Important residence question

[Brillo]

Hello dears,
I'm trying to find an answer for my question... but I really couldn't find it anywhere while it sound like a legitimate question and above all necessary.

For many countries (including mine) to maintain residency I have to stay 183 days in that particular country.... Very well.... I take a plane every 30 days and go to another country

EG: 1 Jan 2022 I took flight from Malta to France and 1 Feb 2022 I went back from France to Malta...

Well, 1 Jan 2022 and 1 Feb 2022 are counting as days spent in Malta or France... or both or even neither?

It's crazy that I cannot find a simple reply like that but necessary to establish my effective tax residence.

Thank you

 

[Sols]

In some countries, the tie-breaker is where you spent the night or were sleeping when the day began (or were reasonably expected to have spent/slept). So if you slept in Malta from January 31st 23:59 to February 1st 07:00 before going to the airport, you were resident in Malta on February 1st.

In many cases, if there is doubt about the exact number of days, other factors are considered to determine to which country you have the strongest ties. This isn't necessarily codified into law and left for courts to decide on what's reasonable.

 

[backpacker]

Hello dears,
I'm trying to find an answer for my question... but I really couldn't find it anywhere while it sound like a legitimate question and above all necessary.

For many countries (including mine) to maintain residency I have to stay 183 days in that particular country.... Very well.... I take a plane every 30 days and go to another country

EG: 1 Jan 2022 I took flight from Malta to France and 1 Feb 2022 I went back from France to Malta...

Well, 1 Jan 2022 and 1 Feb 2022 are counting as days spent in Malta or France... or both or even neither?

It's crazy that I cannot find a simple reply like that but necessary to establish my effective tax residence.

Thank you

Another example would be Georgia were every day spent on the territory of Georgia counts as a day for ordinary tax residence purposes, even if you spent just one minute in Georgia.

Example: You leave Tbilisi Airport bound for Istanbul with a flight leaving on 01FEB at 00:45. You walk through passport checkpoint on 01FEB at 00:03 and receive your exit stamp dated 01FEB. You stay in Istanbul till 02FEB, returning to Tbilisi on 02FEB at 23:30. You walk through Georgian passport checkpoint at 23.55 and receive an entry stamp dated 02FEB.
Result: For the purpose of tax residency you did not leave Georgia, even though you spend two days in Istanbul.

Georgia is the only country I know were rules are so clear when it comes to (willingly or unwillingly) establishing ordinary tax residency.

 

[Brillo]

In some countries, the tie-breaker is where you spent the night or were sleeping when the day began (or were reasonably expected to have spent/slept). So if you slept in Malta from January 31st 23:59 to February 1st 07:00 before going to the airport, you were resident in Malta on February 1st.

In many cases, if there is doubt about the exact number of days, other factors are considered to determine to which country you have the strongest ties. This isn't necessarily codified into law and left for courts to decide on what's reasonable.

Another example would be Georgia were every day spent on the territory of Georgia counts as a day for ordinary tax residence purposes, even if you spent just one minute in Georgia.

Example: You leave Tbilisi Airport bound for Istanbul with a flight leaving on 01FEB at 00:45. You walk through passport checkpoint on 01FEB at 00:03 and receive your exit stamp dated 01FEB. You stay in Istanbul till 02FEB, returning to Tbilisi on 02FEB at 23:30. You walk through Georgian passport checkpoint at 23.55 and receive an entry stamp dated 02FEB.
Result: For the purpose of tax residency you did not leave Georgia, even though you spend two days in Istanbul.

Georgia is the only country I know were rules are so clear when it comes to (willingly or unwillingly) establishing ordinary tax residency.

Thank you both for your explaination.
Do you know how Malta count these days? Because I foolishly didn't leave myself enough days.
In fact I calculated the whole year days... I spent 185 days in Malta and 175 days in France (rest of days into another country)

The issue is that, in these 185 days i counted 50% of flight days.
Let's say I took flight 12 times this year, I distributed them 50-50 on Malta and France (so 6 and 6)
If Malta doesn't count these Departure or Arrival days, i won't able to reach 183 days (185-6 or even 185-12)

Not sure where I can get this information.

 

[Sols]

Do you know how Malta count these days?

AFAIK, it's not defined in Maltese law.

"resident in Malta" when applied to an individual means an individual who resides in Malta except for such temporary absences as to the Commissioner may seem reasonable and not inconsistent with the claim of such individual to be resident in Malta

https://legislation.mt/eli/cap/123/eng/pdf

Not sure where I can get this information.

Read the law and ask a lawyer if there is any case history.

If you're a low-profile EU citizen with your affairs in order otherwise, you can probably claim tax residence in Malta and no one will bat en eye. Just be more careful in the future and keep a much larger margin.