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

Your life should be split like this:

One country for citizenship, one country for residence, one country for your money.

This arrangement earns you a lifetime of peace of mind.

Why is that optimal?

I understand at least having a dual residency as a back up plan and that’s our plan with establishing residency in Costa Rica before retirement and keeping our by then paid off condo in the US.

It's optimal because you get left the hell alone. Governments do not know what they citizens do if they are neither living in the country nor having their money in the country. Governments do not know what their residents do, if they are neither citizens nor have their money in the country. Governments do not care what foreigners do with their money in their country if they are neither citizens nor residents.

Can you explain a real world scenario based on ease of applying for residence, tax situation, etc?

I haven’t researched anything aside from the US && (Costa Rica || Panama) scenario. There are really no tax advantages or disadvantages that way.

Sounds like the "flag theory", I heard that a few times during my research (the quoted services also cite this).

I think this is not so easy though, depending on the individual circumstances. My home country for example might want proof of my tax resident status of the past years if I ever decide to move there again, which will be difficult, if I have not been a tax resident anywhere. Of course this is easy when you reach a certain amount of wealth, but unfortunatelly I am not there yet and might need some time (if ever) to get there.

A simple example would be someone who does not have US citizenship (or Eritrea) and is able to move their tax residency to a second country that has very low or no income tax (e.g. UAE).

There are other countries (e.g. Cyprus) that do not require you to stay for 180 days or more to gain residency, so I think this is the kind of setup he is talking about.

The last piece of the puzzle would be international bank accounts, which gets easier the more money you have (e.g. HSBC Expat, which requires 50k USD to set up).

If you're thinking in these terms, then the advice isn't really for you. You are probably better served by staying where you are, paying the tributes you duly owe and obeying the commands of your government.

The real world application of this advice is that you don't ask for permission, and involve governments as little as possible in your life. This of course means that your source of income has to be adapted to this, usually meaning having your own LLC.

Right because the government doesn’t do anything for its citizens and no one should pay taxes anywhere.

Unless you can provid all of the infrastructure for yourself and insure your property rights are secured from people just taking them.

You realize you are going to have to “obey the laws” of whatever country you live in?

The only way you don’t involve some government in your life is to either live in on a boat or to live off the land in the woods somewhere

You know that LLC is also a legal construct you need a government to enforce. Do you plan to get a passport? Do you plan to be “stateless”? Plan on registering for the countries health care system?

Did you read the title of the thread?

So does the title of thread automagically mean there is some method to avoid being ruled by some government except living in the woods or the middle of the ocean?

I understand that you're trying to make a point, but there's no need to provoke him like that. Everyone has to make their own decisions based on their own circumstances, and pushing them in a certain direction doesn't really help. Let's keep it constructive please.

@scarface_74: My goal is to avoid a high tax that I am used to from my home country without getting (enough) in return in my opinion. I would rather take my chances and prepare for retirement etc myself than leave it to a government.

I never want to be "stateless", quite the opposite! I would like to collect some citizenships to have more freedom, because even with a strong rank other passports still give you access to different areas of the world.

I am fine with paying taxes if the rate seems fair (e.g. not 50% of my income if I am not a multi-millionaire) and if I get a good value for it. Yes, security is one of those values, but depending on your situation, a government may or may not be able to provide that (in my case, my home country was not able to do so, another good reason to believe that my tax is not being used well enough to achieve that goal).

Thats much easier - finding countries with lower taxation, citizenship via residency and stable economies. Your initial ask was way more complicated.

Look for countries where you just have to prove stable income, or do some type of investment in the country and then depending on the country it takes between 3-8 years to qualify for citizenship after you become a legal resident

> I never want to be "stateless", quite the opposite! I would like to collect some citizenships to have more freedom, because even with a strong rank other passports still give you access to different areas of the world.

The citizenship part is the easiest part. You can never loose your citizenship, and it is in no way tied to your residency or your income/money.

People who dream about migration almost always and erroneously believe that this means that they have to get on a path to new citizenship. But you shouldn't worry about this, unless you are very anxious to be able to vote in elections.

> The citizenship part is the easiest part. You can never loose your citizenship, and it is in no way tied to your residency or your income/money.

If you are a citizen of a country that taxes your worldwide income - like the US it does affect your income. You want to be a citizen somewhere and not end up “stateless”

Or on a beautiful beach surrounded by lovely people.

That beach is not under the jurisdiction of a government? Could I just run around naked without getting arrested?

You will need to learn some different evasion techniques for that.

This is not a reply to you, but a comment for anybody stumbling upon the thread:

You can not loose your citizenship for not paying taxes or for owing any taxes.

This is not entirely true, for example you can lose your German citizenship if you have another citizenship and fight for a terrorist organisation (source: https://rsw-beck-de.translate.goog/aktuell/daily/meldung/det...).

Then there is US citizenship, which is actually tied to your income, if I am not mistaken.

A citizenship for me would only bring the following advantages

- be able to live in a country without the hassle of renewing visas

- Having a second citizenship if the (political) situation in my home country goes sideways

I am not interested in voting because I do not believe that I can make a difference. I have done so for decades and things have only got worse in my country, so I have lost hope in the political process.