Why don't consider tax as part of doing the business. An operating cost, just like PPC. The more you spend on ppc, the chances are the more you are making if you are doing it right. So, the more you pay in taxes, the chances are that you are making more profit. Just feel good about it and sleep without worrying about IRS.

Oh you guys!

Tax treatment is totally different for you US citizens - and I have no advice whatsoever regarding that.

You just need to convert to the dark side (UK citizenship) and then you will be fine!

..Not trying to be patronising, just that it seems we have a different attitude to offshore taxing that will not probably be there too long.

sdani, I hadn't seen your post when I made mine.

I understand what you are saying but tax can be the difference between a nice holiday home in florida and a nightmare!

In the UK when you pay high level tax as an employee you pay 40% income tax to the UK government and 11%% National Insurance which pays for the health service etc. Now that is high - plus we pay high prices (because of 75% tax) for fuel etc that is not paid in the US.

If you are a high earner in the UK then it is a problem, but not as much in the 70s where taxes were up to 90% of earnings!)

So at the moment being a company director taking dividends (that attract a different tax treatment) is the best you will get as you avoid the 11% NI contributions.

So in summary in the UK getting a good tax advisor could save up to 30% on your earnings every year.

And that is all legal. Just get a good advisor.

not legal to renounce citizenship for tax purposes

Then don't renounce for tax purposes. Renounce for a political purpose - disagreement with the tax policies.

I personally don't have a problem paying tax if the tax is being spent well. I get very very angry when I see my hard-earned money being wasted.

Interent Yogi

Wow!

I have suspected something like that since I was a kid.

I think eveyone here should watch that clip!

We should go back to "Adsense Island" premis with its own central bank.

>> Then don't renounce for tax purposes. Renounce for a political purpose - disagreement with the tax policies.

You MAY never, ever set foot in the USA again. I remember reading that the AG has the right to deny you entry if he thinks you did it to dodge taxes. Simply not worth it. Even when I retire, 20+ years from now (I hope :)), I will still want to come to the USA. If I retire to my old country that is...

>> Can I have a Harem there?
Khensu,
you can have that anywhere....if you can afford it :)

>> Negatives include a socialist government that is getting stronger by the day and many basic services that don't work all that well.

"Venezuela to seize golf courses"
"Mayor Juan Barreto has said playing golf on lavish courses within sight of the city's slums is "shameful"....
But critics say property rights are being eroded in Venezuela, where farms and ranches have also been seized. "
[news.bbc.co.uk...]

I hope they don't take your investment properties, after all it's shameful that others don't have them :)

Dubai has the highest number of votes until now in this thread, but there are some side effects. Dubai is a male populated city according to http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Society/10063717.html [gulfnews.com]. 73 percent is male. This makes it not only difficult to have your own harem, but it is also a good indication of the main activity in Dubai. Taxes may be low, but this number also indicates that most people are there for their work only, rather than building families. While it can be interesting to make money in Dubai, living is more than making money alone. I preffer my former socialistic country for a while. Large nature reserve at walking distance, friendly people and low-taxed petrol.

Life is not about tax alone.

Ok Dubai is out.

No women, no deal.

Besides I am in AZ, I am trying to get out of the heat!

Pay your taxes and enjoy it!

I'm British, choose to live in Florida, and love paying my taxes! Why....because this is a great place to live!

Sure there are numerous tax havens open to me as a wealthy British Citizen, but, I prefer to live in a place I love and pay their local taxes!

There is a "break point", a point where you stop thinking about paying tax and start to think more about how much fun life really is!

I can afford, and really considered, buying an Island in the Caribbean for a while.....but, it isn't that practical. It is much more practical to just pay your taxes and enjoy life in a place you truly love!

So my advice is find somewhere you love and pay their taxes!

Pay your taxes and enjoy it!

I'm British, choose to live in Florida, and love paying my taxes! Why....because this is a great place to live!

Sure there are numerous tax havens open to me as a wealthy British Citizen, but, I prefer to live in a place I love and pay their local taxes!

There is a "break point", a point where you stop thinking about paying tax and start to think more about how much fun life really is!

I can afford, and really considered, buying an Island in the Caribbean for a while.....but, it isn't that practical. It is much more practical to just pay your taxes and enjoy life in a place you truly love!

So my advice is find somewhere you love and pay their taxes!

Egypt
small but safe country
and now they are doing anything to promote investment
it is only 20% of taxes and it is fixed no matter u earn
and if ur earning come from outside, u will pay NOTHING

wages and living cost are very low
u can leave with only 300 us$ per month, yet u can find any thing u want international banks (HSBC, CITYBANK,...), International hotels, shopping malls, cinemas, clups, beaches, very educated people, good and very cheep infrastructer in Telecominucation and IT
every thing here will drive up ur earning

fresh graduates of univeristy can get less than 200$ and it will be good for them
if u need very professional people u will find what u want and for one fifth of what u r paying anywahere

u can rent a very good flat to be house or company for only 300 $ per month

all other services (tele, ADSL, Electricty, water,..)will not cost u more than 100$ month

realy it is very nice country, very nice people, good weather (hot some kind in summer)

My choice is Dubai. I have been there twice and the last time visited I did a little bit of investigation into prices of apartments etc and they are cheap. I am single with no kids so I can live anywhere.

I pay 47% in tax and it makes me sick.

