Easiest countries to get and keep tax residency

[CryptoIsFreedom]

Hello, I am a Canadian citizen.

I wish to become a nomad. Travel around for a few years and not stay anywhere for longer then a few months.
During this time I want to drop my Canadian tax residency, but to my knowledge I need to be tax resident somewhere else.

Which other countries are easiest to obtain and keep tax residency?
I prefer not to invest or go through a lot of hoops to obtain this residency.
Country preferences: Asia>Eastern EU>Middle East>Others
Goes without saying but the country should not tax foreign sourced income that doesn't touch the country.

(sorry if another topic answers this question, kindly leave a link if you know a topic I've missed, thanks )

 

[void]

Hello, I am a Canadian citizen.

I wish to become a nomad. Travel around for a few years and not stay anywhere for longer then a few months.
During this time I want to drop my Canadian tax residency, but to my knowledge I need to be tax resident somewhere else.

Which other countries are easiest to obtain and keep tax residency?
I prefer not to invest or go through a lot of hoops to obtain this residency.
Country preferences: Asia>Eastern EU>Middle East>Others
Goes without saying but the country should not tax foreign sourced income that doesn't touch the country.

(sorry if another topic answers this question, kindly leave a link if you know a topic I've missed, thanks )

Mauritius? not sure how about today but four years ago it was easy to come, become self-employed and get the tax residency certificate in about a month

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Georgia, Cyprus, Thailand, many African countries

 

[Don]

Georgia, Cyprus, Thailand, many African countries

Thailand, Cyprus - yes.
I wouldn't go for Georgia since they dont have a double tax treaty with Canada.
There are indeed some African countries that have though.
https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/programs/tax-policy/tax-treaties.html

 

[CryptoIsFreedom]

Thailand and Cyprus looks good. I'll dive deeper into them. Would appreciate any links

 

[Puzel12]

how is Thailand easy? you have to stay 183+ days

 

[Cloudbanck]

Thailand, Cyprus - yes.
I wouldn't go for Georgia since they dont have a double tax treaty with Canada.
There are indeed some African countries that have though.

As long as you are out of Canada's tax net it doesn't matter if there is a double tax treaty. Such treaties only matter if two countries claim you as tax resident.

But African countries are great to have for residency in general. Nobody reports to African countries and even if they do , African countries don't do anything with the information.

 

[blancmon229]

As long as you are out of Canada's tax net it doesn't matter if there is a double tax treaty. Such treaties only matter if two countries claim you as tax resident.

But African countries are great to have for residency in general. Nobody reports to African countries and even if they do , African countries don't do anything with the information.

Georgia, Cyprus, Thailand, many African countries

Which African countries have the highest quality of life with the least violence?

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Which African countries have the highest quality of life with the least violence?

It much depends on the areas. I don't have good knowledge of all the African countries, but of those I know I would mention (in no particular order) Zambia, Kenya, Comoros, Seychelles, Guinea Bissau, Ghana, Tanzania.

 

[Cloudbanck]

Which African countries have the highest quality of life with the least violence?

Id avoid South Africa, too dangerous, and enforced high taxes. And it's not the right time to go to Sudan as it's in the middle of a civil war where civilians are targeted and basic societal functions have broken down. Similar with Libya. And best to avoid Niger at the moment since the coup makers stir up anti French sentiment, which can easily turn into against all westerners/foreigners.
Id say North Africa isnt that great in general, because beside Libya, they have high taxes and big bureaucracies that are sufficiently organised to reduce individual freedom.

The rest is mostly good!

From another thread, listing the advantages of living in Africa/"shithole countries":

-Many more economic opportunities - with a fast growing population and fast growing economy, and little competition. You can do stuff that would be difficult in a developed country unless you are a centi-millionaire, like buying or building whole buildings, or become the dominant business in a particular niche.

-You directly become part of the top 1% (or top 0.1%) which opens access to the elite. Doug Casey talks a lot about this - it's true. Also if you are single it's a bit like being a star.

-And if you have a family and children, the support you get is unbeatable. You can have a team of live in domestic staff, nurses that take turns of helping out with a baby, gardener, personal trainer, chauffeur - all affordable even on normal first world incomes. Plus that people in general are much more helpful in taking care of children.

-Since many people in the West are afraid of going to Africa/shitholes, it serves as a filter. The people that actually come are usually high quality, entrepreneurial and interesting, (well except NGO-workers of course, and the worst, spouses of NGO workers that didnt really want to move).

-Tax wise it's great, no personal tax returns, local authorities and financial institutions de facto dont report stuff abroad, and if a western bank/EMI sends info to Africa, it goes nowhere, like a black hole.

-The government doesnt keep track of people much, there are no street names and numbers, the economy is cash based, there were practically no covid restrictions.

 

[bibing]

As long as you are out of Canada's tax net it doesn't matter if there is a double tax treaty. Such treaties only matter if two countries claim you as tax resident.

But African countries are great to have for residency in general. Nobody reports to African countries and even if they do , African countries don't do anything with the information.

Any of such countries you can suggest where it is easy to get residency?

