Permanent Traveler Status



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?
 
You need a good accountant and lawyer to do this which costs money which means you should be confident of making six figs (ballpark) for a number of years.

I looked into this years ago. It's non-trivial. Like with the US, there are special requirements for US citizens that don't apply to any other citizens of another country in the world.

For Canada, it's different, you have to paid a 25% exit fee and you can't spend more than 186(?) days in the country ever again.

Don't flame me if I get any of the specifics wrong, just trying to throw out examples.

In short, it's complicated, you need professional advice which is not cheap, and if you have a bad year you're sorta screwed stuck in a shitty country that is maybe not too comfortable for broke ex-pats.

And just to twist the thread around and piss some of you guys off, what the problem with paying some taxes in your home country? I live in Canada, which a lot of you guys think is run by communists, and until I make more $250 a year, my effective tax rate is under 20%. It's called incorporation, income-splitting, and averaging your revenue between good and bad years.

Maybe it would be good for some of guys to spend some time overseas in a shitty low-tax nation where the palms have to be greased, 10 years in jail for a quarter ounce of pot possession, and the locals don't like dumb arrogant whiteys. At the least it would cut down on the number of bitchy threads I see all the time about how tough it is to live under Obama/Bush/whatever politician is in charge.
 
I did this for some time so I happend to accumulate lots of knowledge about that.
you can shoot me a PM if you have any particular questions but be aware my view is quite different on this topic (I fuck this 5flag BS etc)

first when you are a US citizen you are obviously fucked lol. unless you think you are gangster and give up your citizenship + hide your monies in some offshore trusts or some shit "BECUZ NOBODY CAN KNOWZ ITS MINE MONIES HURR DURR". although I never got professional advice here since i'm non-US

general things:
-if you have less than $10mil it's not worth to do this as an asset protection strategy, because when you get fucked you will keep your monies but still be fucked
-if you want to make the "hotel life" be prepared to spend $10k-$20k a month easy
(multiply hotel rate times 2 is good way to go (tips, hotel-food, laundry, minibar, internet, etc))
-living in a 400sqft hotel room sucks ass
-you will be unproductive as fuck
-you still won't be james bond

I really would recommend that only to people who have their business already established and some kind of passive income.
TBH I only would really recommend that for retired ultra-high-networths who have no biz to do and too much time on their hands.
+ as long you have to work, traveling is no traveling, rather be a homeless bum lost in the world.
 
There is an exit fee for Americans as well and you can visit, but spend no more then X days in the county afterward. I dont have my notes in front of me so I am going off what I remember.

I do agree you need to be making a good sum of money from this. I would venture to say mid 6 figures at least. The reason being is yes you have bad years that hit you, but lets do some math here. I am again basing this off what I remember but someone that is top income bracket is at around 36% and then state taxes ( mine was 6% ). I am also doing some general math here as I also dont have a calc in front of me or my notes, but I know normally you have so much % of self employment tax up to X amount of dollars too. Fuck it, here is generalizations:

1. You make 500k year 1. Basing it off 36 + 6% thats 42% which is roughly like 210,000 you would pay in taxes.

2. You make 500k year 2. Again 210,000 in taxes.

^^ this is assuming also no change in the tax codes. Thats 580,000 of money you have left over in 2 years time. If your living in Thailand or lets just say Belize or Panama and your spending up the entire 580,000 you made in 2 years, then you deserve to be broke in your 3rd year if you have a really bad year.

However, lets do this as offshore ( lets minus all the american headache part of this ).

1. You make 500k year 1. Even with we base this on a low tax regime instead of a 0 and do 10%, thats only 50k in taxes you pay.


2. You make 500k year 2. Even with we base this on a low tax regime instead of a 0 and do 10%, thats only 50k in taxes you pay.

^^ Thats 990,000 you keep in your pocket. You should be spending WAY less then 150k a year in Thailand or Belize or ( replace with other tax heaven in 3rd world country ). When you have a bad 3rd year, you can ride this shit out pretty fucking well. You could have 5 more bad years and ride the fucker out.

Its not always about taxes though. I prefer less paperwork, less headache, and less oversight with offshore companies in the right country. I also prefer privacy as well in my personal life.

If you pick the right country, you dont have to live the "hotel life" and can easily get a beach side condo or villa for less then 500k. You can get non beach for way less as well.

Your internet may be so-so and so will lots of other things, but if you ever grew up in rural America then it would be no different then that.

I do not suggest this for someone with less then 2-3 years of making less then 500k and I for sure do not suggest this for someone making a steady 80k a year.
 
@eliquid, sure, well you have to draw a line between 'permanent traveling' and 'moving to a different country'
i'm sure you can do the later and save some monies,
I myself made the experience that there is a clear tenedency to spend -a lot more- when leaving the homecountry, no matter how you do it.

when you discuss about this topic, I think it's a huge topic where you easily don't look at the whole picture and thus can easily have a strong bias to some position.
after all i'd say it's a making money VS saving money decision
 
its true I missed the point of perm traveler and just moving to a diff country, but even if you did this within your own state/country, constantly moving require a shit ton of money to pull off compared to having a home base in a different area.
 
Minimum 10 million? WTF man... If you want to live the luxury life maybe, but what about someone that just wants to live a normal life, rent a one-bedroom and chill with the locals. Get to experience the local lifestyle. In Asia the cost of living is ridiculously cheap, beer and food is cheap and transportation is cheap (except Japan, S.Korea and Singapore) ... Same goes for most countries in Eastern Europe, South America & Africa.

Thinking you need millions to do this is BS. I started this thread because I'm worried about the legal/tax aspect of running a business that cannot be "moved" as easily as myself... money is definitely not an obstacle to do this. If your biz is giving you a good life at home, there's nothing to worry about as 90% countries are cheaper than north america.
 
avatar33, I was talking about going offshore -just- to protect money

/edit
(say hiding in a shit country for the rest of your life, I think that would only be worth it with >$10m
 
eliquid said:
I do not suggest this for someone with less then 2-3 years of making less then 500k
Click to expand...

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.
 
always lots of PTs-turned-homeless-people (literally) at hong kong airport
just don't end up like them.
 
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.
Click to expand...

You're the guy I've been looking for. PM'ing you right now!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom