Lake Como, Italy has all the ingredients to make for the perfect holiday.

You have to be careful with opening bank accounts in Italy and ensure that you don’t become liable to Italian taxation. One of the prime areas is the location of your assets.

• Don’t transfer all your money into an Italian account as bank charges high and you could become liable for Italian tax.

• Maintain a home (or offshore bank account) and only transfer cash into an Italian account as you need it (inernet banking makes this much easier to do).

• You must inform your home tax authority in UK or the US whether you are to be resident in Italy or at home, and where you should be assessed for tax purposes. If you don't do this you may be risk being taxed in both countries.

• As an expatriate you may also be able to keep your accounts offshore in tax havens such as Gibraltar or the Channel Islands.