Gérard Depardieu has said he is handing back his French passport and social security card, lambasting the French government for punishing “success, creation, talent” in his homeland.

A popular and colourful figure in France, the 63-year-old actor is the latest wealthy Frenchman to seek shelter outside his native country by buying a house just over the border in Belgium in response to tax increases by the Socialist president, François Hollande.

How much taxes must someone pay to be considered a “patriot”?

How much taxes must someone pay before he becomes poor?

How much taxes must a government ask before it is considered a failed one?

Someone once said that “the best government is the one which deems itself useless”. Well, judging by the 75% taxes required by the French government, I would say it is not such a “successful” government after all…