a recent report from the Court of Auditors, which criticized the fact that “the State does not require a link with productive investments and does not even measure them.” Under these conditions, the Milanese daily concludes, “the risk is to encourage the arrival of Scrooge McDucks who only bring their residence to Italy.”
In any case, upon her arrival in government, Giorgia Meloni doubled the amount of this flat tax, which increased from 100,000 to 200,000 euros in 2023, probably with the aim of raising more revenue. According to the Court of Auditors, this increase should not discourage the influx of millionaires, which has increased significantly over time.
On the contrary, in a context where the United Kingdom has recently changed its tax regime , which was favorable to foreign millionaires, the Court of Auditors expects a “tax migration” from London to Italy. This, concludes the centrist daily Corriere della Sera – after denouncing the effect of this regime on the rise in rents in Milan – “risks transforming our country into a new Monaco”.
Courrier International
