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I have a company in Bulgaria while working remotely for a high-salary EU country, and it's almost shocking to realise how much you spend on taxes in most Europe

I have a company in Bulgaria while working remotely for a high-salary EU country, and it's almost shocking to realise how much you spend on taxes in most European countries when you see the difference in your bank account. It's quite a good deal if you want to be a digital nomad since it's an EU country and you can get a really small apartment for almost nothing to use as your official address while travelling. (You'll have to be at least fiscally resident there) Feel free to PM me if you want some tips on how to get things set up there.

jacobush 7y ago
PM ... how?
Iwan-Zotow 7y ago
> small apartment for almost nothing ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, the only problem is with people gone infrastructure around those apartment is quickly going down the drain
- deleted 7y ago
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- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
pcf 7y ago
Is there a way to PM on YM?
helpPeople 7y ago
How bad is it? I pay more than 50 percent of my income in various taxes in the United States. Before anyone asks, federal income, Medicare, Medicaid, social security, state income, state sales tax, local property tax, and lesser- luxury and gas tax.
- dpau 7y ago
  That seems steep? What about health insurance? I worked for a few years in The Netherlands and paid a little over 50% of my salary in taxes, however in return I had access to amazing government resources and some of the best health care in the world. At 50% I'd expect the US to provide at least some healthcare :(
  - Sir_Vival 7y ago
    That does provide healthcare - Medicare and Medicaid, which I believe covers about half of the US population. One reason some are opposed to going to a government paid system is the fact that we spend so much on that where if the costs were simply doubled it'd be a rediculous expense.
    - dpau 7y ago
      Well, by looking at more advanced countries that do have universal healthcare at fairly reasonable tax rates, there are models for how it can be done without doubling our taxes..
    - throwaway_law 7y ago
      >One reason some are opposed to going to a government paid system is the fact that we spend so much on that where if the costs were simply doubled it'd be a rediculous expense. Or maybe people would realize a County like Germany is able to cover the entire County (2x as many people as Medicare) while spending half the Medicare budget. Then, questions of waste and fraud might pop up, which no one involved wants to happen.
      - y4mi 7y ago
        Germany's healthcare is very efficient, but definitely very conservative in the treatments. Issues are often just ignored until they go away. It usually works fine though, so it's not necessarily bad.
        7y ago
felixge 7y ago
Don't you have to spend > 50% of your time in Bulgaria in order to be considered a tax resident there? I suspect a lot of the "too good to be true" tax evasion stories in this thread depend on lying about your true place of residence?
- peteretep 7y ago
  > I suspect a lot of the "too good to be true" tax evasion stories in this thread Considered by whom and for what purpose? Bulgaria certainly aren't going to complain if you start declaring your income as arising there, for example via a Bulgarian company. Much more important is where any other country who might have a claim on your tax think you are resident, and if you manage to not be resident elsewhere, you're doing fine.
  - mtnGoat 7y ago
    That would still be illegal, just because no one is enforcing it doesn't make it legal. FWIW, some of the other low tax jurisdictions in Europe actually do audit expats living there, to ensure they are actually spending time there. I know Monaco does.
    - peteretep 7y ago
      > That would still be illegal, just because no one is enforcing it doesn't make it legal What is it you think would be illegal? You appear to be pretty confused between "liable to pay tax", "resident enough to convince your home tax jurisdiction that you're no longer resident there" and "resident enough to qualify for citizenship programme", all of which are quite different.
      - mtnGoat 7y ago
        cute games only work so long. first rule and most important one... never F the tax-man.
- b212 7y ago
  You have to spend less than half a year in your home country to lose its tax residency AND you have to spend over 6 months in some other country. This applies for most if not all European countries: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/taxes/income-taxes-abroad/index_en.htm https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/taxes/income-taxe... Therefore such tax optimisations won't work if you can't actually move to the other place and I guess for 99% of us it's not worth the hustle even if it allows you to save much more.
cartofupai 7y ago
There's downsides too, for example Stripe is not available in Bulgaria.
edoreld 7y ago
What's the best way to contact you?

jacobush 7y ago

PM ... how?

Iwan-Zotow 7y ago

> small apartment for almost nothing ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, the only problem is with people gone infrastructure around those apartment is quickly going down the drain

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

pcf 7y ago

Is there a way to PM on YM?

helpPeople 7y ago

How bad is it? I pay more than 50 percent of my income in various taxes in the United States. Before anyone asks, federal income, Medicare, Medicaid, social security, state income, state sales tax, local property tax, and lesser- luxury and gas tax.

dpau 7y ago
That seems steep? What about health insurance? I worked for a few years in The Netherlands and paid a little over 50% of my salary in taxes, however in return I had access to amazing government resources and some of the best health care in the world. At 50% I'd expect the US to provide at least some healthcare :(
- Sir_Vival 7y ago
  That does provide healthcare - Medicare and Medicaid, which I believe covers about half of the US population. One reason some are opposed to going to a government paid system is the fact that we spend so much on that where if the costs were simply doubled it'd be a rediculous expense.
  - dpau 7y ago
    Well, by looking at more advanced countries that do have universal healthcare at fairly reasonable tax rates, there are models for how it can be done without doubling our taxes..
  - throwaway_law 7y ago
    >One reason some are opposed to going to a government paid system is the fact that we spend so much on that where if the costs were simply doubled it'd be a rediculous expense. Or maybe people would realize a County like Germany is able to cover the entire County (2x as many people as Medicare) while spending half the Medicare budget. Then, questions of waste and fraud might pop up, which no one involved wants to happen.
    - y4mi 7y ago
      Germany's healthcare is very efficient, but definitely very conservative in the treatments. Issues are often just ignored until they go away. It usually works fine though, so it's not necessarily bad.
      - 7y ago

felixge 7y ago

Don't you have to spend > 50% of your time in Bulgaria in order to be considered a tax resident there? I suspect a lot of the "too good to be true" tax evasion stories in this thread depend on lying about your true place of residence?

peteretep 7y ago
> I suspect a lot of the "too good to be true" tax evasion stories in this thread Considered by whom and for what purpose? Bulgaria certainly aren't going to complain if you start declaring your income as arising there, for example via a Bulgarian company. Much more important is where any other country who might have a claim on your tax think you are resident, and if you manage to not be resident elsewhere, you're doing fine.
- mtnGoat 7y ago
  That would still be illegal, just because no one is enforcing it doesn't make it legal. FWIW, some of the other low tax jurisdictions in Europe actually do audit expats living there, to ensure they are actually spending time there. I know Monaco does.
  - peteretep 7y ago
    > That would still be illegal, just because no one is enforcing it doesn't make it legal What is it you think would be illegal? You appear to be pretty confused between "liable to pay tax", "resident enough to convince your home tax jurisdiction that you're no longer resident there" and "resident enough to qualify for citizenship programme", all of which are quite different.
    - mtnGoat 7y ago
      cute games only work so long. first rule and most important one... never F the tax-man.
b212 7y ago
You have to spend less than half a year in your home country to lose its tax residency AND you have to spend over 6 months in some other country. This applies for most if not all European countries: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/taxes/income-taxes-abroad/index_en.htm https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/taxes/income-taxe... Therefore such tax optimisations won't work if you can't actually move to the other place and I guess for 99% of us it's not worth the hustle even if it allows you to save much more.

cartofupai 7y ago

There's downsides too, for example Stripe is not available in Bulgaria.

edoreld 7y ago

What's the best way to contact you?