A Ukrainian here. Because of the war currently in Romania. Ukraine has indeed low 5% tax. Romania has 42.5% of you work as an employee and around 20% if u open a company.
Ack. I thought Romania had lower tax if you had a company making less than 1M eur or so. But maybe considering dividend/salary and social security etc it reaches that 20%. Слава Україні!
Nice story here of this guy moving to Poland. I'm dealing with this question for a while and have similar ideas.
I think to get you started, it's better to choose something simple instead of the "perfect" option. I'm also a German who lives in Berlin, so the border to Poland is extremely close.
I also know the country a bit from an internship a while ago which took place in Warsaw and Wroclaw. After the internship, I went for 2 weeks to Krakow by coincident, finally having there the best holiday of my life.
From this experience (which honestly took place around 15 years ago, so not sure how it is today), I can say Krakow is an extremely great place for young people because of an outstanding clubbing culture. The city center, which is also where the clubs and bars are, is very beautiful (was the resident of the kings before Warsaw became the capital), though most people don't live there. But holiday and staying there for longer might be two different things, so hands down. Krakow is also not necessarily very close to Germany, but should do it. Warsaw and Wroclaw are ok, Warsaw definitely more, nice bars in the center, some good clubs, but in total not on the level of Krakow.
Though I'm not sure if I want to live in Poland on the long run. A country must suit to you. But if you are adventurous (which I am), perpetual travelor is anyhow better. For staying longer or even settling, I think you need a combination of low tax and feeling well at that place. I personally could imagine Bangkok, because I've heard Thai people are super friendly. But the low tax advantages for nomads were cancelled recently as I've heard, and getting a visa can be a bit tricky. Furthermore you must like the continueous heat. Which might become even worse through the climate change.
Asia I haven't spent a lot of time in. I think Singapore and UAE would be the best options to base yourself at least legally. Since they're expensive, it could be good to combine them with some other cheaper base in SEA. Like maybe spending 3-6 months in Dubai/UAE and other 6 months in Thailand/Philippines/Indonesia etc.
I especially liked your summery of Poland in one of these articles. Sounds great. I believe now Poland makes a good next goal for me, especially because I know the country. It's always easier to start somewhere where you are already familiar with. Then you can expand.
Great to hear about the improvements of Poland. Also of Warsaw. Honestly my by far best times during my internship (which happened in 2 German and 2 Polish cities) were in Warsaw. Maybe I just felt well there.
And if partying in Krakow might have even become better ... OMG lol 😜😁😁
I'm now your fan 🤙
Here's a secret tip that might help you. You might wanna check out this site:
They specialize in tax saving, low cost living, perpetual travelling and the like. Great resource. But in German. Though you might use some modern tools for translation. Their written blog is a bit hidden on their site afair. They are also on Youtube.
Always good to spy a bit what your competitors are doing lol.
I think people forget the fact that the effective tax in Hungary is 33.5% and not the 15% seen on wikipedia, i see lot of people taking Hungary as a low tax country whereas in reality it has one of the highest taxes especially in Europe at almost 50%
Some thoughts based on my experience and research:
UAE: Has some serious drawbacks now: First being a reticence of USA & EU businesses to sign B2B/Freelance contracts with UAE LLC's and Second they increased taxes and you HAVE to have a UAE citizen as a partner in said LLC.
Cyprus: 15% ... Oooor it's THE BEST Country to consider IMO with the non-dom scheme where you get ~2-5% taxes. And it's in the EU, and it's on an island paradise ... You just have to live there 2-5 months a year, 2-5 months in another country and 2-5 months in a third country :D. I'm seriously considering it.
Romania: ~15%. The more you make, the less you pay ( Approx: for 200k - 13%, 100k - 15%, 60k - 17% ) may be a bit unstable and might hike the taxes somewhat but it's still almost as attractive as Poland. Hotter Climate ...
I wouldn't do Cyprus with an offshore company if you run said company from there. You can do it and you probably won't get caught but if you're the only person in the company you're running a risk. In the end you can pay Cyprus 12% corporate tax it's not too bad. I also think Cyprus is a good option tho. A bit boring if you spend there 12 months but extremely pleasant if you spend there part of the year.
UAE: if you're a remote dev making less than 1M you don't need to pay the 9% corp tax. WRT to USA&EU biz not being able to bill an UAE company, could be.
Romania I also heard is good. Similar for Moldova yes. Need to update the list.
Really? That sounds very interesting. Is it easy to setup? English friendly? Please share some links if you have. Also does it include social security?
Considering the current situation, putting Ukraine on the list is an interesting take
A Ukrainian here. Because of the war currently in Romania. Ukraine has indeed low 5% tax. Romania has 42.5% of you work as an employee and around 20% if u open a company.
Ack. I thought Romania had lower tax if you had a company making less than 1M eur or so. But maybe considering dividend/salary and social security etc it reaches that 20%. Слава Україні!
The more you earn the less you pay.
I think it can be reduced to 15% if one earns more.
Nice story here of this guy moving to Poland. I'm dealing with this question for a while and have similar ideas.
I think to get you started, it's better to choose something simple instead of the "perfect" option. I'm also a German who lives in Berlin, so the border to Poland is extremely close.
I also know the country a bit from an internship a while ago which took place in Warsaw and Wroclaw. After the internship, I went for 2 weeks to Krakow by coincident, finally having there the best holiday of my life.