Khensu, Dubai is full of hot women that are mostly Russian. If you are moving there because you have too much flash you won't have a problem finding them ;)

I suggest Armenia,

The tax is almost flat and is only 13 percent.
Great nature, GDP is above 10 percent.

you most definately dont want to look at France except to retire to ..lowish direct tax rate ( starts at 15% ) compared to some ..but compulsory nearly 50% ( in some cases well over that figure ) retirement and health insurance ..

and like the US you still have to pay the bills when you fall ill and wait to get a percentage back ..

or have private back up medical cover ..

likewise for the retirement system ..heavy charges ( did I mention that you can opt out of neither )..need a private backup as well ( PEPs and ISA's are illegal ..unless you are a civil servant! )..

Ireland is great if one is officially a "creative artist" ..no tax ;-))..

we will probably be moving ( when the day comes ) to Polynesia ..permanantly ..

[edited by: Leosghost at 11:43 am (utc) on Aug. 30, 2006]

[edited by: jatar_k at 5:44 pm (utc) on Sep. 3, 2006]

I hope they don't take your investment properties, after all it's shameful that others don't have them :)

Hey Walkman, thanks for the concern and the humour.

These threats by a mayor have many years of court fights in front of them and by then there may be a change in government.

That said, it is a little scary that it has even come up. If you know the politics it is more a vengeful fight against another decent mayor by a not so decent one in an election year. :(

[edited by: Tropical_Island at 12:28 pm (utc) on Aug. 30, 2006]

Oh yeah - we have these damn things called "hurricanes" blow thru Florida too. Make sure you find a place on high ground if you move to Florida.
:P

[webmasterworld.com...]

Question for those of you who live in Dubai:

Aren't you worried at all about the gov't situation there (uh, it's not a democracy, right?) And can you get citizenship? Would you want to? There's also talk of human rights abuses with workers there, specifically about withholding passports for foreign workers that "amounts to little more than indentured servitude". Anyone living there care to comment about this? Finally, what about quality of health care, and sports/fitness centres there?

As for why I'd consider this, a good friend of mine made $500k last year here in Canada. He paid $240k in taxes.

For all of you who say "oh, just pay the tax". Let me repeat - $240k... that's more than we paid for nice our 3-bedroom house in a small town. He could have bought another business with what he paid in taxes. This is a fine country to live in, until you hit that kind of tax bracket. What we've paid so far has been fair. But get to that stage... wow.

Of course in his profession he didn't have any tax breaks. I suspect we'll be able to write off more income. But nonetheless, as we start to move on larger projects I think it's worth considering.

I appreciate everyone's comments and advice here.

What I wouldn't do for a $240k tax bill!

Leosghost

Ireland is great if one is officially a "creative artist" ..no tax ;-))..

I'm a world renown graphic artist with over 10 million people using my work in their presentations?

Is that good enough to qualify?

Or should I bulk up my digital easel art venture?

@ khensu ..affirmative ;-)

you have sticky mail

Sweet!

Think I'm going to have to go on that all Guinness diet now.

You know it's food!

[edited by: Khensu at 7:01 pm (utc) on Aug. 30, 2006]

Khensu,
head to Latin America if women are the main concern...and let's be honest, they are to most of us. Here in US you spend $1000 on 2-3 dinner dates and you're lucky if you get a kiss on the cheek. When my time comes I will be heading down there, and of course, with my luck I will probably be married :)

walkman

Whoa! Where do spend $1K on 3 dinner dates? CA?

Did you accidentally drop an extra 0 on that?

Yes, the women are beautiful down there and freindly.

I kind of go for the sprite redhead colleens.

I have a girlfriend but not totally crazy about her.

>> Where do spend $1K on 3 dinner dates? CA?

I don't, trust me. If I were to pay that much, I'd hit the yellow pages or the internet and get guranteed results ;), but one can easily spend $300 on date between dinner, theater or whatever.

Your right Khensu . That guy is a pretty big time producer. I think that it is going to make some huge ripples. I am certainly going to find a way to see.

I was going to start investing in the market this fall.

Now I think I'll just buy gold!

Question is, how do I get it to Ireland without some kind of tax on it?

Just can't walking on the plane with a sack of gold.

[edited by: Khensu at 10:30 am (utc) on Aug. 31, 2006]

Guys,
I was reading a lot lately about offshore and tax heavens and what I found is that you dont need to expatriate or relocate yourselves in order to get lower taxes,is enough if you just relocate your incomes.and there are plenty of tax heavens where you can incorporate so all your incomes will be no or very low tax.
Then you can either spend your money on a company credit card as company expenses,your offshore accountant doesent care as you dont pay any taxes either you et an ATM card anonymous card such as GCard and get your cash whenever you need it.
Escape Artist [escapeartist.com] or Offshore Manual [offshore-manual.com] could be of good help but are many other resources.

Is there anyone here residing/working in Muscat, Oman, Bahrain or Qatar?

Advantages/disadvantages v Dubai etc?

I should be in Dubai end of October on business however my wife and eldest daughter may be visiting mid-October for a good look around.

Sticky me any good contacts if you have any.

Thanks.

Hey guys, have somebody considered Hong Kong to incorporate?

Hong Kong is a low tax jurisdiction with companies paying tax at the rate of 17.5% on local profits. The Hong Kong Government is keen to promote Hong Kong as a regional centre for Asia and offers an exemption to tax for companies registered in Hong Kong but transacting its business outside of Hong Kong.

What do you think? 0% for worldwide profit :-)