Best tropical place to live?

[LegitBananas]

I don't know, 5% may be low enough to keep people staying there, but︂ I strongly feel that 0 tax (or weak enforcement) is the primary reason for moving︃ there, for >80% of foreigners earning foreign sourced income.

UAE doesn't have much wiggle room︄ here, once people start having to pay amounts close to what they would have paid︅ back in their home country, I don't know how many will want to tolerate the︆ excessive heat/pollution, but i guess we will find out.

 

[Anonymous1234]

Oman is better than Bahrain and UAE combined.
1. Better locals and⁣ willing to communicate and integrate with no superiority complex
2. Oman is not a pyramid⁢ scheme like dubai which attracts and traps people.
3. Oman has way more land, nature︀ and better beaches.
4. I think Oman doesnt have income tax, not like dubai where︁ its a grey area as per their whitepaper.
5.Oman has lower cost of living
6. Cheaper and better value real estate
7. You are more likely to be Oman citizen︂ than UAE.
8. Oman is not a materialistic society
9. Oman has more friendlier relations︃ with other gulf countries than UAE.
10. Oman is not militarily involved in Yemen or︄ Sudan.
11. Oman didnt strip its residents even if it had problems with a particular︅ country.
12. Oman in general is way more natural and beautiful country.

 

[Anonymous1234]

Malta is way better than Cyprus.
1. Malta is not invaded by⁣ turkey.
2. Malta is way closer to mainland europe
3. Cyprus is more closer to⁢ Gaza.
4. Cyprus was threatened multiple times by islamic militant groups.
5. Cyprus is a︀ way poorly connected.
6. Malta has a better taxation system than Cyprus.
7. Malta has︁ lower CIT than Cyprus.
8. Malta has no CFC rule.
9. Malta has indefinite non︂ dom.
10. Malta is 1hr away from sicily and Cyprus is 1hr away from Gaza︃ lol.

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

Malta does have CFC rules?
But Malta is a Schengen country, big advantage.

 

[Anonymous1234]

No CFC rules. Please read non dom company. Company has to be‍ established outside of Malta and you are good.

 

[Anonymous1234]

One negative but beats every country‌ in europe overall.

 

[Marzio]

Malta has CFC rules:
1. if Maltese resident holds a direct or indirect participation of more than 50% of the‌ voting rights, or owns directly or indirectly more than 50% of the capital or is‍ entitled to receive more than 50% of the profits of that entity, and
2. the⁠ actual corporate tax paid by the entity is lower than the difference between the tax⁤ that would have been charged on the entity under the Income Tax Acts and the⁣ actual foreign corporate tax paid

https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/malta/corporate/group-taxation

 

[Anonymous1234]

Pwc also quotes the following :

'CFCs whose profits fall within certain minimum thresholds︀ are excluded from the application of this regulation.'

 

[Anonymous1234]

Please find the link from the income tax agency of Malta on taxation of︀ companies incorporated outside malta. Paragraph no. 3 to be precise.

https://cfr.gov.mt/en/inlandrevenue/corporatetax/Pages/Corporate-Tax.aspx

 

[Marzio]

In any case who cares about CFC rules in‍ Malta if you use a resident non domiciled company 🙂

CFC rules apply to non resident⁠ companies, that's the trick that almost no one here gests (beside @A1988 obviously).

 

[Anonymous1234]

It also states, if a company is incorporated outside malta and income is not arising‌ in Malta then there is no tax to be paid in malta.

 

[Anonymous1234]

Marzio is "⁠ THE GURU "

 

[JimBeam]

Noted for Oman.

For Malta:

1. It was 50 years ago, things are stable since. There is British and US‌ military base on the island
   
2. True
   
3. True but fairly irrelevant as there is a sea‍ in between
   
4. Yes, but AFAIK there were no terrorist attacks in Cyprus
   
5. True
   
6. Can you⁠ provide what's better in Malta in greater detail
   
7. Not sure about that as in Malta⁤ the standard CIT rate is 35%. You can lower it to 5% but then you⁣ need to pay 35% anyways and then wait I think for two years to get⁢ the 30% refund. Something like that as I can recall. Also, they want to end︀ this scheme.
   
8. Found it in your other posts - will take a better look at︁ this
   
9. Yes, but I think you have to pay 5,000 EUR minimum tax per year︂
   
10. True
    

Don't get me wrong, I really do like Malta but I might be missing︃ something (so please feel free to share more details if I got something wrong. If︄ this is a burden to this topic - you can do that in private messages).︅

Anyways, IMO Malta is more cosmopolitan than Cyprus, much better connected, English is an official︆ language (where on Cyprus just many people speak it but it's not official), its much︇ closer to Europe and much better connected (thanks to Wizz and Ryan you can travel︈ cheaply to many EU destinations) and in general, plane tickets are generally cheaper, it's close︉ to Sicily/Italy and this is a great plus for me personally. I personally prefer Maltese︊ vibe more than Cyprus.

