# Freelancer Tax: Long Term, Multiple Countries Tax Implication



## HarmonicaNomad

Hello,

My wife and I are Canadian Online Freelancers working and traveling around the world, spending 3-6-12 months in one country and then move on to the next. We have been in Asia for the last 2 years, splitting our time between Thailand and Vietnam. We are now getting ready to move on to South America, then South Africa & then some EU countries. New Zealand is in the cards as well as Australia.

We are not planning to go back living in Canada for at least 10-15 years. Basically, we will be constantly moving from country to country, depending on how we feel and the adventure we are in the mood to experience.

Filling up taxes has been easy as of now but now is the time to look into a different strategy to minimize Income Tax. I called the Canadian Revenue Agency and they are more than willing to keep getting our tax money every year but they couldn't give us a definite answer on how to really deal with our specific situation. Working Online seems to be an unregulated area... We do not have a company, just making money under our own name. We didn't want to be stuck having a company in a specific country.

So, how does someone in a situation similar to ours deal with the Tax and residency issue? There is a lot of people making their living online traveling around so there must be resources available. But I just couldn't find any resources online specific to our situation, constantly moving around to different countries.

Any ideas and personal experience are welcome, regardless of country of origin!

Thanks!


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## Bevdeforges

In general terms, you can find lots of information online regarding the issue of tax residency. Boil it all down, and generally the idea is that you wind up being tax resident somewhere in the world - and that's the lucky country that gets your tax money.

There is a rule of thumb that says if you spend 183 days in a tax year (which may or may not correspond to a calendar year) in a given country then you are tax resident. Obviously, you don't meet this criteria (but it is only a "rule of thumb," not normally part of the actual law).

The next "rule of thumb" is that, in the event you don't spend the majority of a tax year in a given country, then you pay your taxes to the country in which you spend the most time during a given year. (At least that's how they explain it in the US. Canada may have something similar, though you'd have to check with the tax authority there.)

And the other generally recognized rule of thumb is where you have your "centers of interest" - a home, family, a place you consistently return to, where you keep your "stuff," where you have your primary bank accounts, doctors and other professionals, where you get your mail, where your "base camp" is, etc.

It's a murky area, with little or no internationally recognized law. It may also depend on the law in each of the countries you are in during the course of your travels. Even if you're working "online" many countries consider you to be working in the place in which you are physically located while doing whatever work it is you do.

In the long run, it might actually be easier to pick a country and establish some form of "company" (or business entity) there so as to resolve the issue of where you are tax resident. It's not impossible to have multiple countries claim you, depending on the tax laws of the various countries.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Nononymous

Indeed a grey area. 

You could try establishing non-residency as far as Canada is concerned. (It was pretty easy when we did this 15 years ago, but we were going to a single destination, Germany.) Look up the rules on the CCRA site. This might be more difficult if you maintain Canadian bank accounts for your business. How are you typically paid?

If and when you've established non-residency in Canada, you're off the hook for Canadian taxes. (Fair enough, it's not like you're using any services, at least until there's a coup somewhere and the navy comes to the rescue.) Then it's between you and the local governments in the various countries where you're living. Here's where the grey area starts to look more like a black area. If you really are on the move every three months, you're probably not going to be staying in one place long enough to pay taxes (spare the moral/ethical commentary - this is purely a practical observation); if you are parked somewhere for one to two years, you should be paying taxes there. How you actually manage to do that is another matter - would Vietnam, for instance, even know where to start if you called them up from Thailand and said "hey, I spent 185 days working online in your country last year, what do I owe you?"

How this all ties in to visa situations, I have no idea. But presumably you do.


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## Nononymous

Further thoughts on this after having returned from hard day's skiing.

