Id say wait until you actually make $250k/year, if and when that happens. Many people make more than that with AM and haven't even thought about moving.
Moving to a Tax Haven. Advice please...
- Thread starter bassmaan
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Found this link a few years ago: [SIZE=+1]How I Escaped The Greedy Hands Of The Great White North [/SIZE]
United States Income Tax Treaties - A to Z
"Most income tax treaties contain what is known as a "saving clause" which prevents a citizen or resident of the United States from using the provisions of a tax treaty in order to avoid taxation of U.S. source income.
If the treaty does not cover a particular kind of income, or if there is no treaty between your country and the United States, you must pay tax on the income in the same way and at the same rates shown in the instructions for the applicable U.S. tax return."
If you can find a treaty that says us citizens living in Country X do not need to pay any taxes to the us, let me know,
Panama........
If you were in the US I could show you how to mitigate most of your taxes through real estate. I have no clue how they do it in Canada, I just know I haven't paid taxes for 2 years due to rentals
If you were in the US I could show you how to mitigate most of your taxes through real estate. I have no clue how they do it in Canada, I just know I haven't paid taxes for 2 years due to rentals
Belize may be the most boring place I've ever been. Taking a golf cart through the set of Temptaion Island by mistake was fun, but that was it.
Ok, although I have very little advice actually related to the tax question. I know the guy from the show "Bobby G Adventure Capitalist" on Mojo is a Canadian citizen living in the Bahamas for this exact reason. He actually talks about how he pays 0% income tax on the show.
Anyway, what I really wanted to say is this. DO IT! If it's something you'd enjoy, go for it. Being young is all the more reason you should do this. It sounds like you don't have a gf, or family you need to support, and you sound like you know you're financially sound enough to support yourself even if AM goes south. Even thinking about doing anything like this once you get older is much more of a risk.
I personally do AM as my only job and I just got back from backpacking Europe and I literally had the time of my life. I'm now in the works of living abroad for awhile, not because of tax reasons since I'm a US citizen, but just for pure enjoyment. If you do travel for 5 months, and you're of the social type, definitely stay in hostels along the way. You won't get any AM work done there but you'll have a blast. I personally stayed in hostels for a few days, got a hotel room to check up on my campaigns and do a little work, and then went straight back to hostels. I didn't come back from the trip making more money, but for the experience, I have no regrets.
oh ya, lonelyplanet.com and hostelworld.com are my 2 best friends. escapeartist has some good info, but frankly it feels more geared to retirees. I'd use lonelyplanet.com even for living advice as it'll tell you what there is to do in the country. Also, I'd definitely visit the country you intend to live before just jumping up and moving there.
Anyway, what I really wanted to say is this. DO IT! If it's something you'd enjoy, go for it. Being young is all the more reason you should do this. It sounds like you don't have a gf, or family you need to support, and you sound like you know you're financially sound enough to support yourself even if AM goes south. Even thinking about doing anything like this once you get older is much more of a risk.
I personally do AM as my only job and I just got back from backpacking Europe and I literally had the time of my life. I'm now in the works of living abroad for awhile, not because of tax reasons since I'm a US citizen, but just for pure enjoyment. If you do travel for 5 months, and you're of the social type, definitely stay in hostels along the way. You won't get any AM work done there but you'll have a blast. I personally stayed in hostels for a few days, got a hotel room to check up on my campaigns and do a little work, and then went straight back to hostels. I didn't come back from the trip making more money, but for the experience, I have no regrets.
oh ya, lonelyplanet.com and hostelworld.com are my 2 best friends. escapeartist has some good info, but frankly it feels more geared to retirees. I'd use lonelyplanet.com even for living advice as it'll tell you what there is to do in the country. Also, I'd definitely visit the country you intend to live before just jumping up and moving there.
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Ok thanks for all the feedback.
I have been talking with a variety of people on this and a couple issues came up. (though I havnt talked to the accountants yet)
-Panama is suppossed to be great for both business and living.
-Incorporating in nevada in also another good option and if done right could lead to taxes as low as 15% and it would be easier to business within the US. Any info on this??
- There might be dificulties in working with companies like google, myspace...
if you dont live in canada or the US. Since I rely on ppc this would be a major problem. Can any one give information on buy traffic from these guys without a north american address??? Or ways to get around this??
I have been talking with a variety of people on this and a couple issues came up. (though I havnt talked to the accountants yet)
-Panama is suppossed to be great for both business and living.
-Incorporating in nevada in also another good option and if done right could lead to taxes as low as 15% and it would be easier to business within the US. Any info on this??
- There might be dificulties in working with companies like google, myspace...
if you dont live in canada or the US. Since I rely on ppc this would be a major problem. Can any one give information on buy traffic from these guys without a north american address??? Or ways to get around this??
zimok said:
You can do all that in Costa Rica on the cheap, sure. Decent food (steak kinda sucks though), hot girls, all night strip clubs, surfing, snorkeling, hiking, volcanoes ... monkeys in my back yard.
Check out incorporating in Wyoming vs Nevada fwiw.bassman said:
Earth Class Mail.bassman said:
I second exosus, just do it regardless if the tax thing turns out to be not worth it. You're making enough to have a blast doing some traveling.
Sean
i agree 250k in not that much money, and going through all this shit just to save some money would not be worth it. Money is only number, like imaginary points in this game called life i play. If you want to travel then travel, have fun, bang anything that has two legs and tits. Im just saying shit always goes south right when you think you have it figured out. but do what you want. whatever fits your needs best.
I understand $250k is not very much. And it is a purely projected figure. The actual amount could be much less or much more. This is as much a lifestyle descision as a business one.
I know from personal experience that I gain the greatest life satisfaction by spending my money on traveling. Also I am sure that I love Canada but not the winter which lasts 6 months up here. So if it takes me $10k to set this up(I was given an guestimate of $2.5k-30k) at $250k a year I would still be saving 100K which again is not much but it is in terms of the percentage of my income...
Bottom line is that buying a pad on a tropical beach and surfing during the winter months is what I want to spend my money on anyway.
I will report back once I talk with the accountants and have some real infromation to make my descision. However the only factors that I can see stopping me would be if
1) the set up cost is significantly higher. Like 500k account balance or something.
2) I would not be able to continue running my business for some reason. like google would block my account or I couldnt use any credit cards exc...
3) I would not be able to return to my present situation in the future.
I know from personal experience that I gain the greatest life satisfaction by spending my money on traveling. Also I am sure that I love Canada but not the winter which lasts 6 months up here. So if it takes me $10k to set this up(I was given an guestimate of $2.5k-30k) at $250k a year I would still be saving 100K which again is not much but it is in terms of the percentage of my income...
Bottom line is that buying a pad on a tropical beach and surfing during the winter months is what I want to spend my money on anyway.
I will report back once I talk with the accountants and have some real infromation to make my descision. However the only factors that I can see stopping me would be if
1) the set up cost is significantly higher. Like 500k account balance or something.
2) I would not be able to continue running my business for some reason. like google would block my account or I couldnt use any credit cards exc...
3) I would not be able to return to my present situation in the future.
You don't know what you're talking about! Don't give this boy some negative opinion about some place that'll be perfect for him if he just gave it a shot.
Belize is the new Tokyo. There is always something to do. And whores.
I don't think you have any idea what a "lot" of money is.
For what, 99 percent of the world's population, $250k is more than they'll earn in a lifetime.
While I was in college and working in radio, I made do with about 8-10k a year and made it work. A lot of freebies, but I made little enough to get maxxed out on the grants each year.
If you're not stupid, and you have no kids, and you're 24 and you have no house and no mortgage, and a car payment in the $250 range....$250k can last years, man. YEARS.
And you're living life, too. Want to go out to eat? GO! Want to jump on a plane and head somewhere? GO! Have someone killed? They're DEAD!
If you really want to be the man, put aside cash so you can work on a buy/lease and deck out your own island in whatever climate you feel like. Have a house built, a dock, a caretaker's house, etc. Then the boat/helicopter/submarine action.
I am sure these guys can help you though; offshore company corporation formation, Hong Kong*Accountants, british virgin islands, bvi, tax haven They can setup a BVI in Hong Kong. It will still save you a lot of money and you don't have to move to another country.
Only problem is how you get your money in your country.. that's my problem where I am finding a solution for. This spring 2009 I will buy a car in my country a $20k BMW 325i and I will pay that car with a bank wire from my HSBC Hong Kong bank account and when I need a bit extra money for some parties and clothes shopping or whatever I just use the atm in my country with my HSBC Hong Kong Bank account
But on the long term; I don't know how to get the hopefully lots of money into my country without paying lots of taxes.
Only problem is how you get your money in your country.. that's my problem where I am finding a solution for. This spring 2009 I will buy a car in my country a $20k BMW 325i and I will pay that car with a bank wire from my HSBC Hong Kong bank account and when I need a bit extra money for some parties and clothes shopping or whatever I just use the atm in my country with my HSBC Hong Kong Bank account
But on the long term; I don't know how to get the hopefully lots of money into my country without paying lots of taxes.
A good bit of advice which you've probably already totally fucked up for yourself is to keep what you're doing to as few people as possible.
Dont get me wrong 250k for 99% of the population would be a blessing. I just wanted to say, exercise caution when making big decisions, i just have really bad luck and it always bites me in the ass. and ive been at the bottom due to one or two bad decisions, but thats how you learn, and become a better person. but the virgin islands are pretty cool. a friend just moved back from there.
Wow with $60k you should just buy your own island. Make sure you're protected, hire some bodyguards and get a bullet-proof Bentley.
Most countries tax people based on their residency rather than their citizenship. If they live outside the country, they no longer owe taxes. The United States is one of the very few countries that tries to tax citizens worldwide.
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