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Best combination of high quality of life, entrepreneurial freedom and low taxes

In a similar situation here. Remote IT worker that makes around $200k.
I am a UK tax resident/citizen but don't spend enough time there to make it worth pay 19%. corporate tax + dividends.

Looking for a place with good weather, low taxes and tech/crypto friendly. English/Spanish main language ideally.
I travel a lot so I won't really spend 6 months there but need a place to show main residency.

My first choice was Miami/PR but visas are a PAIN. I haven't found a good way to move there without spending a crazy amount of money (maybe O1visa but requirements are very strict).

Spain was my next choice but have looked in details taxes seem crazy, hard pass.

Gibraltar might be a decent place as foreign dividends are tax free and bureaucracy is very similar to UK. Main drawbacks is that housing is very expensive and I guess its a boring place.

Portugal I ruled out as NHR is too shady, also non business friendly and general southern European of hating people with a bit of money.

Italy tax breaks seem advantageous but when you look into details you will realize that if you move to a Southern region you will taxes on 10% of IRPEF. You still have to pay 27% INPS + 2% some other tax on your taxable income.
So real tax rate is >29%, which is mainly to the pension system.

Cyprus and Panama interesting tax situation, they dont really excite me too much as places to live though.

So I am more and more eager to move to Gibraltar, wanted to see if anyone here has other ideas?

Isle of Man?

but you’d need to spend six months there to be tax resident
 
In a similar situation here. Remote IT worker that makes around $200k.
I am a UK tax resident/citizen but don't spend enough time there to make it worth pay 19%. corporate tax + dividends.

Looking for a place with good weather, low taxes and tech/crypto friendly. English/Spanish main language ideally.
I travel a lot so I won't really spend 6 months there but need a place to show main residency.

My first choice was Miami/PR but visas are a PAIN. I haven't found a good way to move there without spending a crazy amount of money (maybe O1visa but requirements are very strict).

Spain was my next choice but have looked in details taxes seem crazy, hard pass.

Gibraltar might be a decent place as foreign dividends are tax free and bureaucracy is very similar to UK. Main drawbacks is that housing is very expensive and I guess its a boring place.

Portugal I ruled out as NHR is too shady, also non business friendly and general southern European of hating people with a bit of money.

Italy tax breaks seem advantageous but when you look into details you will realize that if you move to a Southern region you will taxes on 10% of IRPEF. You still have to pay 27% INPS + 2% some other tax on your taxable income.
So real tax rate is >29%, which is mainly to the pension system.

Cyprus and Panama interesting tax situation, they dont really excite me too much as places to live though.

So I am more and more eager to move to Gibraltar, wanted to see if anyone here has other ideas?
How keen are you actually on staying in the EU? Otherwise the digital nomad visas might be an option, e.g. Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman etc.

I figured that for me it doesn’t really work because I don’t want to live in a small, underdeveloped island but it might be an option for you if you are traveling all the time anyway.

For instance Barbados is quite nice because neither you nor your company will become tax resident. On the either hand you won’t be able to get a tax file number or tax residency to show to the foreign authorities
 
How keen are you actually on staying in the EU? Otherwise the digital nomad visas might be an option, e.g. Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman etc.

I figured that for me it doesn’t really work because I don’t want to live in a small, underdeveloped island but it might be an option for you if you are traveling all the time anyway.

For instance Barbados is quite nice because neither you nor your company will become tax resident. On the either hand you won’t be able to get a tax file number or tax residency to show to the foreign authorities

I spent 10 months in Barbados

is an awful place , run down , authoritative and expensive … Barbados Is also expecting you to pay tax in home country you came from (on welcome stamp)

if you want beach, and no tax I think Philippines or Thailand way better

p.s. if I was travelling all time I’d get Georgia tax residency myself
 
I spent 10 months in Barbados

is an awful place , run down , authoritative and expensive … Barbados Is also expecting you to pay tax in home country you came from (on welcome stamp)

if you want beach, and no tax I think Philippines or Thailand way better

p.s. if I was travelling all time I’d get Georgia tax residency myself
I really laughed out loud when reading your reply as it pretty much exactly resembles my opinion of Barbados. Not my kind of bread, but others might like it :)
 
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Yes I would rather stay in EU for variety of reasons.

I think I narrowed down between Gibraltar and Portugal. From what I have gathered realistically I will have to pay around 15-20% total taxes in either of them, Gibraltar doesnt tax capital gains which is a huge plus but also its a small place and might not be a great base to spent a few months a year (vs Lisbon)
 
Others will have more experience with this setup but from everything I’ve read it seems Cyprus is most often recommended when you want to optimize taxes but stay in Europe.
Cyprus is an excellent choice if you relocate there. You can get the tax residency on the 60-day rule.
If you set up a company you pay 12.5% on net profit and No SDC on dividend, as a non dom you will be paying just 2.65% on dividend payments as a contribution to the GHS.
 