Part One is getting the Canadian government to consider you non-resident. Look at the CCRA guidelines for non-residency. You may need to fudge it a bit by identifying some other country as your new permanent home, even though you intend to pack up and move on. Key things are that you not have (much) property or assets in Canada - existing RRSPs are okay, you don't have to liquidate them. If your freelance work had exclusively Canadian clients, so that your source of income was Canada, that might be an issue. If you do your business banking in Canada, that might also be an issue. (You may wish to explore using an "offshore" account with a bank on some quaint Caribbean island, which would be perfectly legal and legitimate.) If you can successfully attain non-resident status, then you are done as far as Canadian taxes are concerned - you need never file again, until such time as you return to Canada.

This is where being Canadian is sooooooo much better than being American!

Part Two is figuring out the tax situation wherever you happen to be living. If you really are moving countries every 3-6 months, then I imagine you can successfully exist in some sort of quasi-legal limbo where you don't pay tax anywhere. It comes at a price of course - you can never really settle anywhere either. If you stay somewhere longer than 6-12 months, you are probably considered tax resident. How that works in practice, with online freelance income, I really don't know. Presumably you get into situations where you also technically need a work visa. (This is the fundamental Catch-22 - I'm not working in the local labour market so why would I need a work visa, but without a work visa I'm just a tourist so how should I go about paying tax?)

I would talk to some of your fellow expat online freelancers, and ask what they do. I expect that given the combination of human nature (greed and/or laziness), bureaucratic opacity and language barriers, and the undetectability of online work, most of them are either paying taxes in their home countries, or paying no taxes at all - neither of which really benefits the country in which one is currently living, of course.


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## HarmonicaNomad

I did a lot of further reading and research as well as calling CRA - International Division after reading yours comments. You guys are basically spot on on your advice.

To make it very clear, we are not interested to find a way not to pay Income Taxes but an easy way to legally pay less taxes within the way we are living our lives.

The CRA didn't tell me anything new. They found our situation very complicated and very confusing. If we become Non-Resident and follow the International "laws" by the book, we'd spend 370 days a year dealing with paperwork! CRA suggested to fill up 5-6 different NR73s for every move we made in the last couple years so they could evaluate our situation more properly and render a decision. If we stay Canadian Resident, that's an easy one. We pay taxes on our Worldwide revenue and that's it. But if we become Non-Resident and want to do thing by the book, it can become seriously ridiculous!

If we moved to 4 different countries during the year, spending time there equally, we would have to go through a whole list of requirement, laws and regulations from each country to hopefully understand where we should be paying income tax. They admitted that it might be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to live like this and always do the right thing. For example, I do know for a fact that it is not possible to spend 6 months in Thailand on a Tourist Visa and pay taxes. And no Work Visa (or any other Visa) exist to work in Thailand as a Freelancer or anything similar. How do you pay taxes to Thailand then? Tell them you insist to pay taxes because you worked on your Online Business the last 6 months and you want to do the right thing? You'll get kicked out of the country or end up in jail, probably based on the fact that they think you're a total nutcase!

Nononymous comment on living somewhere for a few months and not paying taxes is spot on. It actually goes beyond Moral & Ethics: sometime, it's actually not possible to pay your taxes in some country! Ending up in jail because I tried to force a country to "Please, please accept my tax money" is a line I refuse to cross! There's being honest, and there's being stupid.

Banking can also be a serious issue, maybe the biggest one. An Offshore account is one solution. But we could actually end up paying taxes where our bank account is just because it's the only "stable" thing that we have. And we'd have to give up our high limit Credit Cards and, basically, our good credit rating if we go the Non-Resident route. Opening a bank account in each country where we spend a few months is not a practical, realistic solution.

And there is a lot more considerations: No more Driver License, Short Terms Apartment Lease complicate things immensely in our situation for tax purposes, no mailing address in Canada or anywhere as it will be used for paying taxes, etc...

So, still not sure at all what to do! This is definitely a complex situation with no clear, easy solution. We will have to sit down and seriously consider the Pros & Cons. But creating a Sole Proprietorship in Canada and just paying our taxes there, at least until we settle down more permanently in a specific country seems to be the easy solution.


