The Global Opportunist's Handbook

How and where best to decentralize

Pink countries are countries where tax liability is linked to your citizenship, dark blue to your residency where you pay taxes on worldwide income; light blue are countries with territorial taxation (you only pay taxes on local income)

Paraguay as a country for good residency

• Of the countries with territorial taxation (which means, among other things, 0% tax on crypto earned outside Paraguay), where it is easiest to obtain temporary and then permanent residency, Paraguay comes out best.
• To be a tax resident of Paraguay, you don't need to live there the majority of the time.
• Over time, around the world, it has become more complex and expensive to get a good residency or citizenship (in the past, it was possible to get permanent residency in Panama or Paraguay immediately, but not anymore)
• Some countries, such as Uruguay, explicitly distinguish between permanent residency (which is trivial to obtain) and fiscal one

3. Tax residency

• Citizenship or permanent residence in a territorial taxation country does not help you if you still live in the E.U. or other country with worldwide taxation. It is also a disadvantage if you have a center of interest in such a country. You should be always able to prove that you live in another country (using airline tickets, rental agreements, etc.)
• If you were in a situation where you have not lived anywhere for more than half a year, with no center of interest in any country, the issuer of your passport usurps the right to your tax residency. And you don’t want that. That’s why it is crucial to have a provable center of your interests - permanent residence in a good country (have a local national ID card), have a bank account in that country, a driver’s license, “proof of address” (or lease agreement)

You need to have tax residency in some country.

• Unless you are a German citizen who doesn't live in Germany / has no links to Germany

Tax slavery is unavoidable for most citizens, but you are free to choose your master!

• If you haven’t lived anywhere for more than six months and don’t have a center of interest anywhere except Paraguay (where you have permanent residence, a driver’s license, a bank account, or a provable center of interest), then your tax residency is in Paraguay. In this case, I heartily congratulate you on being the tax slave of the least greedy master (individuals in Paraguay pay 10% tax on local Paraguayan income and 0% on foreign income)

4. Offshore Company

Where are your clients? Where do you provide your services?

• If you have clients in the E.U. or the U.S., be prepared for many red tapes associated with doing business in those countries – regardless of whether you have your company in the EU/US or somewhere else entirely
• Unless your business is demonstrably carried out exclusively in the E.U., it makes little sense to use a company established outside the E.U. to do business (unless you want to set up a branch or local subsidiary)
• Usually, you have to pay taxes in the country where your business is carried out

Your customers are in the EU & subject of your business is in the EU

• Estonia - if you want to invest everything you earn back into the company for the next few years, you have to pay 20% profit tax, but only from the company’s profit you want to take out
• Cyprus - 12.5% income tax
• Bulgaria - 10% income tax
• Hungary - 9% income tax on profits under certain circumstances
• The Czech Republic - can be 7% income tax (fixed tax) for profits under 2 million CZK (approx 80k EUR) inside of the country (from 2023)

Your customers are in the EU & subject of your business is out of the EU

• It makes sense to set up a company in a country that has either lower or no taxes (i.e., countries that have territorial taxation like Gibraltar) or pass-through entities (like the US)  and at the same time have a signed double taxation treaty with the E.U. country where you have clients. An example of such a country is the USA (e.g., a U.S. Wyoming firm) or Gibraltar (territorial taxation for companies). The U.S. / Gibraltar has a double taxation treaty with all E.U. countries.
• Setting up a company is easy (US LLC company for customers out of the US, Gibraltar LLC for all non-Gibraltarian customers)

Do you need a bank account, or can you be crypto-only?

• Opening a corporate bank account is usually more complicated than setting up a foreign company. Banks are incredibly over-regulated; they log and report everything. Until you can afford it as a business, DO NOT use a bank account (because this is also the most severe privacy risk)
• There are countless stable coins out there, so you can avoid the volatility of cryptocurrencies (or you can use “hedging”). And also many services that allow you to remain compatible with the “fiat” world and still conveniently pay your suppliers’ invoices by bank transfer. You’re already able to pay your employees’ salaries seamlessly in anonymous Lightning
• if you can afford to operate without bank accounts, the number of countries you can do business from increases significantly

Or are you willing to stay crypto-only with no bank accounts

• Then, you can create a U.S. Wyoming company (because of FATCA, they will hardly open a bank account for a U.S. company in most countries). Of course, you need to take special care not to do business with them in the territory where you created the company – if you want to enjoy the benefits of territorial taxation. And, of course, you should not then have tax residency in the countries with CFC rules (most E.U. countries), as you may be subject to the CFC rules (be a Paraguayan tax resident)
• Suppose you are a non-U.S. owner of a U.S. LLC company. You are not doing business in the U.S., and you are not doing business with any U.S. company/contractor solely dependent on your business and you are solely a Paraguayan tax resident. In that case, your U.S. company pays no taxes.

5. Bank account

Using a bank account is a risky thing to do in terms of protecting the privacy of your financial transactions."