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Any of such countries you can suggest where it is easy to get residency?

mostly everywhere it is easy and it becomes even easier if you grease a bit the gears of bureaucracy

 

[Cloudbanck]

mostly everywhere it is easy and it becomes even easier if you grease a bit the gears of bureaucracy

Indeed, the issue isnt fulfilling the criteria to get residency, it's greasing the bureaucracy to avoid queuing and waiting, and issues like if the authority that is responsible for printing the residency cards has taken all the money in their personal pockets, so there is no money left to print the cards. The latter happened to me once, took three years before I got the residency card and got temporary residence permits on paper in the meantime. Was a minor hassle.

One should also keep in mind that lots of (poor) local people live in these countries without any id documents.

 

[humus]

Georgia, Cyprus, Thailand, many African countries

But if we take Thailand for example, and this "foreign sourced income" is being generated while residing in Thailand, it will create a asset PE in Thailand via place of management. And this foreign sourced income, will be deemed as Thai-sourced income, and corporate tax will be levied accordingly.

 

[Sols]

But if we take Thailand for example, and this "foreign sourced income" is being generated while residing in Thailand, it will create a asset PE in Thailand via place of management. And this foreign sourced income, will be deemed as Thai-sourced income, and corporate tax will be levied accordingly.

Correct in theory and the risk is there, of which one should remain mindful as things may change. In present reality, no one is bothering wealthy foreigners who otherwise keep a low profile and behave.

It much depends on the areas. I don't have good knowledge of all the African countries, but of those I know I would mention (in no particular order) Zambia, Kenya, Comoros, Seychelles, Guinea Bissau, Ghana, Tanzania.

You can add Mauritius to this list, with an asterisk. They have the 183 days rule, but also a rule about Mauritius being your primary/permanent home.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

You can add Mauritius to this list, with an asterisk. They have the 183 days rule, but also a rule about Mauritius being your primary/permanent home.

I excluded it because I could not find any property for sale sitting on a decent piece of land, only villas on tiny plots in resorts. Apart from that, it’s a nice and peaceful country.

 

[Sols]

I excluded it because I could not find any property for sale sitting on a decent piece of land, only villas on tiny plots in resorts. Apart from that, it’s a nice and peaceful country.

That's true. Land ownership by foreigners is limited to specific development areas, which are often attached to resorts. There are some very nice villas in those areas, but you won't find very big plots.

 

[Don]

But if we take Thailand for example, and this "foreign sourced income" is being generated while residing in Thailand, it will create a asset PE in Thailand via place of management. And this foreign sourced income, will be deemed as Thai-sourced income, and corporate tax will be levied accordingly.

Same with Cyprus. It taxes worldwide income.
OP didnt share much about his personal circumstances or business so its though to recommend anything.

Georgia is great for lower income as you can benefit from 1% sole proprietor tax regime.

 

[JackAlabama]

Hello, I am a Canadian citizen.

I wish to become a nomad. Travel around for a few years and not stay anywhere for longer then a few months.
During this time I want to drop my Canadian tax residency, but to my knowledge I need to be tax resident somewhere else.

Which other countries are easiest to obtain and keep tax residency?
I prefer not to invest or go through a lot of hoops to obtain this residency.
Country preferences: Asia>Eastern EU>Middle East>Others
Goes without saying but the country should not tax foreign sourced income that doesn't touch the country.

(sorry if another topic answers this question, kindly leave a link if you know a topic I've missed, thanks )

Uae has like 90 days only to get a tax residency and many visa options.

 

[CryptoIsFreedom]

Same with Cyprus. It taxes worldwide income.
OP didnt share much about his personal circumstances or business so its though to recommend anything.

Georgia is great for lower income as you can benefit from 1% sole proprietor tax regime.

Yes, I think I need to add a bit more context here.

1. A lot of suggested places have 183 rule. I'm really looking for a place I don't need to live in to become a tax resident. Spending 1 day, 1-2-3 months is ok. Anything more kind of eliminates the usefulness. Cause at that point Singapore or Thailand look like the best choices. But we are talking in the context of being a nomad.
2. My personal circumstances: My business partner has a US LLC, which privately I own half. He lives in a country where foreign income that doesn't enter the country is exempt. I can get paid easily to US or Canada bank accounts without paying corporate tax on the income. However I do have to pay personal taxes on anything I receive. I could receive a lot more money from if I wasn't going to get taxed. I could open another personal US LLC, or just get paid through that. I'm quite flexible that way.
3. I prefer not paying % taxes or deal with paperwork.

If any additional context is needed let me know.

I'm also looking at some Thai visas,
* Elite visa requires a good chunk of investment or upfront cost, but gives all the benefits easily. However it is not very useful if I'm not technically living there, feels like a lot of wasted cost.
* Digital nomad visa expects you to live there half a year at least. Aside from that it's pretty solid

Cyprus:
* It is more complicated than it should be
* Getting to 0 taxes requires some dividend and structure work
* In some cases it taxes world wide income and doesn't look like the tax heaven for nomads