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## Nononymous

I think the first thing you need to do is separate the two issues - Canadian non-residency, as one, and then local tax and working arrangements, as the other. Presumably the CRA doesn't need to know about your tax arrangements outside of Canada?

Issue 1

Maybe it's become tougher to qualify as non-resident now. When we did it 15 years ago I think my accountant sister-in-law just wrote a letter stating that we'd made a permanent move to Germany, and filled out a simple form. Non-residency took effect the day we stepped on the plane, which turned out to be very beneficial from a tax perspective. (It was an open-ended move for a post-doc, with the next destination unclear; we could have just as easily moved to the US next if that's where my wife had found a job.) We continued to use our Canadian drivers licenses, and maintained our bank accounts and credit cards, and kept a small RRSP. That was perfectly fine. We didn't exactly cut all ties with Canada, though we had no Canadian source income. 

An offshore bank would not necessarily mean paying taxes - that's kind of the point of offshore banking! You don't have a business based there, just a bank account. (This would not be necessary if you could still do your banking in Canada as non-resident.) 

As mentioned, the location of your client(s) and income source(s) might be a factor in your claim to non-residency.

In terms of persuading the CRA, I might take the line that your current home is your final "permanent" home. That's something they can probably wrap their heads around more easily. I have no idea what kind of proof they require for this - possibly something more that just a short-term visitor's visa. If you are moving all the time you just look like a tourist who intends to return. If they approve non-resident status, you're out of the system and after that you can do whatever you want - move somewhere else the next day.

Issue Two

The whole business of migratory online workers (I've been one, kind of) is a grey area that governments haven't come to terms with. It's marvelous that you feel a moral obligation to pay somebody somewhere some amount of tax - how very Canadian of you. But paying that tax to Canada for the next ten years while you live in and benefit from the infrastructure of various other countries doesn't really make a ton of sense. Yes, you're spending money and paying consumption taxes when you live somewhere, and presumably you're not consuming expensive services like health care or education, but nevertheless, there's a certain obligation to support the country you're currently living in. Except that it's sometimes impossible to do so.

Then there's the issue of working remotely. In a strict sense, what you're doing is probably illegal in most of the countries you're doing it in. But since you're not competing against the local labour markets, it's hard to see it that way. (Incidentally, there are folks on some of the country forums here who regard anything more than checking e-mail while on vacation as illegal work that should be punishable by immediate deportation, then being cast into the fiery pits of hell.) You may find some countries that have, or will eventually have, a long-term visa option that allows you to work this way and pay into the local tax system. (If you had EU citizenship you could park yourself anywhere in the EU, set up a company, and do this quite legally; the paperwork might however kill you first.) But until then, you're a tourist, and because working online is legally charcoal grey (i.e. almost black) it is literally impossible to pay taxes. 

In this situation, I'm not sure that paying Canadian taxes really solves the fundamental moral problem of contributing to the society in which you are living, nor does it do anyone except the Canadian treasury any good.

Which leads me to my final point. I think the issue for you is not so much about paying less tax, but rather to whom should you pay tax. Less tax is easy - become non-resident then move all the time, and you won't pay a dime. In which case your best option might be a tithe to local charities if it helps you deal with any lingering guilt.


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## Nononymous

And one other point that I completely forgot, but which is important.

If you remain a Canadian resident and pay Canadian taxes on your worldwide income, that does NOT somehow legalize working remotely in other countries while living as a permanent, wandering tourist. Nor does it deal with the issue of not paying (or being able to pay) taxes in those countries - what you might choose to view as a moral obligation to support the country you are currently calling home. 

This is why I keep suggesting that you separate the two issues. First, see if you can get out of the Canadian tax system. Second, see if there's any way you can legally work and pay taxes while wandering the world. It may well be the case that you can do the first thing, but not the second.


