Comments by "Jeremy Barlow" (@jeremybarlow2291) on "Where to Move with High Net Worth but Low Income?" video.
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@TrueEarth369 Thailand has territorial tax so if you are not working and your passive income is earned outside Thailand as long as you keep it in a bank account outside of Thailand the year the dividend is paid, my understanding is the money will not be taxed because they use a remittance based system as well. Thailand has a few double tax treaties with some countries which may also prove beneficial. If you are not an American, but you have US dividend paying stocks for example, I think the Thai treaty will reduce your withholding rate in the US from 30% to 10%. In other words they may or may not be as beneficial as some other countries, but they are not bad. As I understand it, in SEA Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore all have a territorial tax regime. In Latin America, Uruguay, Paraguay, Nicarauga, Honduras, Panama, and Costa Rica are territorial tax jurisdictions as I understand it. To a degree, ie no CFC rules, Ecuador is as well if you are not taking money out of a company that is based overseas, but Ecuador has some exit tax risks and does tax worldwide income of individuals. St Lucia in the Caribbean along with Belize in the Anglophone world of the Caribbean are territorial tax, as is Dominican Republic in the Latin American Caribbean. Georgia in Europe/Asia depending on where you draw the line, has a personal territorial tax regime, but a worldwide tax for local companies. On the zero tax front you are looking at Turks & Caicos, the BVI, the Cayman Islands, Anguilla, -for personal income only Antigua & Barbuda, and St. Kitts & Nevis, but their management and control rules regarding corporations may bite you without proper planning. You have Monaco, St. Barthalemy -with some exceptions for zero tax options, Vanuatu as well. Then you have the Gulf states, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, but only some have realistic residency options. If you want low tax, Barbados is good for companies, but not so much for individuals. Labuan likewise is good for companies, but I'm not as sure it works in terms of living in Malaysia. I would want advice from local tax counsel about the treatment of dividends & salary paid by a Labuan company to a resident of Malaysia.
Then you have Lump Sum tax countries or lump sum tax countries for travelers with Anguilla, Gibraltar, Malta, Switzerland, Jersey, and Guernsey in the Channel Islands. There is also a lump sum regiment for Italy, and there is a 10 year NHR in Portugal that may be zero tax if you have the right circumstances in place.
My take is with the right planning SEA provides great options for low or no tax living. If you are somewhat nomadic ie not anywhere for more than 4 months a year, then the territorial tax countries would be great and making a St. Kitts or Antigua your country of citizenship and spending a month or two there may provide you a tax residency certificate if you need it with a bank that is helpful, otherwise in the right circumstances even less time in Georgia may give you one. With the right lump sum payment like 1 month a year in Anguilla will get you.a tax certificate if you aren't in any other country more than 183 days a year. Antigua has a similar deal for non-citizens. Malta has such a deal too. Cyprus may have some non-domiciled residency benefits I haven't quite figured out yet myself.
There are a lot of ways to play it, but I will say if your business is structured properly, and you are not actively working in the business Thailand has some potential. If you are working in the business, with the right structuring Thailand could work, as long as you comply with foreign branch rules and hire enough locals to get you a work permit. But it is going to add the expense of transfer pricing studies and may be a giant PITA, although it may be worthwhile. If such a scenario is necessary, ie you working for the business, then a Labuan company in Malaysia might put you in a 3% tax bracket. The Philippines would have the same PITA regarding transfer pricing studies that Thailand would have.
Of course if you are living on portfolio income and dividend from publicly traded companies, that is a different story.
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