The thing is I absolutely hate and dread tax s**t. First you are already losing ~35% of your income + you have to worry about "Oh this f*****g action would result in tax? Can I breathe? Would it be a taxable event?" + you have to figure out what the f**k you are supposed to pay for + you have to spend time doing all that shitty paperwork. Its hard enough for an entrepreneur to create a successful business and he got to deal with tax s**t too? How is anyone still not a slave in this world?
Okay its a third world country but still it offers 0 Tax if you are staying the hell out of their borders and making money outside and keeping outside business outside. No? It got this benefit isnt it? Otherwise why would anyone invest 100k?
35% is if you earn a salary. If you run a business, you should structure your income as capital gains which are taxed far lower.
I have written several posts on this topic. If you are a U.S. citizen and can work remotely (offshore), your effective tax rate can go from 40% to 50% in high tax states (between federal and state income taxes, plus FICA taxes) to about 10% to 15% -- by forming a CFC controlled by a U.S. C corp. and by living offshore. Just hire a qualified accountant to do your taxes.
The FATCA scare is over. Today, very few banks would reject an otherwise good applicant just because of US citizenship (I'm sure there are some noteworthy exception, though). Compliance has become easy and straight forward. In most cases, Americans are no longer discriminated and in most cases subject to the same (ever increasing) requirements on non-resident banking clients.
"which is why they all seek to flee to the U.S" ------ This is exactly why I was even asking these questions here because everyone is running towards US and Im avoiding US so would that make me a stupid person or am I blind to some huge sensible logic? Any regrets will kill me from inside later and no one wants that to happen to themselves.
Whoa! Was it this difficult for US citizens to open account in other countries? I remember bankers asking me if Im US citizen or have US Green Card.
Personally, I would never move to the US. I do not like the culture, or what it has to offer. However, if I had a choice to work with anyone on a business venture, I would pick an American in a heartbeat. Their work ethic is second to none. I would also consider raising money in the US, as their investors are much more knowledge and much easier to work with than, say Europeans. So, it remains in many ways a land of opportunity in the modern world. If you'd like to take a shot and try to become a multi-millionaire, and don't mind putting up with huge wealth inequality, no safety net and basically winner-gets all mentality, I would strongly consider going there.
I would not be picking a country if that were my situation, based on taxes. You can move to any country on the planet and hire a good accountant who will optimise your taxes and chances are your effective tax rate will end up in the 20-40% range. However, your base salary could vary enormously depending on where you work. The same financial analyst working for exactly the same bank could easily have a salary thats 50% more in New York, than Paris, or Frankfurt.
Some banks will not want to accept US citizens/Green card holders as customers due to FACTA. US expects that every foreign bank report every bank account held by an American to IRS. Some banks chose not to get involved in this. From my experience, its a bit random which banks will and will not work with Americans. We are talking about Retail banking here, so for them its a simple cost calculation (# of Americans opening bank accounts vs. cost of compliance and potential liabilities). But, it is something to consider, along with the fact that you will always have to report your worldwide income to IRS and in some cases pay tax in the US even if you choose to emigrate in the future. Thats not a liability I would want to have, or subject my children to in the future.
Im confused with one thing, I got a few hundred thousand dollars and I dont know in which category do I fall rich or poor? And like I said I dont know for sure where my future income will be coming from (online or offline)
