Permanent Traveler Status



I feel like a PT with all the traveling I've been doing. I honestly wouldn't want anymore because it gets fucking obnoxious after awhile and I'd rather just pay the taxes for the comfort of just relaxing.
 
talk to a lawyer? to become PT? what the fuck is with people????
@ryan eagle ; agreed sometimes.
@avatar33 ; this is right and most nations have a similar ruling. if you literally drop all ownership and severe all ties you will have no rights left but also no responsibilities (you will be judged whereever you happen to be based in that case.)

if your occupations and lifestyle aren't downright bizarre, a human being can live stay and die really just anywhere.
 
Learn to negotiate like a local.

Been living PT style for well over a yr.. easy on $3000 US a month if you work at it. I dont mean like a broke dick either, plenty of partying and womanizing included. Key issues are health insurance, and keeping the travel expenses down.
 
tiz, what are you doing for health insurance? Since you're in Thailand you know that you can walk into a private hospital and get excellent care for pocket change in most cases. But for castrophic insurance, have you found anything good? I've looked at plans from local insurers and they suck, high premiums for poor coverage.
 
Kiopa_Matt said:
Why would you suggest that? You have to pay the standard living expenses (ie. rent, electric, food, etc.) whether you're living in your home country or abroad. Granted, you spend more due to flights, checking out the country, you eat out more instead of at home (actually, in many countries it's cheaper to eat at a decent restaurant than it is to cook something in Canada), and so on.

I was traveling the world for years, and only making around say $8000/month on an average month. I generally stayed in a country anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months, and it was great. No regrets. It doesn't matter if I'm in Canada, Malta, Indonesia, Mexico, or Czech Republic... I'm still going to have to pay for shelter, food, etc. I can either sit in Canada and do it, or tour the world while doing it.

As for taxes, I don't pay any tax to the Canadian government, and have never paid in any of the foreign countries, because I'm never technically employed in them. During the last several years of my dad's career, my parents were on several international assignments. They loved it, because not only do you get to experience another country, you also get a large raise because you don't owe any tax to the Canadian government.
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exactly, +1.

i live the same way and now i'm married we both do :) taxes? same as Kiopa, only if i live somewhere, which i don't, i "visit", but i'm english so its a lot easier, just sign out, done.

the trick to long term travelling or just living abroad in general is to earn western money passively. so income from investments, rent, commissions, dividends and now for us IM is the solution. the op has this bit down, all the rest is just details. pm me if you need any advice.
 
Some of you guys are very fortunate. It so sucks being a U.S. citizen sometimes. F'ing unbelievable they demand taxes when I rarely step foot in the country. Well, at least I'm not paying California state taxes anymore - got a pretty big raise not paying state income tax, property tax, sales tax, plus other weirdo assessments they would invent now and then.
 
avatar33 said:
I think the main problem is your business' bank account location. If you're a PT and you move your biz bank account to a financial haven like Panama or Belize, you should be able to avoid US taxes. Amirite?
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You can avoid them because you are hiding the money. But it is not legal unless you do it correctly.
Panama LLC that the owner of is a local accounting/lawyer firm
you have access to the bank account. the company NETS 300K. you draw out 80 K for personal use. You only have to pay local takes on the first 80K made in a foreign country, not US Tax. YOu draw out 200K you should pay tax US on the 120K.
That is the law (as I recall) but if you decided to pay no US taxes, will they find you if you are living in Panama, probably not, if you are living in San Francisco in a 4000 a month apt and reporting no income, maybe yes.

Here is an issue that you may confront. Lets say you are a US citizen and you really have no plans to take up residency in Thailand/Panama/costa rica etc, and you are banking it with IM. Your panama bank grows and you have a pile of coin. You get married and you want to buy the white picket fenced dream home (it is actually your wife's dream but you go along with it because you like fucking her) You can buy that beauty for CASH, but how do you justify the cash? Where did it come from? International wire for 400K, that will maybe raise a red flag....OK just borrow it, wait you do not qualify because you reported a poverty level income. Get the mortgage in the wife's name and you pay the loan, this may work, and when you get divorced, because you know you will, she is stuck with the loan :) But because you loved her you told her about the Panama account and during the divorce she threatens the IRS, and you end up giving her 70% of your panama money so you will not go to jail.
 
Kiopa_Matt said:
Gotta keep the money flowing to bomb brown people. :)
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Truth. That's actually a big ethical issue and a major reason I became an expat. The only way to stop the murderous bastards is to starve them of funds. I took a big hit in income when I moved and now pay very little in taxes (still too much) and I'm happy I'm buying far fewer bombs and land mines.
 
Doc said:
Here is an issue that you may confront. Lets say you are a US citizen and you really have no plans to take up residency in Thailand/Panama/costa rica etc, and you are banking it with IM. Your panama bank grows and you have a pile of coin. You get married and you want to buy the white picket fenced dream home (it is actually your wife's dream but you go along with it because you like fucking her) You can buy that beauty for CASH, but how do you justify the cash? Where did it come from? International wire for 400K, that will maybe raise a red flag....OK just borrow it, wait you do not qualify because you reported a poverty level income. Get the mortgage in the wife's name and you pay the loan, this may work, and when you get divorced, because you know you will, she is stuck with the loan :) But because you loved her you told her about the Panama account and during the divorce she threatens the IRS, and you end up giving her 70% of your panama money so you will not go to jail.
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Man this story you're telling me is like the most fucked up scenario that you could think of lol

I'm not worried since I'm Canadian, our gov is more flexible on these things. But damn, I feel sorry for you Americans, would the IRS really come find you anywhere in the world if they know you're hiding big monies in Panama and not paying US tax on it?
 
Man, the US gov't is rapacious. If you have $10k in a foreign account and don't report it, they can pretty much take all of it after a few years. I believe the $10k threshold has been around since the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. Now just think what you could have bought in 1970 with $10k versus what you can buy with $10k now.

Also, I've heard there are IRS agents at embassies around the world.
 
charlesmartel said:
Man, the US gov't is rapacious. If you have $10k in a foreign account and don't report it, they can pretty much take all of it after a few years. I believe the $10k threshold has been around since the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. Now just think what you could have bought in 1970 with $10k versus what you can buy with $10k now.

Also, I've heard there are IRS agents at embassies around the world.
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land of the free.
 
avatar33 said:
... would the IRS really come find you anywhere in the world if they know you're hiding big monies in Panama and not paying US tax on it?
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Oh yes they would. I read a story a couple weeks ago of a guy who owed $45,000 in back taxes, he was hiding out in Thailand, and f'ing Thailand arrested and expedited him on request of the U.S. Almost nowhere in the world is safe from those blood suckers.
 
geomark said:
tiz, what are you doing for health insurance? Since you're in Thailand you know that you can walk into a private hospital and get excellent care for pocket change in most cases. But for castrophic insurance, have you found anything good? I've looked at plans from local insurers and they suck, high premiums for poor coverage.
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You can get insurance from a European carrier that should adequately cover you globally for medical and dental for about €50-€60 a month. My girlfriend and I are currently covered by Bupa...

International health insurance for individuals and families | Bupa International

One thing to note is that while they cover you for medical procedures and hospital stays and whatnot, they don't cover you for repatriation if you want medical evac to your home country. An intensive care air ambulance from, say, Europe to Canada or the US will cost you around $200k. We learned this after a friend of ours from Vancouver was in a car accident here in Spain that ultimately proved fatal, but she was in a coma for 7 months before she passed away.
 
According to my knowledge you will have to pay taxes on the basis of your bank account status.So, where ever you are you will have to pay tax for your account within your country.;)
 
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