Hopefully someone from GHS will be able to clarify and I will be able to revert here as this is a question that comes up very often.
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(Tax) residency wanted. Down to the real problem of being a digital nomad
- Thread starter therover
- Start date
If you're italian consider Malta as self sufficient.
You pay 0% on what you earn outside of Malta. Meaning that if you earn in another country and receive the payment on a bank account outside Malta you pay 0%.
Health Insurance is mandatory but with extremely reasonable prices (less than 500 eur x year).
I read (but warning: didn't verify) that is easy to do "tax" declarations. You don't need an accountant. Just someone who will teach you first how to do it.
It's easy to get residence, if you meet specific requirements, but by reading your messages, it seems that you respect them.
Main cons:
The correct solution varies from someone from outside Europe and an European. As far as I know, it can vary even if someone is from Italy vs someone from Austria.
I would think a lot about taking in consideration Dubai, as it has a lot of bloated prices, and some ethical problems. Maybe it makes sense if you have a $1M+ business. But as an Italian, I would check FIRST Malta. Not establishing a company there, but trying the self sufficient path.
As I had direct experience in this, I can tell you that these prices are slightly higher than reality. These are the prices that semi-scammers do for foreigners.
Some perspective:
Company setup: 150 to 300 eur. You also find professionals that will propose you the same thing for 2000 eur. You can avoid them.
Monthly costs accountant: 80 eur. If you have some connections with locals, 50 eur. Of course, I'm talking about a micro-company without a lot of invoices.
Residence assistance: you can do it alone, without the help of anyone. Just search on Google, and ask to the expats that you'll meet there. If you don't want to do this alone, don't go to an accountant for this. A lot of accountants charge up to 1000 eur. Consult a local lawyer that speaks english. Prices can vary from 50 to 250 eur. But honestly, it's easy to do it alone. You should do it with a consultant only if you don't want to "waste" those 1 or 2 half-days of queues. If your day rate is high, it may make sense.
Real apt prices are correct for a decent place, in the city center. In the capital can be 300 to 500 per month for something decent. 250 for something terrible and old, or particularly far from everything. With 700€ per month you start to get something really nice (almost at a "luxury" level).
In general, I found bulgarians to be way more welcoming and gentle than many other people around the EU. Living costs are low, and the quality of life isn't that bad, there are a lot of interesting (private) services and the main cities are modern enough. Internet connections are reliable and insanely fast.
The catch is that it's cold, too much, for too much time in the year. I hated that.
You pay 0% on what you earn outside of Malta. Meaning that if you earn in another country and receive the payment on a bank account outside Malta you pay 0%.
Health Insurance is mandatory but with extremely reasonable prices (less than 500 eur x year).
I read (but warning: didn't verify) that is easy to do "tax" declarations. You don't need an accountant. Just someone who will teach you first how to do it.
It's easy to get residence, if you meet specific requirements, but by reading your messages, it seems that you respect them.
Main cons:
- May be boring spending 6 months there. Maybe this can be reduced starting from the next year, as long as you don't spend enough time in places to become resident somewhere else.
- Need to keep always a real apt for rent, as far as I know. All year.
The correct solution varies from someone from outside Europe and an European. As far as I know, it can vary even if someone is from Italy vs someone from Austria.
I would think a lot about taking in consideration Dubai, as it has a lot of bloated prices, and some ethical problems. Maybe it makes sense if you have a $1M+ business. But as an Italian, I would check FIRST Malta. Not establishing a company there, but trying the self sufficient path.
As I had direct experience in this, I can tell you that these prices are slightly higher than reality. These are the prices that semi-scammers do for foreigners.
Some perspective:
Company setup: 150 to 300 eur. You also find professionals that will propose you the same thing for 2000 eur. You can avoid them.
Monthly costs accountant: 80 eur. If you have some connections with locals, 50 eur. Of course, I'm talking about a micro-company without a lot of invoices.
Residence assistance: you can do it alone, without the help of anyone. Just search on Google, and ask to the expats that you'll meet there. If you don't want to do this alone, don't go to an accountant for this. A lot of accountants charge up to 1000 eur. Consult a local lawyer that speaks english. Prices can vary from 50 to 250 eur. But honestly, it's easy to do it alone. You should do it with a consultant only if you don't want to "waste" those 1 or 2 half-days of queues. If your day rate is high, it may make sense.
Real apt prices are correct for a decent place, in the city center. In the capital can be 300 to 500 per month for something decent. 250 for something terrible and old, or particularly far from everything. With 700€ per month you start to get something really nice (almost at a "luxury" level).
