6 ms·

Does this apply to U.S. passport holders only? If not, what about taxes? If you spend 12 months in Barbados, will you have to pay your taxes there?

darrenoc 6y ago
If you're not a US citizen, you won't have to pay income at all due to tax residency rules. only the US is brazen enough to charge non-resident citizens income tax
- PopeDotNinja 6y ago
  >> only the US is brazen enough to charge non-resident citizens income tax Don't forget Hungary, Myanmar, and Eritrea, too! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_taxation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_taxation
  - tom_mellior 6y ago
    "Hey, we're doing the same things as Hungary, Myanmar, and Eritrea" is not usually a good argument for anything. Anyway, the Hungary part surprised me since I'm a Hungarian citizen living abroad and have never been bothered about tax. The Wikipedia table says residents of countries with tax treaties are exempt, and that should be pretty much all of them? The PDF link from Wikipedia is broken, which is normal for how the Hungarian government operates.
    - noir_lord 6y ago
      Same for my partner who is Hungarian though in her case it was one EU country to another (well it was at the time, won't be soon, bloody brexit).
    - perl4ever 6y ago
      Since the US has an exemption for foreign income, this seems like making overmuch of a technicality. It reminds me of the histrionics over the US not being officially metric by people from the UK.
      - oh_sigh 6y ago
        Well that's rich, coming from people who can't even stick with one system and have a weird mix of imperial, metric, and various archaic units - which is IMHO worse than just being on imperial.
        perl4ever 6y ago
        That description applies to both the US and UK, perhaps others, and it's hard to be unaware when you're connected to a global computer network. Just google "site:uk mpg". "Put simply, all MPG does is tell you approximately how far your vehicle will travel based upon a single UK gallon, which equates to approximately 4.55 litres of fuel" This particular thing, I'm aware of because there is perennial confusion over comparing mpg given that Imperial gallons are larger than American ones. If people just used L/100km.... Chauvinists go to ridiculous lengths to magnify small differences.
        oh_sigh 6y ago
        That's not the mixing I'm talking about. American gallons and imperial gallons being defined differently is rarely an issue since gallons are rarely exchanged between America and the UK (in a relative usage sense). If America happened to call their unit gabbons, this confusion wouldn't exist. My point is more about how in the UK you might give a measure in one system, but then increasing the measure you might convert into a different system entirely. e.g. If you ask an Englishman how far apart you should stand for social distancing, he might say 2 meters. But if you ask him how far it is from London to Brighton, he might say it is 50 miles.
        perl4ever 6y ago
        >gallons are rarely exchanged between America and the UK I didn't go looking for an example; it's one that I've run into a lot over the years, because people spontaneously ask why, over and over, American cars get much worse MPG than elsewhere. Not realizing the gallons are smaller.
- paranoidrobot 6y ago
  It's the residency rules that matter here. For an Australia, you pay income tax if you're a resident for taxation purposes. For an Australian Citizen to answer that they're not a resident for taxation purposes is complicated and depends in part on the type of Visa you have. Last I looked, for me, as an Australian citizen, to not have to pay tax would mean getting a permanent Visa in another country and being resident in that country. They specifically excluded time-limited visas, even if you can get them renewed automatically. It means travelling around the world, even for years at a time, I still need to account for my income and lodge tax returns in Australia. The one upside is getting credit for income taxes paid in another country. I believe a similar situation also applies to Canadian citizens, as a few former Canadian colleagues in Australia had to go through a whole process of getting their Australian taxation recognised in Canada.
  - sk0g 6y ago
    Do you mean if you pay, say, 20% tax in Switzerland as an Australian, never setting foot in Australia for an income year. Then you lodge tax in Australia and the ATO says you only have tax credits for 20% of your income, meanwhile you'd be paying 32% of your income as tax - you would then have to pay ATO the 12% difference out of pocket? Do you have any links to information regarding Australian citizens being taxed abroad? I know for HECS, etc you're still meant to lodge and pay those amounts, but didn't realise it might be a fair bit worse than that!
    - paranoidrobot 6y ago
      It's complicated, but assuming that the ATO thought you were a resident for taxation purposes, then yes you still lodge a tax return in Australia, claim the tax paid in Switzerland as a credit (assuming it's recognised) and pay whatever gap there is. It's made more difficult because tax years don't align, so it needs to be worked out that way too. Oh, and because Switzerland probably put their tax records in Swiss-Fench/Swiss-German all your documents would need to be formally translated. I'd start by checking put the ATO site they had a bunch of tests for your residency there.
  - EE84M3i 6y ago
skissane 6y ago
Their FAQ says you don’t pay Barbados income tax It doesn’t mention being only for US citizens, it appears in principle citizens of any country are eligible. (In practice, I imagine some countries’ citizens will find it easier to get approved than others, due to differences in national security risk, likelihood of submitting refugee claims, etc.) https://www.barbadoswelcomestamp.bb/faqs/ https://www.barbadoswelcomestamp.bb/faqs/
UglyToad 6y ago
As the other poster says you continue to pay income tax in your home country and you're also forbidden from working for any Barbados company since they don't want people taking local jobs. However this may have tax consequences in your home country. I'm from the UK and if you spend more than 180(?) days abroad in a tax year you become non-resident which has some implications. You'll need to consult an accountant I guess. I got my visa and I'm hopefully heading out towards the end of September, it should be fun.
- graham_paul 6y ago
  half a year is still good
  - UglyToad 6y ago
    Luckily since the tax year ends in February (?) it should be possible to take almost the full year by having it split into 2 half years over the tax year ends without having to change any tax stuff, I don't think the non-resident implications are too bad. I'm just going to sort out the accountancy stuff when I'm out there, but even if it's expensive it's worth it for the experience.
    - tomatocracy 6y ago
      UK tax year for individuals is 6 April-5 April.
- objclxt 6y ago
  > I'm from the UK and if you spend more than 180(?) days abroad in a tax year you become non-resident which has some implications This isn’t quite accurate. There are other tests that come into play, including whether you own a house in the UK, and how long you spent outside the UK for the rest of the year (and the preceding years). Basically if you live in the UK, then spend 180 days (or even a whole year) outside the UK but then immediately return HMRC is not going to consider you a non-resident for that period. It is worth paying for tax advice before you leave because the rules are complicated and there are other factors aside from just not being in the country.
tjbiddle 6y ago
Other commenters have address your questions, but what I will add is that if you stayed the full 12 months (Or really, 330 days) then you apply for FEIE and won't have to pay federal income tax as a US citizen.
- BrentOzar 6y ago
  > you apply for FEIE and won't have to pay federal income tax as a US citizen. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion only applies to the first $107,600 you earn in 2020. You still have to pay taxes on the rest.
  - cpursley 6y ago
    And you're still liable for social security.
    - seanmcdirmid 6y ago
      No, you only pay SS if you are resident.
      - cpursley 6y ago
        For most situations, you're liable: https://brighttax.com/blog/do-us-expats-pay-medicare-tax/ https://brighttax.com/blog/do-us-expats-pay-medicare-tax/ https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/social-security-tax-consequences-of-working-abroad https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/soci...
        seanmcdirmid 6y ago
        No, not even close: most expats do not pay social security taxes abroad. If you work for the USA embassy, you pay SS tax, but if you work for Microsoft China, you do not (you do, however, pay Chinese SS of course). In particular, see https://www.hrblock.com/expat-tax-preparation/resource-center/income/foreign/social-security-self-employment-taxes-expats/ https://www.hrblock.com/expat-tax-preparation/resource-cente... > If you are working for a foreign employer who has no requirement to withhold U.S. social security, you have no obligation to remit U.S. social security taxes on your earnings and in fact, are prohibited from making such voluntary contributions to the U.S. Social Security System. Almost every US company has it setup that you are going to be working for a foreign employer, not a US one.

