Reading our own blog on tax havens last week – yes, we do read these things before we post them – your contributors were tempted to stuff all their valuables into suitcases, take the first flights out of their respective cities in a Britain that seems determined to turn itself into a banana republic, and leave a last note on this website, “Monte Carlo or Bust!”

Indeed, the question is no longer “Why move to a tax haven?” but “Why not?”

Here is why not...

1   Most entrepreneurs still depend on the income generated by businesses which cannot be easily moved and which demand on-the-spot supervision. Most of us would prefer to develop a portfolio of flexible, mobile businesses that can be run at arms length, but few businesses meet this ideal in practice.

2   Family and friends. Contrary to stereotype, few entrepreneurs are money-obsessed loners. Most of us want people we love to be close at hand. Our family and friends may be unwilling or unable to move with us.

3   Sentiment. It is ridiculous to suggest that paying taxes is “patriotic” – especially when the suggestion happens to come from politicians who treat taxpayers’ money as personal petty cash. On the contrary, the patriotic option may be to protest against such abuse by leaving until sanity returns. Yet most of us still retain a tangible love of our native or adopted country – even if it is love of its countryside, and pride in its history and traditions, rather than any liking for what it has become. Whatever it is, it keeps the heart where it is, even when the mind is screaming that the logical choice is to leave.

4   Barriers to entry. Most tax havens are careful about who they let in. Paperwork may demand expensive expert advice, and there may be a property qualification. These obstacles are usually surmountable, but they are obstacles nonetheless.

5   Cost of Living. Most tax havens are expensive places to live. A millionaire can probably live quite comfortably in most parts of the world, but not in a tax haven where everyone around him is a multi-millionaire and prices reflect that fact. It is pointless to get rich in order to become the poorest person in the neighbourhood.

6   Inertia. Being honest, this is probably the factor that keeps most of us at home: the physical process of moving your business, your home, your family, your entire life is simply too much hassle. Our governments and tax authorities ought not to presume too much on this, but, for the moment at least, the cost-benefit calculation is keeping most of us where we are.

So we are still here.