In general, I found bulgarians to be way more welcoming and gentle than many other people around the EU. Living costs are low, and the quality of life isn't that bad, there are a lot of interesting (private) services and the main cities are modern enough. Internet connections are reliable and insanely fast.
The catch is that it's cold, too much, for too much time in the year. I hated that.
Do you mean self sufficient in Malta and managing a LLC or LLP for example? Managing the company from Malta isn't going to make the company tax resident in Malta?
Hi! Thank you for sharing your experience. After long long thinking I'm about to take my decision between Bulgaria and Romania.
May I ask you why did you choose Bulgaria instead of Romania (which have lower taxes).
Are you living for real in Bulgaria and which city do you like more?
thanks
Bulgaria: Income from Bitcoin (and probably any other crypto) is treated as income from the sale of a financial asset!
Romania: I don't know!
@Fred I might need some help with this! Can you please PM me here or email me at [email protected]
Thanks!
Hello @CyprusLaw ,
I am pulling up this old thread because of the aforementioned pending uncertainty: Did you receive any clarification from GeSY/GHS regarding the discrepancy between Greek and English version of the regulation?
Reference: (Tax) residency wanted. Down to the real problem of being a digital nomad (i.e. post 59 an post 61 of this thread).
Interesting thread, I didn't see it earlier.
You mentioned you can't move to Dubai because there will be extra checks. What are the exact Italian requirements? Is it a specific black list or just any non-EU country etc.?
Would you be able to move first to another EU country for a year and then move somewhere else (like Dubai) the following year?
Paraguay could be an alternative to Panama, which used to be popular with nomads.
I also don't know how difficult it is to get residency in China. I believe all foreigners pay 0% tax in China for the first 5 years or so. And you can reset the counter by being outside the country for 30 days or so.
I haven't dug more into it though, a friend told me, who moved there.
Or what about Andorra, which also seems to be popular?
You mentioned you can't move to Dubai because there will be extra checks. What are the exact Italian requirements? Is it a specific black list or just any non-EU country etc.?
Would you be able to move first to another EU country for a year and then move somewhere else (like Dubai) the following year?
Paraguay could be an alternative to Panama, which used to be popular with nomads.
I also don't know how difficult it is to get residency in China. I believe all foreigners pay 0% tax in China for the first 5 years or so. And you can reset the counter by being outside the country for 30 days or so.
I haven't dug more into it though, a friend told me, who moved there.
Or what about Andorra, which also seems to be popular?
Thank you for the prompt reply @CyprusLaw .
Even though sad since it means that my initial assumption of a retiree (self-sufficient without business) not being eligible for GeSY/GHS benefits in the first 5 years for residency in CY remains valid.
And today I am able to answer my own question:
The above is correct if a person is self-funded. As long as a self-funded person (e.g. retiree) is not a "permanent resident" (yellow slip MEU3) he/she will not be able to benefit from Cyprus General Healthcare Service (GeSY/GHS). Only a legally employed person with monthly salary has the "privilege" to benefit from GeSY/GHS within the first 5 years. All others have to wait until they become permanent residents.
That said, for a temporary resident (yellow slip MEU1) the GeSY/GHS is just another tax with all the usual accounting requirements (= 2.65% on a max. of EUR 180'000.-).
Considering the other disadvantages of living on an island + the fact that Cyprus is not exactly cheap, I would still consider Bulgaria to be the most attractive option within the EU/EEA.
Where did you actually get this information from? If I'm legally a resident then I have GHS from reading what @CyprusLaw wrote. I would like to see Cyprus decline health care to EU citizens who are contributing to GESY (or not, if for some reason without income) and are residing legally in the country. This would be a major problem due to reciprocity in the EU.
(c) third-country nationals who have legally acquired the right of permanent residence in the
areas controlled by the Government of the Republic under the Aliens and Immigration Law:
(d) third-country nationals who have legally acquired the right to equal treatment in the branches of social security under the provisions of the Aliens and Immigration Law;
This entire case has been discussed at length in this thread. The answer of @CyprusLaw was quite clear: Read post #73.
Compare that with the initial question (post #71 and https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/th...eing-a-digital-nomad.33701/page-3#post-177283 ) and you know it all.
Of course, I can (and have to) register for GHS but I will not receive any benefits for the first 5 years. Considering a retiree (self-sufficient without business). That is also what you confirmed here:
If anything has changed and GHS now covers also retirees (self-sufficient without business) I am more than interested.
I am Swiss. If it is important: I left Switzerland in the early 90's .... - hence would settle in CY by moving from a country other than Switzerland/EU/EEA
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