UAE (Dubai) Expats: What moves will you make with the new UAE tax laws?

[Konstanz]

It's spelled backpacker and I don't understand at all what you are trying to say.
You can have a look at the UK tax residency flowchart:

https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2016/01/statutory-residence-test-flowchart.pdf

You will see there is no "lives in cheap hostels and has bad hygiene" criterion for tax residency.
If you don't fulfill the criteria for tax residency, you are not a tax resident in the UK. You can't be.



You are making stuff up. Most countries ask for a new address. Very, very few countries will ask you to prove that you have a new tax residency.



You don't seem to understand the meaning of the terms "both Contracting States" and "double taxation".

I understand. But I have been asked to provide tax residence certificate, utility bills, flight tickets, rental contracts of my new country.
Just FYI
When you have investigation is different reality. They can say - we don't believe you are real emigrant and you can fight it in the same government court

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

good luck proving to French, or Spanish government you are not their tax resident because you are traveling around the world and not be able to produce new tax residence

I don't know much about the rules for France or Spain. It's possible they demand proof that you have become tax resident somewhere else, but if so, they would be outliers.
You could also get tax residency somewhere else to satisfy the FR/ES taxman and then move out from there again.

All depends on your passprot

No, it does not depend on your passport at all (unless you're American). Your passport is almost entirely irrelevant.
It depends on where you were tax resident before leaving. Very few countries have additional rules for their own citizens, usually everyone is treated equally.

 

[Konstanz]

I don't know much about the rules for France or Spain. It's possible they demand proof that you have become tax resident somewhere else, but if so, they would be outliers.
You could also get tax residency somewhere else to satisfy the FR/ES taxman and then move out from there again.



No, it does not depend on your passport at all (unless you're American). Your passport is almost entirely irrelevant.
It depends on where you were tax resident before leaving. Very few countries have additional rules for their own citizens, usually everyone is treated equally.

Yes I agree. This is in a perfect world unless money hungry government is on your back

Most of people here move from high tax countries to low / 0% countries. I am trying to say that they should be careful.

If you live in UAE 10 years and move to other country it should be OK

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

They can say - we don't believe you are real emigrant and you can fight it in the same government court

Yes, you should obviously make sure that you can no longer be considered tax resident. It's not enough to get a paper residency somewhere, you have to actually cut ties with your home country.
By the way, taking up tax residency somewhere else doesn't mean much for your home country.
Take a country like Qatar or the UAE: They may consider you tax resident, but they have very few tax treaties. If your home country still considers you tax resident under their own laws, then your UAE/Qatar tax residency is completely worthless. They won't care about it at all since there is no treaty.

 

[Cloudbanck]

If you are just bagpacker most likely you are still tax resident in home country

No, I just gave you the examples of how it works for Ireland, UK, Sweden, Germany, Italy, France, Norway. If you are out of the tax net of these countries that's it , you dont pay tax there, even if you are a "backpacker" and travel around a lot.

Australia has a newly proposed rule though, where it seems they explicitly say that if you just travel around, even if you are out of the tax net, you still pay tax to Australia. But Im not sure it has passed yet, and it is a quite unusual rule. European countries have nothing like that.

Yes but if home country would ask you to prove residence , double tax treaty would be taken into account ant that could be problematic

You have to have "home" new home country with utility bill, residence,address etc..

For most countries what you are supposed to show/prove is that you dont have ties to the country you left. For example for Sweden, here is how it works in practice: you tell the authorities that you have moved out, and then they check if you have ties to Sweden (business , family, house) and if they conclude you dont , they send you a letter confirming that you are out of the tax net. Then it doesnt matter if you have moved to a country Sweden has a double taxation agreement with or not.

However, if they conclude you have ties to Sweden and are not out of the tax net, then yes, the double taxation agreement - if there is one with the country you moved to - matters. If there is none (like for the UAE), you pay tax to Sweden as usual.

This is basically how it works in most European countries.

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

I agree that there is a risk if you still have some ties to your home country. For example, if you visit frequently. Since most high-tax countries have vague rules about "habitual abode".
You can't do that. You have to actually be gone. Then there is no such risk.
It seems to me you cannot imagine that people actually have a nomadic lifestyle.

 

[Cloudbanck]

I understand. But I have been asked to provide tax residence certificate, utility bills, flight tickets, rental contracts of my new country.
Just FYI
When you have investigation is different reality. They can say - we don't believe you are real emigrant and you can fight it in the same government court

Mm, ok, I can see this happening if some southern european country decides to investigate you, and you have moved to a tax haven. These countries are bureaucratic, and authorities have quite some leeway in what they request, so they can add in stuff not only about the country you left, but the one you moved to as well. When the investigation is over though and you are out of the tax net (or not), then it should work like the rest of Europe.

 

[Konstanz]

Mm, ok, I can see this happening if some southern european country decides to investigate you, and you have moved to a tax haven. These countries are bureaucratic, and authorities have quite some leeway in what they request, so they can add in stuff not only about the country you left, but the one you moved to as well. When the investigation is over though and you are out of the tax net (or not), then it should work like the rest of Europe.

I have moved from one EU country to other high tax country in EU.
Even in that case they asked all proof. They suspected I have better tax conditions in other country

 

[yngmind]

I have moved from one EU country to other high tax country in EU.
Even in that case they asked all proof. They suspected I have better tax conditions in other country

Non EU countries will mostly ask you for the residency permit, scan of your visa, rental contract possibly, stamps that you were out of the country for more than 183 days, and you're fine.

 

[Cloudbanck]

I have moved from one EU country to other high tax country in EU.
Even in that case they asked all proof. They suspected I have better tax conditions in other country

Ok, interesting, and what happened at the end? And if you really lived in this other high tax EU country it should have been not too difficult to show.

Could be that you own a non-micro business that put you on their radar. Still, quite annoying, and I haven't heard anything like this.

 

[Mercury]

I don't know much about the rules for France or Spain. It's possible they demand proof that you have become tax resident somewhere else, but if so, they would be outliers.

" You have your tax residence in France if one of the following criteria is met:
- You have your household there or, if you do not have a household, it is the location of your main abode ...
- You have a professional activity in France, as an employee of otherwise, unless this activity is secondary ...
- The centre of your economic interests is in France ... "

To be considered non-resident for tax purposes, France does not ask for tax residence proof.
You just need to fulfil none of the condition listed above.

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

Then France is just like most other countries.

 

[intlman]

FWIW, New Zealand only has a statutory days and a basic ties test (immediate family, property etc). It's rather simple, unlike Australia. You do not have to declare a new tax residency (the form that the Inland Revenue Department makes you fill in doesn't ask for that). You can still keep your NZ bank accounts/credit cards as they have no bearing on being classified as a tax resident or not.

 

[stronco]

You can still keep your NZ bank accounts/credit cards as they have no bearing on being classified as a tax resident or not.

In EU you can potentially switch bank account type to non-resident account in such cases.

 

[ShillGates]

I have fat binders of papers related to this prepared by EY and PWC, working closely with Meydan and HFZ authorities. Sure, avoiding CT is harder but definitely doable with the correct set-up, work and operations planning.

anyone you can into me to, as i am looking at this