Luxembourg’s Euro Note Love Affair Raises Eyebrows Over Taxes

While the European single currency’s existential crisis drags on in Athens, it turns out Luxembourg likes its euros -- a lot -- as foreigners with accounts in the Grand Duchy try to stay one step ahead of the taxman.

Luxembourg’s central bank issued 15 percent more euro notes in 2013, reaching a level that was almost double the tiny European country’s gross domestic product, according to a report on cash and crime from The Hague-based Europol. In Italy the figure stayed steady over that period at 9 percent of GDP, while in France it dropped from 5 percent to 4 percent.