Gerard Depardieu was serious about not wanting to pay France's high income taxes -- so serious that he's now a Russian citizen.

The actor, who has blasted the French president's attempt to increase taxes on the rich to 75 percent, recently applied for citizenship in Russia, where they have a fixed income tax of 13 percent.

TMZ says the request went up all the way up to President Vladimir Putin, who approved it today (Thursday). No word on where the former Frenchie plans to live in Mother Russia.