My situation it’s a little bit unusual so I’ll do my best to explain shortly and in details.
I’m currently an Italian citizen, but I want to stop be a tax resident and move away.
My income come from trading online.
I have 2 small houses in 2 different countries and in each I live for 3 months per year (in total half year) and the rest of the year I travel in different places for short time. I’m basically a perpetual traveller.
Since I’m a tax resident in Italy until I move my residence abroad, I’m not sure how I suppose to pay taxes and where once I stop to be a tax resident in any country. Also, because I have 2 houses, it’s a sort of tie to those countries and I don’t want any complications with taxes, although I stay in any country not a long time in order to not be a tax resident.
Because of all this reasons I don’t want to have any tax problem, so I was thinking to take a citizenship by invest of another country in which I can pay lower taxes than in Italy, be a tax resident there but without living there. I prefer to pay se taxes but feel comfortable rather than having fear of tax man.
I was thinking about Grenada but I’m not sure if it’s right for me. Do you have some advices?
While you did not mention which countries your two houses are, they will most likely be used by these countries to request tax tax from you. The main task you have to focus on is to prove to your home government where you want to go that they will recognize as your new tax residence.
I normally would commend anyone getting a Caribbean passport but from reading your write up, you don’t need it. The main advantage of the Grenadian passport is access to USA which you already have with your Italian passport. Plus, at $150,000 you are pay $50,000 more compared to getting a passport from St. Lucia for example.
For a solution that would suit your needs, consider territorial tax countries to get residence in. Malaysia, Paraguay, Georgia, Armenia, Cambodia, Philippines are examples of a few countries that would cost you less than $100,000 and provide you with legal residence status to prove where you live and pay tax without taxing your online business. The cheapest being Paraguay, Cambodia and The Philippines (under $25,000)
In Europe, for less than $50,000 you could consider Bulgaria and Serbia. Also, look at the two countries you already own homes in. Their tax laws may give you a zero cost solution.
Regardless of what you decide to do, I think you have a good problem and hope you enjoy finding and implementing a solution.
Thank you for the answer. The houses are located in Spain and Greece.
The problem with taking a residence in another country as you suggested is that I’m forced to stay in one place for at least half of year to be tax resident there. While in Italy it’s not necessary to stay in order to be a tax resident, there are other requirements as well.
I think you can work something out with your Greece address.
Not all countries require you to stay up to 6 months to be classed as a resident. For example, getting an SRRV permanent (for life and can be passed on to your wife and kids for free) visa costs $20,000 to deposit in their banks paying very low interest ($1,500 if you have a military background) and about 30 days to get in Manila. This $20,000 is returned to you if decide that you are no longer interested. They assist you getting your driving license and tax documents, plus exempt you from lots of things that those on other visas do or pay. The only physical presence requires is once a year when renewing your ID card, so you can think of it as one month a year or less. Serbia gives you a temporary residence for starting a business. You can opt to pay a flat fee for your tax and only be there when you want to renew (I am in touch with a Canadian in Belgrade who is working online and doing this). Armenia and Georgia will be the same for starting businesses there. Buying property is a different case.
From what I can tell about getting tax residency in Andorra, you need two things to qualify. First, you have to be classified as either a passive or active resident, then you have to spend at least 183 days there. There is a financial requirement for which you need to confirm as the figures may change.
I thought Philippines is $50,000.00 for this visa? Do you have any experience in Philippines? I am 25 and so I don’t qualify for the SSRV, but want to have residence in PH.
The SRRV permanent visa has 4 different types. The version that cost $50,000 is for those who intend to use the funds for the purchase of property. Because you are 25 years old, you can’t apply for any of the SRR visas. You can however, apply for a business visa for an internet based business with you as the sole employee. Depending on which passport(s) you hold, it should cost less than $250. You can also consider starting with a student visa if you have any course that you would like to take.
When you get there, take some time to visit different parts of the country to figure out where suits you. Makati and Cebu are two locations that should be on any list.
Thanks! Yeah I have spent 40% of my time in PH over the last few years. Mainly because I have a Filipina GF. However, they won’t recognise me as a tax resident if I’m on a tourist visa. Where can I find more info on that “business visa for an internet based business”? That’s exactly what I need for now
