Suggest Tax residency move out strategy for Indian Citizen

[eestikumar]

Looking for alternative to Dubai / UAE for tax residence reasons as an Indian citizen.

So far I'm using a Merchant of Record (MoR) to sell digital goods and services to Non-Indian customers, mostly to Europeans. Now I want to grow my business and later hire others too. So need to setup a company and I don't feel like to live in India anymore (coz reasons) and don't want to deal with Indian bureaucracy. I'm thinking to setup Estonian company using e-residency card, as most customers are in Europe and I'm hoping to move to Europe long term. But but India have Overseas Direct Investment (ODI), Permanent establishment (PE) / Place of Effective Management (PoEM) rules and regulations, so I'm skeptical about this idea. Better to change my tax resident outside India then setup Estonian company?

My options are:

1) Pitch my business to Estonian Startup Committee for Startup Visa as a founder. Over promise them even tho my business is not that impressive, nor I want to raise fund. If I get their approval, getting Estonian D-visa to setup company would be easy. This is the ideal scenario.

If this fail then:

2) Apply for resident permit for business which need €65,000 investment in Estonian company. I don't have that much right now. So in the meanwhile change my tax resident to third country, then setup Estonian company and grow revenue till I can cross that limit, then apply that resident permit. For tax residency, Dubai / UAE is good option for Indian citizens as every other Indian is going there. but I don't find living in Dubai that appealing, so any other country which is easy to get tax residency. I don't mind paying some tax. ;-;

if that's not feasible then:

3) Just setup Estonian Company. Move/travel to other countries on tourist visa, never stay in India for more than 60 days. Keep paying personal tax tho. Stay under the radar till I get enough fund to apply for Estonian resident permit.

Am I overthinking or do you have better plan for me?

 

[Martin Everson]

Your thinking is logical.

With your passport the choice of countries for residency is not‌ easy. I would stick with MoR until you have more revenue if the MoR is‍ not connected to India.

You may want to look into exploring some of the nomad⁠ residency visas in below list and assess requirements and budget that suits you.

https://nomadgirl.co/countries-with-digital-nomad-visas/

Also if you want to switch from your existing MoR you could look at Xolo Go⁤ or other similar services.

P.S What is wrong with Dubai for you...costs?

 

[eestikumar]

MoR is working well so far. But there's a limit how much I can deduct‌ business expenses from my income. Those expenses and revenue are increasing, so does my tax‍ liability. and I want to deal with other companies and it won't look professional if⁠ I won't have my own company.

I have checked some digital nomad visas, but quirk⁤ is many expect applicant to be employee or owner of some company or have work⁣ contract (to check income stability?). Many are targeted on Tier 1 passport holders. like Georgia’s⁢ digital nomad visa only applies to countries with visa free access to Georgia, which India︀ doesn't. My goal is to get tax residency certificate which I may or may not︁ possible with some digital nomad visas.

There's nothing wrong with Dubai. I have preference for︂ Greenery, walkable city, I'm an atheist and pro-democracy, so I'll only pick Dubai if I︃ won't have any other option.

PS. Is process for Abu Dhabi remote work visa same︄ as Dubai's? There's not much information about that visa.

 

[kokunut]

Doesn’t religion become irrelevant if Dubai is the right place for you, one that meets‌ all your needs? If that’s the case, I wouldn’t overthink anything else. I’d just move‍ there.

 

[eestikumar]

Yeah, Dubai does fulfill the need of tax residency⁠ certificate. but the purpose of this post is to find an alternative where I'll feel⁤ better to live.

 

[andrew28fl]

The Republic of Georgia could be an option for‍ you. It's 1/5th the cost of living in Dubai, the weather is great, and Tbilisi⁠ is a decent place to live and build a business. A $ 100,000 investment in⁤ real estate provides 1 year, indefinitely renewable residency. Georgia is one of those places where⁣ they don't tax expats on their foreign income. Technically, if you work from Georgia (even⁢ if you do it from your home or cafes), that would make it Georgian income,︀ but no one cares, and no one pays. If you set up a single-member US︁ LLC (Wyoming, etc), your income will be tax-free. UK LTD or an Estonian company would︂ also be an option, depending on your business requirements.

 

[emperordoom]

Can you please explain what an MOR is? are‍ getting taxed on your earnings from mor if you are, What is the percent you⁠ are taxed yet. Did you get any new solutions for your problem

 

[CyprusLawyer101]

Have you looked into Cyprus?

 

[brianK]

As already suggested here, you might want to take a look at Cyprus or Dubai,‌ you can get in with the passport you have, and it's relatively affordable compared to‍ the 65K you mentioned in your post.