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## Stevesolar

Hi,
If you visited Dubai - you could setup a company with a UAE Freezone. These exist for expats to setup 100% owned companies. This Freezone company is a legal entity in the UAE and would allow you to trade under this entiry anywhere in the world. The UAE is a tax free country and there are no taxes on Freezone conpanies. If you choose the correct Freezone, there are no requirements for annual returns - you simply pay a setup fee and annual registration fees.
Having one of these conpanies would entitle you to a UAE visa - so you could have a "permanent" address for internstional residency purposes (and therefore non-residency in any country that woyld tax you for being a resident there.)
As far as i can see, this solution ticks all the correct boxes for your particular circumstances.
Cheers
Steve


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## BBCWatcher

Not quite, Steve. There are countries and territories that tax non-resident business visitors. New York State is one quirky example. Step foot in New York State, work a day (freelance, online, or whatever), and you're required to file at least a non-resident tax return and pay income tax there on the pro-rata share of your annual total worldwide income. Japan might be another, if I recall correctly.

Most jurisdictions also do not let you avoid tax filing even if you're working illegally. For example, several U.S. states where marijuana and other drugs are illegal now sell tax stamps for those same illegal drugs. Fail to pay for the tax stamp if your trade is discovered and not only are you penalized for the underlying drug crime but also the tax evasion. Same with sex workers in many jurisdictions -- and many pay tax in order to avoid that "double jeopardy."

I suppose one solution is not to visit those places that levy income tax on visitors who are working, but you need either a good list in advance or a very sharp international tax accountant.

There are some "international tax nomads," and I think they fall into two general categories. One category consists of individuals who just ignore any tax obligations, acting as the individual equivalents of corporations that are domiciled nowhere. This probably isn't legal. It's at least "aggressive," as it is for the corporations that do it. (Though General Electric and Apple have better accountants.) The other consists of typically wealthy people who stay on the move for tax reasons and have well compensated accountants that help them manage their lives in this nomadically tax-optimized way. Neither approach is for me, but some people do it.

You may be on the right track, though. One solution is to pick a spot as a home base, but plausibly so. (I don't think Dubai and a tax free zone is going to cut it if you rarely or ever visit Dubai, for example. I'm sure some people try that, but it doesn't mean tax authorities elsewhere are going to think much of the idea.) Is there a place on this earth where you'd like to spend the largest, perhaps even majority of your time? Do that, then make that your tax home, handling the exceptions (like New York State) as exceptions when/if they come up. Or don't work in New York State (and in other exceptions) -- nonworking vacations are OK.


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## Nononymous

Going the UAE route might potentially help you qualify for non-residency as far as Canada is concerned. This moves your "home" from a high(ish)-tax jurisdiction to a zero-tax jurisdiction.

However, having a different home still does nothing to regularize the work and tax situations in the various countries where you are quasi-temporarily living. I think there are two basic options here. The first is to pursue some sort of status where you can legally live and pay taxes on income earned "offshore" through remote, online work; this probably means staying longer in fewer countries. The second is to move more frequently, consider yourself a tourist in each new country, and accept that what you are doing is technically illegal, though with very low risk. 

For me the moral/ethical workaround is this: by working remotely in a country, are you doing any harm? You are not taking jobs away from anyone, and you are spending money in the local economy. If countries can't figure out how to collect taxes from you, because of visa rules that don't accommodate the new reality of online work, is that your problem? (There might be some colonization/gentrification arguments to be made against this, but for now the numbers are small enough it's probably not a concern.)


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## BBCWatcher

Nononymous said:


> If countries can't figure out how to collect taxes from you, because of visa rules that don't accommodate the new reality of online work, is that your problem?


Yes, it certainly could be.

If a particular country prohibits working within their country -- freelance, online, whatever -- then that's part of their law, too, and one could be prosecuted both for immigration and tax violations. There are three basic choices in that case. One is to seek immigration permission (if possible) to work legally and pay taxes owed. The second is to ignore both sets of laws and risk prosecution. The third is not to go there.


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## Nononymous

Indeed. 

Choice one may be difficult to execute and would likely raise barriers to the OP's stated desire to see the world as laptop-equipped nomads. 

Choice three is obvious enough, but would by definition work against the OP's aforementioned desire. 