Cyprus is an excellent choice if you relocate there. You can get the tax residency on the 60-day rule.
If you set up a company you pay 12.5% on net profit and No SDC on dividend, as a non dom you will be paying just 2.65% on dividend payments as a contribution to the GHS.
How strictly enforced is the 60 days rule? E.G. do Cyprus taxman check (or care) if people are effectively spending 60 days out of the year there?
 
How strictly enforced is the 60 days rule? E.G. do Cyprus taxman check (or care) if people are effectively spending 60 days out of the year there?
There are not so strict in actually checking the 60-days, but one of the requirements is that you have a rental agreement in place which has a duration of at least one year, plus you need to be carrying out a business or be an employee in Cyprus. Yourr best structure would be arranging for a rental agreement, setting up a company with you as one of the directors and registering as an employee of the company with a minimum salary. The above will act as evidence of your stay in Cyprus.

PLUS you need to not spent more than 183 days in any other jurisdiction.
 
I am currently in the process of evaluating different jurisdictions for setting up a new home base as I am tired of constantly traveling.

My background:
- EU passport
- self-employed
- six-figure income per year
- young / healthy / no dependents
- no tax residency at the moment

What I am looking for
- no small islands / dictatorships / Islamic countries (so no Bahamas, Cayman, Dubai etc.)
- highly developed country, stability and safety
- subtropical / tropical climate (e.g. > 20°C daily temperatures the entire year)
- it is possible to live close to a 1M+ city
- English speaking preferred
- you can blend in as white European
- entrepreneurial and personal freedom
- generally a high quality of life
- low taxes

In the future I plan to regularly start new tech companies and I am generally looking for a very predictive and stable personal and company tax setup without any gray areas or ambiguities.

After traveling to most parts of the world and doing a ton of research it seems that the most suitable option for me is the US, especially Florida as:

- it has the climate that I am looking for
- you can live close to an exciting city (Miami)
- not an island
- highly developed / you have all the first-world amenities
- close to Europe to visit family
- mix of English / Spanish speaking
- easy to blend in as European
- even if you make $500k / year in long-term capital gains the tax rate is below 20% (2020-21 Capital Gains Tax Rates and Calculator - NerdWallet)
- 6th easiest country to do business (Ease of doing business index - Wikipedia)
- high reputation jurisdiction

The only other option that I consider is Singapore, however
- it is very hard to get a residence permit
- the weather is quite awful (far more hot and humid and 30% less sunshine than Florida)
- very high cost of living

On the plus side it has territorial taxation, is safer and closer to Asian countries.

What are you thoughts? Any downsides that I don't see? Would you generally agree? Any other countries that would fit well?
I would prefer to go as far away from the EU as possible. People are living under more and more surveillance.
I think Panama would be a good option, but I would have to hurry because on 5 August the conditions of the friendly countries programme will change and it will be more difficult to emigrate.
 
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I would prefer to go as far away from the EU as possible. People are living under more and more surveillance.
I think Panama would be a good option, but I would have to hurry because on 5 August the conditions of the friendly countries programme will change and it will be more difficult to emigrate.
I’ve considered Panama for quite a while, but ultimately decided against it because a) my Spanish is s**t and b) I like to build and invest in companies and Panama has such a bad reputation that it seems it’ll be very hard to invest in European companies with a tax residency there.
 
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I’ve considered Panama for quite a while, but ultimately decided against it because a) my Spanish is s**t and b) I like to build and invest in companies and Panama has such a bad reputation that it seems it’ll be very hard to invest in European companies with a tax residency there.
Agree with you. So have you figured which is the best solution for you?
 
Agree with you. So have you figured which is the best solution for you?
Yes, I still think (Best combination of high quality of life, entrepreneurial freedom and low taxes) summarizes the options quite nicely.

Weather is quite important to me, so that excludes Switzerland and Portugal - even though if Switzerland was tropical and had nice beaches it'd definitely be number one.

At the same time the general goal of living in a highly developed, democratic, tropical and English-speaking country is still the same. These requirements rule out most of the world and what's left is basically USA, Australia and possibly Singapore / Malaysia.

I've spent longer periods of time in Australia and really like it. However, it is too far away from friends and family to be able to commit to it for the long-term at the moment.

I plan to visit Singapore / Malaysia (hopefully soon), but I expect it won't be my kind of bread.

That leaves the US, especially Florida. All in all I think it is the best option for me, but it will take a while to get a visa. On top of that Covid cases are currently exploding over there, so I am not that keen to move at the moment anyway.

This means for now I'll stay here in the Caribbean, work on my businesses and see how everything goes.
 

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