Perpetual Traveller (And Being A Tax Resident Nowhere - UK Citizen)
- Thread starter AbsetJW
- Start date
- Status
Getting off the taxpayer rolls as a tax resident is a process that varies widely in every country. You can find out the procedure in Sweden by searching "Getting off the taxpayer rolls" in Google, Bing, etc.
In the USA all you have to do is move out of the country to Puerto Rico for a whole fiscal year, and you are out. No more USA filing. Move anywhere else and you are still in the USA tax net but with a substantial exemption from tax of over $100,000 per year. You still need to file, where ever you are (outside of the USA) except maybe the USA Virgin Island, Guam, Midway & Marshall Islands where they have "mirror image" tax regimes.
In Germany you need to prove a physical move to a place that is NOT a tax haven.
In UK you move out of the country but you can't keep ownership of your old home.
In France, you can move ANYWHERE except Monaco.
In the USA all you have to do is move out of the country to Puerto Rico for a whole fiscal year, and you are out. No more USA filing. Move anywhere else and you are still in the USA tax net but with a substantial exemption from tax of over $100,000 per year. You still need to file, where ever you are (outside of the USA) except maybe the USA Virgin Island, Guam, Midway & Marshall Islands where they have "mirror image" tax regimes.
In Germany you need to prove a physical move to a place that is NOT a tax haven.
In UK you move out of the country but you can't keep ownership of your old home.
In France, you can move ANYWHERE except Monaco.
Really? Only UK Citizens can do this? (in the West)? always thought it normal. obviously US, CAD, AUS recognised couldn't and some EUR countries.
You can keep your old home, there are tests to determine your UK tax residence that are quite well-explained and straightforward. Keeping your old home doesn't make you a tax resident unless it's your only home and you did spend more than 30 days there.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...ce-note-for-statutory-residence-test-srt-rdr3
Based on my research yeah, you are one of the only western passports that can live their homeland tax net and not have to declare a new one on their way out.
Which other western passports allow their tax residents to leave their tax net and not declare the new one on their way out?
In most countries, once you don't meet the criteria for being a tax resident you stop being a tax resident. You don't have to "declare" anything. This is true for most countries in Latin America and a bunch of European ones.
Some countries (like Portugal) require you to stop meeting the criteria but also meet the criteria in a new one. No need to declare anything though; you would just need to prove you met the criteria somewhere else if ever questioned.
Very few countries require you to declare a new tax residence after you left. These are the usual suspects: Spain (if you're Spanish), Australia and a few others with aggressive tax agencies.
Some countries (like Portugal) require you to stop meeting the criteria but also meet the criteria in a new one. No need to declare anything though; you would just need to prove you met the criteria somewhere else if ever questioned.
Very few countries require you to declare a new tax residence after you left. These are the usual suspects: Spain (if you're Spanish), Australia and a few others with aggressive tax agencies.
Yeah my Belgium neighbour was always confused when i said we didn't have to file anything annually or inform the UK Gov, they seemed to think it was tax evasion - i pointed out not all countries integrated n**i mindsets into their systems post war lol.
Yeah, among the usual suspects you also have Italy, where you have to make an appointment at an Italian embassy abroad and show proof that you live abroad, in order to register as an Italian living abroad. Not necessarily proof of tax residency though, just proof of residency (except if moving to a tax haven)
But for most European countries, you just fill in an online form when you move out, and yes you enter an address abroad in the form, but thats more for authorities to know where to send mail to you, not to declare that you are a tax resident in this new country. Key for leaving the tax net is that you have properly left , not that you are tax resident somewhere else.
Si Peter taradash never gets asked for his ID? Aren't you obliged to travel by car or public transport as airports are filled with face scanning and fingerprints ID....
Well, for pretty much all western countries you declare a new residency, not a new tax residency.
Exceptions, and notes:
Ive learned Spain frequently asks residents/citizens that have left to prove that they live in the new country, and the best way to prove it is with a tax residency certificate from the new country.
Hungary has a quasi taxation by citizenship system, but it doesn't apply for countries Hungary has a double tax treaty with. So it means one has to be a tax resident in the new foreign country for the double tax treaty to be relevant, not just a resident. (Unless one has dual citizenship, in which case Hungary's taxation by citizenship doesnt apply)
Norway has a similar system to Hungary, but only for the first three calendar years after moving out of Norway. (Being a dual citizen doesnt help in Norway's case though.)
US has taxation by citizenship, so to avail benefits of double tax treaties, one has to be a tax resident in the new foreign country. Just for the FEIE exemption maybe one doesnt need to be a tax resident in a foreign country though, Im not sure.
Australia has this domicile test, meaning the one's permanent place of abode has to be in one foreign country outside Australia, and one can't just travel around. But it doesn't specifically say one has to be a tax resident abroad to have a permanent place of abode abroad, but I guess a tax certificate from abroad would help if Australian authorities look into your affairs.
If the subject is poor and strains the state, the "caring" authorities (read gang members) would happily allow them to disappear to another "gang" and become that gang's problem! 😉
- Status