Assuming that one is okay with it on the moral/ethical front, choice two comes down to an assessment of risk. The OP has already lived and worked for two years in SE Asia - presumably illegally - without any apparent difficulty, so perhaps it's not that risky. I expect that shorter stays and more frequent movement could reduce the risk quite significantly.


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## Stevesolar

BBCWatcher said:


> Not quite, Steve. There are countries and territories that tax non-resident business visitors. New York State is one quirky example. Step foot in New York State, work a day (freelance, online, or whatever), and you're required to file at least a non-resident tax return and pay income tax there on the pro-rata share of your annual total worldwide income. Japan might be another, if I recall correctly.
> 
> Most jurisdictions also do not let you avoid tax filing even if you're working illegally. For example, several U.S. states where marijuana and other drugs are illegal now sell tax stamps for those same illegal drugs. Fail to pay for the tax stamp if your trade is discovered and not only are you penalized for the underlying drug crime but also the tax evasion. Same with sex workers in many jurisdictions -- and many pay tax in order to avoid that "double jeopardy."
> 
> I suppose one solution is not to visit those places that levy income tax on visitors who are working, but you need either a good list in advance or a very sharp international tax accountant.
> 
> There are some "international tax nomads," and I think they fall into two general categories. One category consists of individuals who just ignore any tax obligations, acting as the individual equivalents of corporations that are domiciled nowhere. This probably isn't legal. It's at least "aggressive," as it is for the corporations that do it. (Though General Electric and Apple have better accountants.) The other consists of typically wealthy people who stay on the move for tax reasons and have well compensated accountants that help them manage their lives in this nomadically tax-optimized way. Neither approach is for me, but some people do it.
> 
> You may be on the right track, though. One solution is to pick a spot as a home base, but plausibly so. (I don't think Dubai and a tax free zone is going to cut it if you rarely or ever visit Dubai, for example. I'm sure some people try that, but it doesn't mean tax authorities elsewhere are going to think much of the idea.) Is there a place on this earth where you'd like to spend the largest, perhaps even majority of your time? Do that, then make that your tax home, handling the exceptions (like New York State) as exceptions when/if they come up. Or don't work in New York State (and in other exceptions) -- nonworking vacations are OK.


Hi,
I never mentioned setting foot in any other country to do work there - the OP mentioned that they work online.
This means they could happily live or be based in the UAE - work online in the UAE - but trade with their customers anywhere in the world.
The OP appears to be looking for a solution where they can be based somewhere that has a zero or low tax regime.
I guess the real problem here is that tax laws have been around a lot longer than the internet! You can earn money online these days - wherever you are in the world!
Cheers
Steve


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## BBCWatcher

No, not really. The Internet has perhaps expanded the scope of work that can be performed remotely, but it's not fundamentally new in that sense. Journalists have been able to file wire stories across international borders since the latter half of the 19th century. Remote work is older than most income tax systems.

It's not that the immigration and tax laws don't exist. They do. In many cases they don't distinguish between physical work (e.g. digging a ditch) and typing on a laptop. Work is work. One may not like that and think one has a deity-given right to sit on any beach and work, but some countries don't legally allow that.


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## HarmonicaNomad

These are all extremely worthy and valid arguments.

Just to clarify, we are presently paying taxes in Canada. The fact that we are working online on a Tourist Visa is the illegal part in Thailand. Basically, if anybody on a Tourist Visa would be to check their business email back home and reply, they are breaking the law. Obviously, it make no sense for Thailand to start monitoring and prosecuting every tourist that break the law this way. No one, to my knowledge, ever got in trouble for working online in Thailand. 

It's not that we are trying to pay no taxes or be in a zero tax regime, but minimize our taxes. Who wants to pay as much taxes as possible?

I do believe that it comes down exactly to what has been mentioned before. It has a lot to do with Moral, Ethics and acceptable risks.