On the bad side Malta is much smaller than Cyprus, less︋ green, more expensive, dirtier in general (trash all over the place, rats, king-size cockroaches, noise︌ pollution in some areas). It's also becoming overcrowded (in Cyprus people just buy property but︍ don't live - and it's not the case with Malta) and the construction is wild,︎ traffic jams, issues with power cuts (it's fun when you have no electricity and it's️ 45C outside - it happened this summer). Their residency program is more expensive than on‌ Cyprus.

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

No, you can reduce it to 5% outright with the right structure (I believe you need⁤ a holding company for this).
Also check out the discussion here:

Might be better to continue this discussion there.

 

[Anonymous1234]

So you think Cyprus is‌ a better tropical place to live? Overall?

 

[Sols]

I can't believe UAE keeps being brought up. What part of UAE is tropical? Is‌ it this arid sand dune? Or this other arid sand dune? And then Cyprus, Malta...‍ Are maps illegal where you live?

Cyprus isn't tropical. However, it ticks a⁤ lot of boxes around quality of life, cost of living, and taxation. But compared to⁣ its peers (in EU/EEA and comparable regions) it has terrible infrastructure, bad healthcare, poor educational⁢ facilities, and climate change is probably going to turn Cyprus into a desert over the︀ next decades. Water supply is a concern and the government is unfit to handle any︁ kind of serious disaster.

Not a bad place to be, though, at least short term.︂

 

[JimBeam]

I would say that living conditions are fairly better: it's a much bigger‌ place (3rd biggest island in the Mediterranean and it's 30 times bigger than Malta), it's‍ cleaner, it has nicer beaches, it even has a mountain with some nature (it's about⁠ 1900m high and even has a ski center), it's a bit cheaper and it's less⁤ crowded and probably a bit safer. Does it have it's own set of issues -⁣ yes of course. It's not ideal by any means.

Also, I think that it's easier⁢ to do business from Cyprus as things are more straight forward and you don't need︀ any complex company structures. If you form a company there - you'll pay 12.5% CIT︁ tax and 0% tax on dividends and as a non-dom you'll have 0% tax on︂ capital gains. If you can do IP box you can even lower CIT to 2.5%︃ Again, this may work for some but may not work for someone else (and Malta︄ might be a better choice for some - everyone's situation is different). I think Cyprus︅ is ideal for people living of their capital returns - so that makes it a︆ good place to "retire". Also, a minimum 60 days stay for tax residency is a︇ plus for some people.

 

[Dandyline]

One downside for both Cyprus and Malta is︈ the audit requirements.

 

[providenceventurer]

Can we also have a cost comparison for everything between malta and︀ cyprus cost of living,quality of living,how easy to setup,visas available.How costly or easy to get︁ the residency by investment etc here.

 

[Anonymous1234]

I would argue living conditions are better in︈ Malta, there are mountains in the north, there is gozo and comino as well. Then︉ there is st julians and paceville and then marsaskala in the south which is more︊ laid back and has mansions.
Sorry but Malta is way safer than Cyprus, we don't︋ have immigrants from Lebanon, Palestine, Tommy robinson or Israel coming here to create more problems,︌ by the way being in schengen as well doesn't change the fact that you will︍ be asked to open your bags whether coming from sicily or anywhere from Europe or︎ outside.
Again, I would argue Cyprus is easier to do business than Malta? Malta has️ lower taxes than Cyprus whether trading income or IP box, Malta has better IP box‌ than Cyprus, in malta you can almost deduct 95% plus total expenditure to total income,‍ there is a complex calculation but in the end you pay less. Also the non⁠ dom is unlimited not like Cyprus which is 17 years, it's decent but Malta is⁤ still better since we are drawing a comparison here.

I agree, Cyprus is more suited⁣ for retired people with no drive left or ambition lol. Malta is more lively, buzzing⁢ closer to Europe and much better place to run your offshore companies, with NO CFC︀ issues if company is categorised as non domicile. Also, English being an official language of︁ Malta is a big plus whereas Cyprus has Turkish and Greek. Malta is also in︂ schengen area plus from a geopolitical standpoint is a much better place to be than︃ Cyprus which can be bombed or invaded any moment, maybe it won't but the risk︄ is far greater if war breaks out. I also think Malta has better air connectivity︅ than Cyprus, another plus point.

Malta also has a special residency where you pay 15k︆ and you can spend 1 day in a year and you are good, its elective︇ residency, it's a hidden secret, so Malta bears Cyprus here as well.

To be honest︈ with you, I see Cyprus being more heavily marketed than Malta , as the saying︉ goes if the product needs to be sold and marketed then maybe it's not that︊ good lol.