• If you are lucky enough to be a Paraguayan resident already, then feel free to open a bank account in Paraguay. Unlike most countries, Paraguay has not signed CRS snooping legislation and does not send information about its residents’ bank accounts anywhere (but there are limits unless you have a local income)
• The most popular private banking for digital nomads offers SOLO (Bank of Georgia) or Concept (TBC)
• The CRS is also not signed by the U.S. If you are neither a resident nor a citizen of the U.S., the highest level of protection for your financial privacy will be, paradoxically, in a U.S. bank
• If you care about CRS, use your non-CRS tax Paraguayan tax residency to open your bank account.

6. International healthcare insurance

• You select the coverage in the countries you want medical care (the price usually doubles if you opt for the U.S.). You define the amount of coverage and the deductible you pay yourself (the higher the deductible, the lower the cost to the insured)
• Do you want to be covered only for expenses immediately during your hospital stay (inpatient), for costs related to tests such as X-rays, MRIs during one-off visits to the hospital (outpatient) or for dental work or regular gynecological examinations too?
• The better the program you choose, the more you will pay - health insurance prices can range from $50 to $1,000 per month
• If you are flexible, you can pay inpatient cheaper insurance and use the benefits of health tourism (Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok)

7. Mobile Operator

• If you stay most of your time in the US, then Google FI
• If you spend most of your time in Latin and North America, including EU countries, and you are a Paraguayan resident, then use Paraguayan Personal postpaid (30 GB for approx 25 EUR)
• If you want the cheapest global coverage (almost all countries), then PokeFI (2.5 USD/GB)

• If you want an anonymous eSIM with data in Europe, the best deal is keepgo.com, BitRefill, MobiMatter, or Silent.link (you can pay it using Bitcoin Lightning)

• If you only want to live in the EU, your EU operator will probably suffice

8. Place where you live

• The criteria for the ‘good life’ are sharply subjective and individual
• For me, it’s personal freedom - which means freedom of speech, no censorship, no unreasonable restrictions, no or minimal drug penalties
• Secondly, it is security.
• In third place is price. The E.U., and even Central European countries, are not cheap anymore. In the E.U., you have to face various pandemic restrictions, which you can avoid if you move to the other side of the planet
• To enjoy tax benefits, you mustn’t live in any country (except countries with zero or territorial taxation) for more than six months a year (use nomadlist.com for legal residency calendar)
• Otherwise, you can quickly become a tax resident there (and you don’t want to support local government corruption

Enjoy "inflation tourism"!

In countries like Argentina, Turkey, ...

(explore local blue/black markets where you can exchange money with a significantly better rate)

9. Digital assets

• A digital nomad does not need movable assets because they cannot easily take them with them. He needs digital. The latter has many undeniable advantages – it is decentralized, resistant to confiscation by any state, cannot be devalued, and is easy and cheap to move.
• Real estate and money in the bank can all be taken from you by states or devalued by inflation when legislation or regimes change.
• Using cryptocurrencies is essential for digital nomads
• When traveling, I recommend having multiple hardware wallets, using strong passphrases (called “hidden wallets”), Shamir schemes, and only traveling with a wallet that you can afford to lose (and recover the closest one from seed)
• Have only as much savings in fiat as you are willing to lose

10. Gold

• A digital nomad does not need movable assets, but at the same time, he needs to protect his global assets.
• The only “non-financial” oldest product that guarantees that, since 6000 years, is gold (eventually precious metals).
• The question is not whether there will be a collapse of the fiat financial system. But when. Keeping all your eggs in one basket is not a good idea. Be wise!
• There is a clever, quick, and safe solution (using a trust) for your diversification in gold, and the investment will remain entirely secret for states.
  
• For more information, contact our partner.
  

"OPT-OUT" digital nomad

• Be a solely permanent /tax resident of Paraguay (don't stay in any country except Paraguay for more than six months / don't have anywhere else the center of the interests)
• Use a US LLC company for doing business out of the US
  • With a bank account in Mercury.com / Wise.com or stay crypto
• Use a Gibraltarian company for doing business with US customers
• Use your non-CRS Paraguayan tax residency with personal account in:
  • Bank of Georgia (SOLO and Cryptal.com (the biggest Georgian crypto exchange)
  • XAPO crypto card (Gibraltarian bank account)
  • Dukascopy Bank (Swiss bank account)
• Pay global international healthcare insurance

"OPT-OUT" stay at one place (in the EU)

• If you are an EU citizen, you don't need residency in your citizenship country -> cancel your EU residency and all duties related to the residency (healthcare/social insurance, military service, etc)
• If you are living in your country with no residency for more than six months, you are still a tax resident, but it doesn't matter:
  • Have no income at all (as a physical person), live from loans (check AAVE, SPARK, .. or companies like Nexo or Firefish)
  • Instead of obligatory health insurance, pay global international health care insurance
  • Use your Paraguayan driving license instead of your EU driving license

The life of a digital nomad decentralized in many countries may not be for everyone

But if freedom is important in your life, being global and flexible may be the best way to fulfill it

You can have it not only freer but also more exciting and varied