I admit that we want to do the right thing and pay when we have to and not try to live a Tax Free life but at the same time, not paying taxes because the country I want to visit doesn't "allow" me to pay taxes doesn't stop me from sleeping at night. I'm willing to do the right thing but I'm just not allowed to. Then, so be it.

I also agree that the risk is very, very low. For me, it becomes acceptable risk. Thailand, for example, will never find out and really doesn't seem to care at all unless you take away jobs from the Thais. Totally disagree with someone who would work in Thailand without a Thai Working Visa and take away a job from a Thai that really needs it and can do that job. But in our case, we don't take away nothing from the Thais and bring in hundreds of thousands of Baht in their economy. We are respectful and cause no trouble at all. I absolutely understand that my opinion and feelings doesn't change anything and doesn't make it legal. But, for me, it makes it acceptable Ethically and Morally. Paying taxes in Canada while using another country's resources is legally acceptable and the "right" thing to do. It might be legal, but where's the moral/ethic in that? I'm all for moral high ground but there is a limit to it. Taken to the extreme, it become stupidity.

The biggest issue I see with becoming a Canadian Non-Resident is the banking issue. Where should we set up our banking accounts? Moving so much around the world makes it hard to understand where we should be banking from. I do believe that consulting an expert in the field would be the best solution.


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## Nononymous

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> I never mentioned setting foot in any other country to do work there - the OP mentioned that they work online.
> This means they could happily live or be based in the UAE - work online in the UAE - but trade with their customers anywhere in the world.


The OP's entire question was not where to live and work in a low-tax environment, but rather how to minimize tax while travelling the world and working online. Quite different.


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## Nononymous

HarmonicaNomad said:


> The biggest issue I see with becoming a Canadian Non-Resident is the banking issue. Where should we set up our banking accounts? Moving so much around the world makes it hard to understand where we should be banking from. I do believe that consulting an expert in the field would be the best solution.


I don't think the banking issue is really such a challenge. We kept our Canadian accounts as non-residents. Or you could open an account in the Caymans, or the Channel Islands, or Dubai, or whatever. You should look into this.

Overall I found this interesting, and did some reading last night about digital nomads and their experiences and legal arrangements. (Possibly the fact that it's currently -10 and snowing made the beach option look attractive.) It's universally understood that to do this you enter a country as a tourist and work "illegally" - there's rarely another option. The only advice is to be polite at the border, volunteer no information, and don't overstay. Some countries make this very easy, with long tourist visas that can be quickly renewed. (Cambodia at least keeps you honest by selling a cheap business visa that lets you do whatever you want.) The Thais obviously don't care because there appear to be cafes full of twenty-something app developers in sandals hunched over their laptops "co-working" - it would not be difficult to bust the lot of them. The accepted practice, as far as I can tell, is to work remotely on a tourist visa. Nobody pays tax in their adopted homes because there is no legal way to do so. Everyone is more or less comfortable with it because they are spending money in the local economy but not competing with the local labour market. It's all good.

The tax angle then becomes strange. Most of the digital nomads pay tax in their home countries, typically the US or UK. Some do it because they can't establish non-residency; others choose to. (Americans appear divided about whether they can or should use the FEIE to exclude the first $97k of income - some do it, some don't.) What I find odd is the rationale for "voluntarily" paying home-country taxes. For some, it's simply the idea that you have to pay tax somewhere and it's much easier to pay it where you know how the system works (karma, if you will). Some can be quite defensive about this, stating that they didn't choose the nomadic life to avoid tax - probably a line they've heard from jealous friends. And some claim that paying tax somewhere is necessary to avoid being thrown in jail for tax evasion (by whom, it's never made clear). Of course most of this is bollocks. They're all breaking the law on some level by working on tourist visas. If the home country accepts that they qualify as non-residents and doesn't want their income tax, then it's not evasion, it's perfectly legal.

That's the current, superficial survey of how digital nomads handle tax and immigration issues.

