Belgium. Lived there for almost eight years. They have the highest percentage of royalty that live there than any other country in the world -- very little of them are actually Belgian royalty. They have an effective tax rate of 90% through sales and income taxes, but no property taxes on rental properties. So, they also have the highest percentage of millionaires and billionaires who "live" there than anywhere else in the world. And that extreme concentration of royalty plus the wealthy means they own basically all the properties in the country, and it's extremely difficult for anyone to actually buy a house there, even if they are a Belgian native or an EU citizen.
Also, if you're ever having any kind of work done at your place, the first question is "do you need a receipt?" Which is short for "is your employer paying for this, or can we do a cash-only transaction that would be much cheaper for you?"
And everyone has at least one or two tax-free side hustles. Some of them are even legal.
Don't get me wrong, my wife and I loved living and working there. Some of the best times of our lives. But we also have to be honest about what we saw.
But maybe that was just Brussels?
