Living in Peru on rentista visa (tax free) while working for own offshore company.

[filozof6]

Ok so I have a specific problematic and I would like to ask you guys some questions about the execution and legality of what I will try to do.

First of all lets specify a context. I am a IT person who earns around 55 000~ eur per year. Currently I am a citizen of eu.

I would like to live in peru and one of the visas available to live there is so called "Rentista visa"

Visas Residentes - Visa de Residente - Rentista

www.consulado.pe

For this visa you need to state that you have non-work income higher thatn 1000$ a month.
On one of the digital nomads sites I have came a across an article where they are stating that the income can be declared from dividends too.

How to obtain a RENTISTA VISA in Peru

Are you looking to retire in Peru? Did you know that it's possible to obtain a permanent retirement visa when you receive dividends from a company abroad? Find out all requirements for Peru's rentista visa in this article.

digitalnomadsperu.com

So my plan is:

• create offshore company with 0% corporate/dividend tax
• work for the company so I will be able to payout myself dividents equal to sustain me with 1000$/months (rentista visa requirement see the link above)
• get the rentista visa in peru and live there few years like that essentially legally dodging any income tax whatsoever (holders of rentista visa does not have to pay any income tax on any foreign income however they cannot legaly work or engage in any lucrative activities in peru)

My questions are:

• what is the best offshore jurisdiction to have a company like that? (I am thinking BVI but I think you guys will know better)
• Can a company pay out legally dividends for one person to two bank accounts by splitting the amount? (I would like to pay out my peruvian account and then leave some money in euro currency as peruvian currency Sol is slowly losing value)
• Is this actually legal? May I be penalized?

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

You need to speak to a Peruvian tax/immigration lawyer. This may or may not work.
Most Western countries would definitely consider such a setup "work" and they would tax your offshore company like a local company, because the work is performed from their soil. You would also get into trouble for working without a work permit.
But Peru may be less strict, as long as you don't have local clients. Thailand is like that, at least.
So go talk to a lawyer and let us know the result.

 

[filozof6]

You need to speak to a Peruvian tax/immigration lawyer. This may or may not work.
Most Western countries would definitely consider such a setup "work" and they would tax your offshore company like a local company, because the work is performed from their soil. You would also get into trouble for working without a work permit.
But Peru may be less strict, as long as you don't have local clients. Thailand is like that, at least.
So go talk to a lawyer and let us know the result.

Yeah this is true, that is why I am thinking about company on BVI, there is no public registry, some of the services that helps set it up also allow you to have different name for a director. And I would not be employed under that company I would just be creating invoices in behalf of the company so effectively no-one from outside would be able to find out any connection between me and the company, only the companies I would work for

There are maybe some things I am not still seeing but yeah I will chat to the lawyer and see whats up

 

[UndividedNomad]

Hey there,
I am in the process of doing the same exact thing and I have spoken with a Peruvian lawyer (the one from the website you quoted). This setup works and the lawyer recommended to create a US LLC as the offshore company. Can be created just to get the visa.

You’ll need an apostilled dividend certificate proving at least $1000/month (in practice the lawyer recommends a bit more to be on the safe side). The lawyer will also draft the document for you.

One thing however - you don’t have to pay any income tax on these dividends payouts - yes. However “officially” any other foreign income remains taxed in Peru provided you become a Peruvian tax resident (183 days in the country in a year). Now in practice you may be able to get away with it.

Perú isn’t very strict on foreign citizens so no risk on CFC/PE rules too.

 

[filozof6]

Hey there,
I am in the process of doing the same exact thing and I have spoken with a Peruvian lawyer (the one from the website you quoted). This setup works and the lawyer recommended to create a US LLC as the offshore company. Can be created just to get the visa.

You’ll need an apostilled dividend certificate proving at least $1000/month (in practice the lawyer recommends a bit more to be on the safe side). The lawyer will also draft the document for you.

One thing however - you don’t have to pay any income tax on these dividends payouts - yes. However “officially” any other foreign income remains taxed in Peru provided you become a Peruvian tax resident (183 days in the country in a year). Now in practice you may be able to get away with it.

Perú isn’t very strict on foreign citizens so no risk on CFC/PE rules too.

Why does the lawyer recommends US LLC? Are you a US citizen?

From what I understood the dividend document should be presented only once when you apply for visa and then you dont have to present anything else ever, is this correct?

Is there any age range to this? Or everyone is eligible if you get the non-work related income over the thresh-hold?


And also, can you change this visa after a while? Lets say I would like to start lucrative activity in peru, can I just change it to trabajador independiente when I will want it to do so?

And how much the whole process costs aproximately.

 

[UndividedNomad]

I am not 100% sure the reasons why a US LLC specifically- based on my understanding, that’s easier & faster to get the dividend certificate apostilled. But you can of course do it with any other jurisdiction as long as you can get the document.

Yes the dividend document needs to be shown only once. No age limitation for this visa. Everyone is eligible as long as you have a clean criminal record.

Cost for the lawyer is $3000. There are some small fees on top of that (application fee at Banco de la Nación and maybe some translation if the docs aren’t in Spanish). expect $3200 overall.

I am not sure about changing this visa to a different type later on.

Btw, as we are going through the same process, I’d love to connect and stay in touch. Maybe we can mutually help each other as we file our application as the procedures & paperwork required is quite a mess honestly. Not sure how to DM on here.

 

[filozof6]

yeah of course we can be in contact, the dm not work here so you can email me on rzfilozof at gmail