As my name suggests, I am living a nomadic lifestyle, never staying anywhere for a long time. I have been doing this for years and I still haven't grown tired of it. But since this is a concept that banks and tax authorities don't really understand yet, I decided to get proper tax residency somewhere, just in case. I love Dubai, so that is where I settled. I am going to spend time there anyway, especially during the winter, so it's not just a fake thing on paper. But I will keep my nomadic lifestyle. So it doesn't really make a lot of sense for me to keep an apartment year round.
Anyway, I would need a utility bill to show to banks. I don't want to photoshop it, I want to do everything 100% legal. Some service provider offered to rent some shitty apartment for me (probably in the middle of the desert) and they would get me the electricity bill after two weeks and then cancel the lease. This would work, but obviously, there would be two downsides with it:
1. I can only use it now - if I am asked for a utility bill again at a later point, I would have to do it all over as the utility bill would be too old.
2. If there ever was some doubt about my tax residency status, for example if my home country should decide to tax me after all, many tax treaties have a clause that says you are considered tax resident where you have an apartment. So having an apartment year round might offer some extra protection. It probably won't be needed, but it would be nice to have. I'm also not sure how convincing it would be to claim that I lived in some really shitty apartment in the desert.
I have looked into renting an apartment and renting it out while I'm not there - but landlords generally don't allow subleasing and I don't want to break the law, especially not in Dubai. I could buy an apartment, but prices have been falling for years and all my friends in Dubai have warned me against it because the quality is so bad. And if I rent the place out, I wouldn't even be able to leave my stuff there. And with short term rentals there is more wear and tear.
Any other suggestions?
Anyway, I would need a utility bill to show to banks. I don't want to photoshop it, I want to do everything 100% legal. Some service provider offered to rent some shitty apartment for me (probably in the middle of the desert) and they would get me the electricity bill after two weeks and then cancel the lease. This would work, but obviously, there would be two downsides with it:
1. I can only use it now - if I am asked for a utility bill again at a later point, I would have to do it all over as the utility bill would be too old.
2. If there ever was some doubt about my tax residency status, for example if my home country should decide to tax me after all, many tax treaties have a clause that says you are considered tax resident where you have an apartment. So having an apartment year round might offer some extra protection. It probably won't be needed, but it would be nice to have. I'm also not sure how convincing it would be to claim that I lived in some really shitty apartment in the desert.
I have looked into renting an apartment and renting it out while I'm not there - but landlords generally don't allow subleasing and I don't want to break the law, especially not in Dubai. I could buy an apartment, but prices have been falling for years and all my friends in Dubai have warned me against it because the quality is so bad. And if I rent the place out, I wouldn't even be able to leave my stuff there. And with short term rentals there is more wear and tear.
Any other suggestions?
