No. of Recommendations: 10
I guess the bigger problem is that the bulk of the board members are "US persons" who don't get to stop filing for US taxes merely by emigrating.
There is a negligible tax advantage, and no paperwork advantage, moving to a place with a tax rate any lower than (say) Alaska.
Plus, life is hard without a bank account, the natural fate these days of most Americans not living in the US.
Jim is Canadian, but knows the American conundrum all too well, better than most. He nails the key takeaway for me anyways, and that is, when it's all said and done, there really is 'negligible tax advantage.' I looked at this fantasy too, and took a quick tour of the real estate there. I lived and worked in Paris a long time ago and love the culture, so I could pick up where I left off with my French. I think I could swing it with the coin I've amassed so far, but I already live in the high rent district of Portsmouth NH, so I would just be trading one expensive lifestyle for another, and not gaining all that much in tax benefits. Yeah, you can exclude $100,000 in Foreign Income(not passive income!), but this lazy retired kid isn't going to be performing services or working on a trade in that part of the world. As it's been said already, there's no way around it but we still gotta file US Fed Tax, so setting up that bank account with reciprocal sharing of information will only mean that Uncle Sam can still remotely operate pesky surveillance over your financial situation. You can run, but not hide.
The only thing I've done to help minimize taxes was to choose a retirement state that doesn't tax any earned/retirement income or cap gains whatsoever ' and Governor Sununu just signed legislation to accelerate the repeal next year of our one and only remaining tax grab, the 5% Div and Interest Tax, so that's another plus. If you choose to rent, instead of buy, then there are no more property taxes either. But, as I said, Portsmouth is a high rent district, and I meant it. It's about the same here to rent as it would be in Monaco, if you were to skip a home buying decision in your later years. Some people do that'I'm considering it.
So, other than Federal Income Tax, there only remains just a small handful of states that can help mitigate the tax bite, and NH is one of them. Yes, we have 4 seasons, and I enjoy 3 of them here in a very enviable locale with lots to do. Seacoast winters are not all that bad here either, but if you go inland, yes, nor'easters can be brutal. I think I've decided however to simply put away the skis and jump on a plane and head down to Puerto Vallarta during the colder months, Jan-Feb. My German buddy goes there every year. He seems to be enjoying himself and has discovered a warm and reasonably priced place to hang out a few months of the year with a pleasant vibe.
