Jeremy, do you pay taxes to Taiwan?

[JoeMSmith]

Or do you claim that you have stronger ties to US and via a tax treaty tie breaker you are only a US resident?

Curious about how living abroad works. I want to live places more than 183 days and not have to worry about international taxes. I'd love to hear your tax strategy and plan for this.

If I don't maintain a permanent abode in the US, I'm not sure how you avoid paying taxes to anywhere you are longer than 183 days. But honestly, maybe you just pay taxes to the local jurisdiction and deal with it like that.

[gocurrycracker]

yes and no

Taiwan is a territorial tax country - they only tax income sourced from within their own borders(*.) They also have no capital gains tax.

Since most/all (**) of our income is non-Taiwan sourced, we pay no tax in Taiwan.

* there is an AMT if worldwide income exceeds ~$250k/year (for us, it doesn't)
** my wife's book was published by a Taiwan company - that income is taxed in Taiwan, but is minimal and falls below the filing threshold so there is no tax paid.


There are ~20 countries with no income tax, and ~40 territorial tax countries. If no taxes is the goal, spend 183+ days in those countries only.

If quality of life is the goal, live where you want and pay the taxes.

[JoeMSmith]

Thanks, makes sense!

[gocurrycracker]

Forgot to include a link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_taxation#Individuals

[JoeMSmith]

Super cool link. Thanks for sharing.

One other question, do you have any tips for avoiding state tax while living abroad? Did you have to prove anything or did you just stop filing? How do you continue to maintain a driver's license/vote?

[gocurrycracker]

Establish residency in a State with no income tax

We lived in Seattle for years so we just continue that as our base for voter registration, state services, etc...

In total there are 7 no income tax states: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming

[JoeMSmith]

Lol, damn. Guess that's always an option

[gocurrycracker]

If you are actually establishing residency in another country - a bona fide permanent residency - then it may not be necessary to 1st establish residency in a new state.

If you are nomadic, it depends in part on which state you currently live in. Some states are notorious for chasing tax revenue from former residents (California and NY, for example) - if there is even a hint that you might return they may claim you were a resident the entire time you were outside the State.

https://forum.gocurrycracker.com/index.php?topic=114.msg449#msg449