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Ask HN: Does legal tax evasion work for regular people?

8 points o1o1o1 | 7 comments | 15 Mar 25 06:16 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom

Hello fellow HN readers,

For some time now I've been researching how to become a digital nomad and legally optimise my taxes.

There are numerous services that claim to be able to help with this, here are just two examples that I found:

https://taxhackers.io

https://denationalize.me

Does anyone have any experience of this and can tell me if it really works and is legal?

Also, why do they charge so much when there are other services that can do this for much less (e.g. Stripe Atlas: https://stripe.com/atlas)?

I am thinking of moving to Thailand, but I do not want to be a perpetual traveller. Can setting up a US LLC as a non-resident (or a UAE free zone company) be considered "foreign sourced income" without being taxed even if I am a tax resident of Thailand (>180 days living there) and what experience can you possibly share if you have tried something like this before?

What additional advice can you give me and others to make this a great trip instead of a nightmare?

Thanks for all your input and a healthy discussion on this topic!

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chvid ◴[15 Mar 25 06:55 UTC] No.43370576[source]▶
As far as I can tell these service are essentially the same as not reporting an income in a roundabout way - illegal but you will likely get away with it because how will the tax authorities of your country know.

Do these services provide you with legal representation towards your home country? My guess is probably not.

replies(2): >>43370693 #>>43370923 #
1. o1o1o1 ◴[15 Mar 25 07:25 UTC] No.43370693[source]▶
That would be problematic, but isn't that still allowed under Thai tax law (see my answer here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43370402#43370656)?

These services do not provide legal representation as far as I know.

replies(1): >>43370779 #
2. chvid ◴[15 Mar 25 07:43 UTC] No.43370779[source]▶
But are you moving your residency to Thailand? If so get a Thai accountant and a Thai company in your name.

Most countries except the US will not tax you if you move to another country.

replies(2): >>43370801 #>>43375054 #
3. chvid ◴[15 Mar 25 07:47 UTC] No.43370801[source]▶
Though all the digital nomads I met in Thailand kept their company / legal structure in their home country. Setting up shop in a new country - in particular in a slightly dodgy one - may not be worth the trouble to save some taxes on a modest income.
replies(1): >>43399460 #
4. o1o1o1 ◴[15 Mar 25 20:48 UTC] No.43375054[source]▶
Yes, I am moving there, but I do not want to open a company just yet. I might do so in the future to ensure I pay enough taxes for meeting the requirements to become a citizen, but to grow my funds and because I get nothing in return for paying taxes there for now, I would like to keep my business in a different country.

Also, I am probably going to consult a tax lawyer there, but it still does not hurt to ask others about there experience I think.

replies(1): >>43376940 #
5. bruce511 ◴[16 Mar 25 04:30 UTC] No.43376940{3}[source]▶
I think there are a bunch of things about tax you don't quite understand yet - I recommend you find a financial planner who can help you navigate this.

Firstly, it's trivial for a business not to pay tax; simply don't make a profit. (Since you can simply assign any excess to yourself as salary.)

Of course you then gave a personal income tax question; and that has its own complications.

Staying with business; and assuming it makes a profit, you then have choices regarding where to register the company. At the one extreme you have zero-tax places (Isle of Man, Jersey et al) but they come with fixed high annual costs. (Not a "tax" - just payments for services.) Your choice is typically one of these, or the place you live, or the country of your passport.

Things like banking play a role. When you can't visit your bank it gets harder to resolve issues (like when they freeze the account because of money-laundering concerns.)

All this to say, Tax planning is complicated. And if you insist on playing games it gets very complicated. The internet I'd not the place to get advice. You need to speak to a professional, or more likely a professional in all the places that matter. If you are a US passport holder even more so.

replies(1): >>43399434 #
6. o1o1o1 ◴[18 Mar 25 13:54 UTC] No.43399434{4}[source]▶
You are absolutely right and of course I will pay a Thai accountant to help me with this.

I just wanted to reach out to my fellow HN users beforehand to get some insight into other people's experiences and this is one of the best places to do that IMHO as I have already read some very wise comments on this beautiful orange website which makes me want to ask here instead of some sub-reddit ;-)

Luckily I am not a US citizen (or Eritrean) so it should be a bit easier for me (fingers crossed as I type this).

7. o1o1o1 ◴[18 Mar 25 13:57 UTC] No.43399460{3}[source]▶
Exactly, which is a good reason for me to think about setting up a US LLC (also access to superior banking and the country that has platforms like Stripe to make my life easier).

Say what you will about the US, but to this day it remains one of the best countries in which to start a business, as far as I can tell from years of personal experience (in other countries) and research.