From this experience (which honestly took place around 15 years ago, so not sure how it is today), I can say Krakow is an extremely great place for young people because of an outstanding clubbing culture. The city center, which is also where the clubs and bars are, is very beautiful (was the resident of the kings before Warsaw became the capital), though most people don't live there. But holiday and staying there for longer might be two different things, so hands down. Krakow is also not necessarily very close to Germany, but should do it. Warsaw and Wroclaw are ok, Warsaw definitely more, nice bars in the center, some good clubs, but in total not on the level of Krakow.
Though I'm not sure if I want to live in Poland on the long run. A country must suit to you. But if you are adventurous (which I am), perpetual travelor is anyhow better. For staying longer or even settling, I think you need a combination of low tax and feeling well at that place. I personally could imagine Bangkok, because I've heard Thai people are super friendly. But the low tax advantages for nomads were cancelled recently as I've heard, and getting a visa can be a bit tricky. Furthermore you must like the continueous heat. Which might become even worse through the climate change.
Poland has changed incredibly in the last 15 years. I think it's barely recognisable. I'd recommend visiting again if you can! Especially Warsaw.
Regarding locations for remote workers, you can check out this other article too: https://www.theeuropeanengineer.com/p/best-low-cost-low-tax-countries-for
Or this one regarding best countries for devs in general: https://www.theeuropeanengineer.com/p/best-countries-to-base-yourself-as
Asia I haven't spent a lot of time in. I think Singapore and UAE would be the best options to base yourself at least legally. Since they're expensive, it could be good to combine them with some other cheaper base in SEA. Like maybe spending 3-6 months in Dubai/UAE and other 6 months in Thailand/Philippines/Indonesia etc.
... ah yes, here's their blog:
https://goodbyematrix.com/blog/
So that scraping will be a bit easier for you lol 😁
Was a good opportunity for me to finally set a Google Alert on their blog, because they have no RSS or newsletter.
Cool, thanks for the further links and tips.
I especially liked your summery of Poland in one of these articles. Sounds great. I believe now Poland makes a good next goal for me, especially because I know the country. It's always easier to start somewhere where you are already familiar with. Then you can expand.
Great to hear about the improvements of Poland. Also of Warsaw. Honestly my by far best times during my internship (which happened in 2 German and 2 Polish cities) were in Warsaw. Maybe I just felt well there.
And if partying in Krakow might have even become better ... OMG lol 😜😁😁
I'm now your fan 🤙
Here's a secret tip that might help you. You might wanna check out this site:
https://goodbyematrix.com/
They specialize in tax saving, low cost living, perpetual travelling and the like. Great resource. But in German. Though you might use some modern tools for translation. Their written blog is a bit hidden on their site afair. They are also on Youtube.
Always good to spy a bit what your competitors are doing lol.
The hungarian one is not accurate.
We have a 33,5% income tax.
Flat? Both for full time and contract jobs?
I think people forget the fact that the effective tax in Hungary is 33.5% and not the 15% seen on wikipedia, i see lot of people taking Hungary as a low tax country whereas in reality it has one of the highest taxes especially in Europe at almost 50%
XXS13 from R here.
Some thoughts based on my experience and research:
UAE: Has some serious drawbacks now: First being a reticence of USA & EU businesses to sign B2B/Freelance contracts with UAE LLC's and Second they increased taxes and you HAVE to have a UAE citizen as a partner in said LLC.
Cyprus: 15% ... Oooor it's THE BEST Country to consider IMO with the non-dom scheme where you get ~2-5% taxes. And it's in the EU, and it's on an island paradise ... You just have to live there 2-5 months a year, 2-5 months in another country and 2-5 months in a third country :D. I'm seriously considering it.
Romania: ~15%. The more you make, the less you pay ( Approx: for 200k - 13%, 100k - 15%, 60k - 17% ) may be a bit unstable and might hike the taxes somewhat but it's still almost as attractive as Poland. Hotter Climate ...
Republic of Moldova: 7%
I wouldn't do Cyprus with an offshore company if you run said company from there. You can do it and you probably won't get caught but if you're the only person in the company you're running a risk. In the end you can pay Cyprus 12% corporate tax it's not too bad. I also think Cyprus is a good option tho. A bit boring if you spend there 12 months but extremely pleasant if you spend there part of the year.
UAE: if you're a remote dev making less than 1M you don't need to pay the 9% corp tax. WRT to USA&EU biz not being able to bill an UAE company, could be.
Romania I also heard is good. Similar for Moldova yes. Need to update the list.
You’re forgetting about Moldova 🇲🇩 with their 7% taxes and quite low cost of living.
Really? That sounds very interesting. Is it easy to setup? English friendly? Please share some links if you have. Also does it include social security?
Here is all usefull info
https://moldovaitpark.md/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Moldova-IT-Park_presentation_16.02.2022.pdf
https://mitp.md/p/web/webHome
I live in Ukraine since 19…. So I can tell a lot.
Don’t get into the trap of “free healthcare”. It simply doesn't work.
But even private/non “free” is cheap and has decent quality.
Thanks for sharing! Which city in Ukraine? And where are you from?
Kyiv, the capital.
Doing commercial software engineering since 1991.
👍are you still in Ukraine?
Yes