My intro and hopeful exit from Canada

[offshore3654]

Hello everybody,
Thanks for the plentitude of information on here.
I wish I had come here years prior, but my situation is fairly straight forward, I think.
I am a Canadian and resident of Canada. I have a corporation here that has done well and now I am done with living here and no longer want to conduct business here.
Politics, livelihood, weather, and taxes having me seeking residence and conducting business elsewhere.

I would like to setup an offshore business somewhere and keep further money out of canada. My business is all online, so it is a matter of shifting to new accounts elsewhere in the world.
I'm looking for residency in the Caribbean / US and a way to keep more of the money earned in a bank somewhere with minimal taxes and dip into it when needed.
I'm sure there are plenty of channels to handle this, but that just adds to the confusion.
Looking for insight into getting something established.
Thanks everybody!

Hope I can contribute later as I learn more.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Hi! Come down in the Bahamas! Life is better here.

 

[offshore3654]

Hi! Come down in the Bahamas! Life is better here.

Is it going to cost me much to move my wife and two small children? I spent last year living in Barbados and it was super easy with a baby.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Is it going to cost me much to move my wife and two small children? I spent last year living in Barbados and it was super easy with a baby.

Cost of life is not much different. But taxes are zero!
The Bahamas are more fun for a family, and their proximity to Miami is a big plus (for example for shopping, provisions, medical needs etc).
Btw you need to buy a property worth min $750k to qualify for permanent residence. Or you can buy a cheap 1 year remote worker visa and rent.

 

[offshore3654]

Cost of life is not much different. But taxes are zero!
The Bahamas are more fun for a family, and their proximity to Miami is a big plus (for example for shopping, provisions, medical needs etc).
Btw you need to buy a property worth min $750k to qualify for permanent residence. Or you can buy a cheap 1 year remote worker visa and rent.

750k. I can do. Let me look into it. You buy the first round of beers though.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

750k. I can do. Let me look into it. You buy the first round of beers though.

I will do that if you buy my house (see the other thread) but I’m asking more than $750k.
Ps you get a 5% discount if you pay in crypto

 

[JohnLocke]

Or you can buy a cheap 1 year remote worker visa and rent.

Can you elaborate on what is cheap?

 

[KDX]

Can you elaborate on what is cheap?

Found this from Bahamas Digital Nomad Visa Explained - Work In Paradise

BEATS for Professionals

• $25 USD application fee per applicant
• $1000 USD permit fee for each remote working applicant
• $500 USD permit fee for each additional family member, if the dependent is also remote working the $1000 USD fee applies.

BEATS for Students

• $25 USD student application fee
• $500 USD student permit fee
• Optional fees up to a maximum of $1885 USD for access to the University of The Bahamas.

Renewable up to 3 years. Seems pretty cheap to me

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Can you elaborate on what is cheap?

The digital nomad visa… as per the above post, it is not bad

 

[EuroKiss]

OP concerns are - also - about taxes.
Do all those “nomad visa” give you tax residency? Or are just set to legally extend the tourist visa to stay in the country more than 3 months in a year? This is the main issue. Otherwise, better stay 6 months as a tourist in Mexico in a AirBnB, switch to a couple of 90-length visa countries for the other 6 months, and repeat.

 

[botero]

Safely leaving the tax net of a developed country like Canada requires some planning. The CRA (Canada's tax agency) doesn't like it when Canadian residents move directly to tax havens. They will pay extra close attention to you and any Canadian tie, even your passport, can be used to justify the taxation of your worldwide income.

Therefore, if you want to break ties cleanly with Canada, I'd recommend that you first obtain residency and ties in a 'friendly' intermediary OECD country with a double taxation agreement with Canada. In your case, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Chile could be options.

Once you have this paper residency at the intermediary country, you should break off as many secondary ties with Canada that you can (e.g. bank accounts, memberships, health card, driver's license, etc) and submit your last emigrant tax return with Canada. Since the intermediary country has a double tax agreement with Canada and is not a tax haven, the CRA won't care if you don't get rid of all of your secondary ties. Primary ties will matter of course.

You would then be free to become a resident anywhere without having to be on the CRA's radars.

 

[FixieHartmann]

OP concerns are - also - about taxes.
Do all those “nomad visa” give you tax residency? Or are just set to legally extend the tourist visa to stay in the country more than 3 months in a year? This is the main issue. Otherwise, better stay 6 months as a tourist in Mexico in a AirBnB, switch to a couple of 90-length visa countries for the other 6 months, and repeat.

At least in the Bahamas and Barbados you won’t get tax residency with the digital nomad visas. You also won‘t get a tax number.

 

[EuroKiss]

At least in the Bahamas and Barbados you won’t get tax residency with the digital nomad visas. You also won‘t get a tax number.

That’s what I thought, spending good money in a Caribbean island AND paying taxes in your home country it’s not a good move. Good suggestion from @botero, firstly move to a different country - but not 0 taxes - and from there to off-shore.