No one ever talks about Laos, but maybe someone around here knows a thing or two about it?
I've been doing some research (and also I was there many years ago), and here are my findings:
Pros:
Cons:
Thoughts? On paper, it looks like a solid opportunity in SEA, but there might be some challenges as to why it's not more popular.
Main sources:
I've been doing some research (and also I was there many years ago), and here are my findings:
Pros:
- 100% foreign ownership of companies is allowed, including sole proprietorships.
- Low cost of living, including low housing costs.
- Low and simple personal income taxes. Tax brackets from 0 to 25%, and brackets are pretty large for a low GDP country (first $20K you only pay around $2k in taxes).
- Low social security contributions (capped at around $30 per month).
- Lots of non-existent taxes, such as wealth tax. Royalties tax 5%, dividends 10%. Capital gains taxes is 2% on the sale price (this one can be not so good, depending on the situation).
- Non-CRS country.
- Safe country, laid-back lifestyle and with some cool neighbors such as Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, etc.
- Wise and PayPal are available. With Wise, you can only withdraw to a Laotian USD account though, and PayPal won't allow withdrawing, but you can receive and spend through PayPal.
- A few crypto exchanges are available, such as Kraken.
Cons:
- Extremely corrupt (this can be a pro in some cases).
- Healthcare is pretty bad, so you'd need private insurance and be ready to go to Thailand or Vietnam for anything remotely serious.
- It is illegal for foreigners to get intimate with Laotian girls outside of wedlock. So you can't play your "farang" card here as easily as in the neighboring countries 😛.
Thoughts? On paper, it looks like a solid opportunity in SEA, but there might be some challenges as to why it's not more popular.
Main sources:
