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Comment by thesmallestcat | Hacker News Reader

I thought in Panama (and anywhere else outside the US) you have to pay income tax on earnings over $100k. I think you have to pay into Social Security too?

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Yes that's correct. Although, if you're working remotely you're not likely to be making much over $100K, so it may still be worth it. Your take home may still be close to working in the Valley, and your cost of living, excluding food will be less than half.

I'm Canadian though, so I don't have to deal with the long-armed-fingers-in-my-pockets embrace of Uncle Sam. Every other country in the world is sensible enough to only tax residents.

Could you explain? I live in Germany but, as far as I know, am still required to file taxes in Canada every year.

If you're non-resident in Canada, you only have to pay tax in Canada on Canadian-source income. Unfortunately, yes that includes a pension.

To be non-resident you have to spend at least half the year outside the country and have no residential ties to Canada like property, dependents, bank accounts, health insurance, etc.

See: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts/ndvdls/nnrs-eng.html

Do you have to pay tax on your German earnings (earned in Germany, which you already pay tax to the German authorities on)? Almost all countries only tax you on the money earned (approximately) within their borders. So for most 'expats' it amounts to taxing interest and dividends, and maybe rental income on your old house.

Not so the USA, which has a claim on all money earned by Americans world-wide. There's a ~U$100k earnings exemption (so many people aren't paying much tax back to the USA), but high-earning USA expats are in a different tax-world from their overseas colleagues.

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