Andorra, the paradise for tax reasons of ‘influencers’ and ‘gamers’
The principality of Andorra is increasingly seducing ‘influencers’, ‘youtubers’ or professional ‘gamers’ due to the advantageous tax conditions of this small country, with an optimal geographical location in the middle of the Pyrenees, between Spain and France.
With her mobile phone in one hand and a luxury brand bag hanging from one arm, Laia Falcó walks the streets of Andorra la Vella to feed her Instagram account, where she posts images of restaurants and clothing stores.
This 39-year-old Spaniard with 170,000 followers on that social network, settled in Andorra at the beginning of 2022, a few years after a first stay.
Falcó justifies his decision by “quality of life and security” in the European capital located at a higher altitude, 1,023 meters above sea level.
But he also acknowledges that he did it for economic reasons: “At a fiscal level, it is very advantageous. There is a big difference with the countries that surround us.”
In Andorra, income tax is barely 10%, the same percentage as that of companies, and VAT is only 4.5%.
Its taxation is much lower and less progressive than that of its neighboring countries.
“It is an attractive tax policy, but comparable at a European level, we are no longer a tax haven,” defends the Andorran Secretary of State for the Economy, Eric Bartolomé, in statements to AFP.
The European Union and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) removed Andorra from the list of tax havens in 2018, although some NGOs, such as Oxfam, consider that it continues to be so.
According to Bartolomé, “although taxation plays an important role, the standard of living and the proximity to France and Spain affected more the arrival” of these professionals in the new activities of the digital universe.
This immigration of high-income youth accelerated during the covid-19 pandemic.
So, settling in Andorra “El Rubius”, one of the best-known content generators on YouTube or Twitch in Spanish-speaking countries, and which has up to 40 million followers.
“After that, there was a kind of snowball effect in favor of Andorra. Some may discover it as a country that is right next to Spain and that has living conditions that are considered optimal,” says Bartolomé.
‘Traders’, ‘influencers’ or digital commerce entrepreneurs followed the example of ‘El Rubius’, whose decision will continue to be controversial in Spain.
Sports stars also went to live in Andorra, such as the Spanish motorcyclist Joan Mir or the Frenchman Fabio Quartararo.
With these new inhabitants, Andorra intends to “diversify an economy highly dependent on tourism, snow and cross-border trade”, from which Spanish or French people who go to the principality to buy much cheaper tobacco, alcohol or perfumes benefit.
Several were created to help its new residents move to Andorra.
“There is attractive taxation, but I receive many requests for safety or quality of life,” says French Virginie Hergel, who has lived in the principality for 22 years and created the Set Up Andorra agency.
One of his clients is Vincent Huet, 29, a video game designer who arrived in the tiny country at the beginning of the year.
“Taxation did not have a direct influence on my decision to come to Andorra,” says Huet, although he acknowledges that, without the principality’s tax conditions, his company “could not pay me such a high salary”, “more than double” what charged in Paris.
After having attracted Spanish professional ‘influencers’ and ‘gamers’, the option of Andorra is increasingly seducing the French who are dedicated to these activities, and who until now used to expatriate in Dubai.
“There are many French ‘youtubers’ who contact me. Until now they were in Dubai. Although it seemed great to them, they are starting to get a little tired and now they think about coming to Andorra,” Hergel highlights.
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