Globally - New residency program for remote workers

[Martin Everson]

Well Estonia has joined Barbados and Bermuda and launched a new residency program for remote workers.

https://www.timeout.com/news/you-can-now-apply-for-estonias-dreamy-wfh-visa-081720

 

[BlueMist]

And now Anguilla

https://www.insider.com/anguilla-caribbean-reopening-work-remotely-live-island-for-a-year-2020-8

 

[Martin Everson]

Keep em coming . We got so far the following counties offering remote working:

Anguilla
Barbados
Bermuda
Estonia
Georgia

 

[Martin Everson]

Remote working from Georgia soon.

New project to allow foreigners to travel to and work remotely from Georgia

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

Isn’t that just about additional tax revenue? After all, unless it’s a tax-free country, local work is subject to tax.

 

[Spinat]

how does this change the situation for anyone non resident! I mean tax wise it must be the same as it always has been, you have to pay tax where you live??

 

[VanguardFortuna]

I could do a year in Anguilla thanks... with that visa you become a non-resident in your home country. Not bad for freelancers who can work remote.

 

[Marzio]

What is not clear to me if this remote working will change your tax residency or not. I've read that this isn't the case for Bermuda. If it doesn't change tax residency it's useless.

 

[VanguardFortuna]

If you reside there for the year (with family if you have one), you can show your actual residency has moved and satisfy tax residency rules in most jurisdictions. I am not sure about US Citizens though.... probably not?

If you are employed back home and simply working from overseas, then that won't work. You would legitimately need to be running freelance gigs or a business outside of your home country.

 

[Martin Everson]

Isn’t that just about additional tax revenue?

It's about indirect tax you generate by renting property and other money you will spend in the local economy when you move there. Think of yourself as a tourist replacement but on a longer more stable basis.

After all, unless it’s a tax-free country, local work is subject to tax.

Each remote work program is different. For example with Barbados and Bermuda remote work program they will NOT tax you. I imagine Georgia will be similar as they have a territorial tax system anyway. Estonia I am not sure about but its EU so doubt it...lol.

 

[khinkali]

I imagine Georgia will be similar as they have a territorial tax system anyway.

Territorial taxes are great when you have passive income, but Georgian source income includes:

c.g) a service provider and a service recipient are in different states and the service provider is a Georgian resident, except where the service provider delivers services through its permanent establishment in another country that confirms the fact that the service provider has delivered services in another country (other than in Georgia).
[ ... ]
q) other income earned from carrying on activities in Georgia

I don't know if they are bothered about collecting tax revenue from small freelancers, but if the work is done in Georgia then in a lot of cases it will be "Georgian source income" and therefore subject to Georgian tax.

Offshore employees create a permanent establishment in Georgia due to the economic activity of the employee, but that confuses me.

 

[Martin Everson]

Most nationalities can already move to Georgia and stay for up to 12 months without a visa being required. It has been this way for years. I don't think they will introduce a new remote worker visa that does exactly the same thing with no tax benefit as what would then be the point. There has to be some tax benefit or just re-use the existing 12 month stay with no visa and save on creating a new one.

However who knows .

 

[avalanche]

Well Estonia has joined Barbados and Bermuda and launched a new residency program for remote workers.

https://www.timeout.com/news/you-can-now-apply-for-estonias-dreamy-wfh-visa-081720

What good it would be to be residing in Estonia? Their monstrous tax regime with around 50% total tax burden is just beyond any belief + living in a shithole looking country. Nice perks

 

[khinkali]

@Martin Everson the benefit is due to the SARS2 restrictions. Even with a residence permit very few people can enter Georgia; currently just citizens of DE, FR, LT, LV entering from one of those countries.

This is a major hassle for someone who has a residence permit but needed to leave temporarily and is now stuck, also for people like me who have been doing 3 minute visa runs to Armenia once per year.

Countries that have dealt very firmly with the virus are now realising that it wasn't just a 12 week lockdown after all and that they there was no credible exit plan. 12 month tourist/freelancer/remote worker visas are a way to try to keep some foreigners coming and spending, but without the much higher risk of short term visitors.

The words "territorial taxation" are widely applied to Georgia but when you read the tax code it doesn't look like it has much benefit to people who work or manage a business. I suspect that enforcement is another matter, but more interesting are free zones, virtual zone and the extremely friendly interpretation that is believed to apply to crypto trading. But it's not a simple no-tax jurisdiction like Anguilla.

 

[AlbanyJames]

Martin, I believe Bahamas has something similar in the works with the annual residency but as usual always late to the party not to mention they will figure a way to mess everything up anyway.

 

[Martin Everson]

Martin, I believe Bahamas has something similar in the works with the annual residency but as usual always late to the party not to mention they will figure a way to mess everything up anyway.

lol....yes Bahamas is slooooooow in more than one way.

What good it would be to be residing in Estonia? Their monstrous tax regime with around 50% total tax burden is just beyond any belief + living in a shithole looking country. Nice perks

I looked into it and Estonia offers no tax advantage unlike Bermuda and Barbados for remote working. The process is cumbersome and Estonia is NOT a place I would want to stay at all let alone work from.

---- start quote

15. What are the tax obligations of a DNV-holder?

If a DNV-holder stays in Estonia for more than 183 days in a consecutive 12 month period, they will be considered an Estonian tax resident and should declare and pay taxes here. Read more about tax residency here.

------- end quote

https://e-resident.gov.ee/nomadvisa/https://medium.com/e-residency-blog/faqs-about-estonias-digital-nomad-visa-b04f12551e30

 

[Martin Everson]

@Martin Everson the benefit is due to the SARS2 restrictions. Even with a residence permit very few people can enter Georgia; currently just citizens of DE, FR, LT, LV entering from one of those countries.

That's interesting. I have residency in Georgia since ages. You saying I cannot travel there currently even with my residency card? Not planning to travel for obvious reason but good to know.

 

[khinkali]

@Martin Everson yes. Georgia has a tiny SARS2 incidence rate (basically same as New Zealand) so they are strict. But it seems odd that France is one of the four allowed countries, given the epidemiology. It's almost like it's not based on the virus and that politics had something to do with it.

 

[JohnLocke]

Remote working from Georgia soon.

New project to allow foreigners to travel to and work remotely from Georgia

Is it the same as this one The new residency schemes inviting workers abroad

Now that it's both Georgia and Bermuda, does anyone think that other countries within the EU might jump on it? And how would an EU country react to taxation if they were told that they had used this option?

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

Seems like Croatia is next:
https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/46106-nomad-visa
Also @Admin Estonia has a digital nomad visa now, but I’m not sure if it makes any difference, i.e. if more people can get in that way than previously, or if they just relabeled existing rules.