International tax rules 'cheat sheet'?

[BritishSecret]

Is there a graph or chart that clearly shows how long you can stay in a country before paying income tax?

 

[Sols]

No. One reason is that a lot of countries don't use a specific number of days to determine tax residence.

PwC World Tax Summaries is a good starting place, though. Worldwide Tax Summaries Online

 

[BritishSecret]

No. One reason is that a lot of countries don't use a specific number of days to determine tax residence.

PwC World Tax Summaries is a good starting place, though. Worldwide Tax Summaries Online

Surely someone would've figured out a rough guide like 'spend at most 37 days in each country, as I've never had one see that as long enough to get taxed'

 

[Cloudbanck]

For Sweden, assuming you dont have any significant ties, there is a court case where one guy spent 4 continuous months in the summer, and another scattered 20 days during the rest of the year - and was deemed to be tax resident. And another court case where one guy spent 3 continuous months in the summer, and another scattered 21 days during the rest of the year - and was deemed not to be tax resident.

So somewhere in between there. And this was in case one had been in Sweden's tax net before. If one has never been in Sweden's tax net before I assume it is different - and this goes for other countries too.

 

[BritishSecret]

Yeah, so basically, spend no more than 3 months in any country and don't be in their tax system already

 

[Cloudbanck]

Yeah, so basically, spend no more than 3 months in any country and don't be in their tax system already

But in practice, nothing is going to happen if you spend more than 3 months and have never been in their system. Within the Schengen area it is not so easy to check (or disprove) how long one has been in a country. They use stuff like credit card withdrawals and transactions. So if one wants to be extra safe, dont use a card in your name.

 

[Sols]

Surely someone would've figured out a rough guide like 'spend at most 37 days in each country, as I've never had one see that as long enough to get taxed'

No, the world is much more complicated and nuanced than that.

Yeah, so basically, spend no more than 3 months in any country and don't be in their tax system already

In Switzerland, you just have to think about being tax resident and you become one.

In France (and some other countries), place of primary sojourn can be a deciding factor. So we're talking about a percentage rather than number of days. Imagine it's a non-leap year and you spend two days in 181 different countries (2x181=362) but three days in France (362+3=365). That could be cause enough to become tax resident in France.

Of course it's very unlikely to happen, which is another reason no one has made this kind of simplified cheat sheet. Predictability/likelihood of enforcement varies hugely across the globe. People meet the legal definitions of tax residences all the time all over the world and nothing happens, for the simple fact that no one catches them and/or it's just not a priority for the government.

 

[Mercury]

In France (and some other countries), place of primary sojourn can be a deciding factor. So we're talking about a percentage rather than number of days. Imagine it's a non-leap year and you spend two days in 181 different countries (2x181=362) but three days in France (362+3=365). That could be cause enough to become tax resident in France.

Allow me to kindly disagree.

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F62?lang=en
This is official source, tick the 1st option.

Your tax domicile is in France if it is the place of your main stay, that is to say you stay there for more than 6 months during the year.

https://www.impots.gouv.fr/residents-france
You have your tax residence in France if one of the following criteria is met:
- You have your household there or, if you do not have a household, it is the location of your main abode
- You have a professional activity in France, as an employee of otherwise, unless this activity is secondary
- The centre of your economic interests is in France

If none of these criteria is fulfilled then you can't be considered tax resident in France.
AFAIK France does not ask for foreign tax certificate.

 

[Sols]

Your tax domicile is in France if it is the place of your main stay, that is to say you stay there for more than 6 months during the year.

Fair enough, I didn't look at France in enough detail for that reply. That was an oversight on my end. But the principle holds true in places where the wording is just "primary" or something akin to that. The aforementioned example was of course hyperbolic. My point is that in such places, counting number of days is less relevant than percentage.