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Comment by homakov | Hacker News Reader

FYI if you are perpetual traveler and stay less than 3/6 months in every country, you won't be tax resident anywhere which means no taxes at all. Doesn't work for US citizens. (I'm Russian who travels for last 3 years and I don't owe taxes to any country)

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Most European countries won't allow you to change your place of residence without sufficient documentation of your residence in a different country, e.g. work permits, proof of residence in new country, etc. Otherwise it would be all to easy to skip on paying taxes in your home country.

Perhaps in Russia it's a bit... easier?

It is easy, just not all people know about it. Rule is simple - not be tax resident and spend < 6 months in your home country. Other proofs aren't enforced afaik. It's how it works in Russia.

You are largely relying on just not being caught. Have you asked a tax advisor about this?

There's entire movement of perpetual travelers and laws clearly state it's legal.

I am familiar with PTs and I have been traveling since 2007.

It might be perfectly legal for Russian nationals. Since I am not Russian, I do not know with certainty, which is why I ask if you had checked with an expert.

But if you work for a US company, won't you have to pay taxes on the income earned from the US company?

The US company may be required to pay extra tax, but i just add it on top of my consulting rate coz i don't care about other people's taxes. On my side i don't owe the US anything

Doesn't work for Swedish citizens either.

To avoid Swedish tax, you have to either pay taxes in the country you are living in or prove that you no longer have any lasting connection to Sweden (no partner or children there, no house or apartment and no ownership in any companies).

> or prove that you no longer have any lasting connection to Sweden (no partner or children there, no house or apartment and no ownership in any companies).

Which is not hard at all: Don't have kids there, house or ownership. And you're free from taxes

Well, I have to keep my company there, which makes it pretty hard for me...

But you are right that it doesn't seem to hard, so I looked into it some more. I think the main problem would be to prove that you are not living in Sweden (the burden of proof is on you for the first 5 years). It seems that the requirement for not permanently living in Sweden is to permanently live somewhere else - perpetually traveling the world doesn't seem to be enough, you have to prove that you are a resident somewhere else, usually by applying for residence and paying taxes there...

This probably doesn't work in most countries...Canada also requires you to be a resident of SOME country.

It works in all countries afaik. "you stay in Canada for less than 183 days in the tax year." makes you non-resident.

Interesting. I can't find the exact literature since the wording is not clear to me but I think you may be correct. Being less than 183 days in Canada and NOT receiving any income in Canada, makes you a non-resident that doesn't have to pay Canadian taxes.

[1] - http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts/cmmn/rsdncy-eng.html [2] - http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts/ndvdls/nnrs-eng.html#tx...

Yes, this is correct. I'm in this situation (not a 'nomad', but a Canadian expat with no Canadian income) and don't have to pay taxes or file a tax return in Canada.

I don't know the exact details, but I remember hearing quite a few people here in Ontario talking about coming back once or twice a year to maintain their OHIP health coverage.

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