To the OP, unless you decide to settle down somewhere for a year or two and go through all the legal hoops of obtaining work and residence permits, it's pretty clear that the only way to do what you want to do is for you to continue working as a roving tourist with no obvious way to pay local taxes. This is fine by me. It seems to be fine with you. Clearly it's fine by lots of others too, and it even appears to be _de facto_ fine with a number of governments. So the question then is can you get out of the Canadian tax system. (Whether you do or do not pay Canadian taxes means nothing to the countries you're visiting.) Let's be honest, your question really isn't can I reduce my tax bill, it's can I eliminate it? Personally, I'd try it. If you're not living in Canada, you're not using any services. If the CRA agrees, it's all above board, and lucky you.


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## Nononymous

As I said in an earlier post, if you're troubled by the ethical problem of paying Canadian taxes while using another country's resources, there's a simple solution: stop paying Canadian taxes (legally) and donate the money you save to local charities.


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## HarmonicaNomad

Nononymous, from your first post to your latest one, you've been spot on with your advices and opinion. Your advices are well researched, make sense, are non-judgmental, respectful and very, very valuable to us. 

Many thanks for taking the time to help us out with our questions, VERY much appreciated!


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## Nononymous

HarmonicaNomad said:


> Nononymous, from your first post to your latest one, you've been spot on with your advices and opinion. Your advices are well researched, make sense, are non-judgmental, respectful and very, very valuable to us.
> 
> Many thanks for taking the time to help us out with our questions, VERY much appreciated!


My pleasure. I'm just jealous, that's all. 

South and Central America look pretty good, lots of six month and/or renewable tourist visas. Europe is trickier, you have the 90-in-180 rule with the Schengen countries, but you can deal with it by going to the UK for up to six months or heading south for the winter.

I would seriously pursue Canadian tax non-residency. It might be quite doable, you just need to frame it correctly: "I've moved to country X" rather than "I'm a global wandering tourist" is probably the approach to take. I don't know if they care about your tax status in your new home. When we did it 15 years ago we had no trouble at all. We moved to Germany, but in our 2.5 years there we never entered the German tax system (quite legally: my wife was on a post-doc and research stipends are tax-exempt; I worked for a third-country embassy and under the consular treaty, my employer simply withheld the rough equivalent of German taxes). Canada did not care where, if or how we paid taxes once we were non-resident.

Good luck, and keep us posted.


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## Nononymous

People get weirdly judgmental on this subject. 

For some, breaking any law, anywhere, is simply bad. For me, well, meh, I ask myself if harm is being done? (One day, if the world's tropical islands are so colonized by web developers that the locals have nowhere to live, harm will be done. But that's well into the future.) 

I was on a thread recently where someone was relocating to the EU because their partner had a job transfer (with visa, all on the up-and-up); they could keep their existing US job and work as a telecommuter, but as a trailing spouse they were not entitled to a work permit in this EU country. I suggested that they work anyway, the risk was very low, and they spend their earnings in the local economy. For a few people that was tantamount to calling myself Hitler. They'd much rather see this individual sit at home doing nothing, earning nothing, spending nothing, than have them work "on the black" even though it was not in competition with the local labour market. Which is just silly, in my view.


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## HarmonicaNomad

Well, from experience, people who try to come across as Holier-than-Thou are the ones with the biggest skeletons in their closet... And the more vocal and offended they are with the little things, the least I trust them!


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## BBCWatcher

HarmonicaNomad said:


> The fact that we are working online on a Tourist Visa is the illegal part in Thailand. Basically, if anybody on a Tourist Visa would be to check their business email back home and reply, they are breaking the law.


That's a mischaracterization of Thai immigration law. The key difference is the difference between incidental and habitual. The activity you propose to undertake in Thailand is illegal (without immigration permission) in part because it's habitual, regular, continuous.



> I'm willing to do the right thing but I'm just not allowed to.


You are allowed to do the right thing. Legally required, even. If you want to continue working legally, seek the necessary permission from Thai immigration authorities (and pay tax in Thailand), suspend your work when you visit Thailand, or don't go to Thailand.


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