darrenoc 6y ago

If you're not a US citizen, you won't have to pay income at all due to tax residency rules. only the US is brazen enough to charge non-resident citizens income tax

PopeDotNinja 6y ago
>> only the US is brazen enough to charge non-resident citizens income tax Don't forget Hungary, Myanmar, and Eritrea, too! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_taxation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_taxation
- tom_mellior 6y ago
  "Hey, we're doing the same things as Hungary, Myanmar, and Eritrea" is not usually a good argument for anything. Anyway, the Hungary part surprised me since I'm a Hungarian citizen living abroad and have never been bothered about tax. The Wikipedia table says residents of countries with tax treaties are exempt, and that should be pretty much all of them? The PDF link from Wikipedia is broken, which is normal for how the Hungarian government operates.
  - noir_lord 6y ago
    Same for my partner who is Hungarian though in her case it was one EU country to another (well it was at the time, won't be soon, bloody brexit).
  - perl4ever 6y ago
    Since the US has an exemption for foreign income, this seems like making overmuch of a technicality. It reminds me of the histrionics over the US not being officially metric by people from the UK.
    - oh_sigh 6y ago
      Well that's rich, coming from people who can't even stick with one system and have a weird mix of imperial, metric, and various archaic units - which is IMHO worse than just being on imperial.
      - perl4ever 6y ago
        That description applies to both the US and UK, perhaps others, and it's hard to be unaware when you're connected to a global computer network. Just google "site:uk mpg". "Put simply, all MPG does is tell you approximately how far your vehicle will travel based upon a single UK gallon, which equates to approximately 4.55 litres of fuel" This particular thing, I'm aware of because there is perennial confusion over comparing mpg given that Imperial gallons are larger than American ones. If people just used L/100km.... Chauvinists go to ridiculous lengths to magnify small differences.
        oh_sigh 6y ago
        That's not the mixing I'm talking about. American gallons and imperial gallons being defined differently is rarely an issue since gallons are rarely exchanged between America and the UK (in a relative usage sense). If America happened to call their unit gabbons, this confusion wouldn't exist. My point is more about how in the UK you might give a measure in one system, but then increasing the measure you might convert into a different system entirely. e.g. If you ask an Englishman how far apart you should stand for social distancing, he might say 2 meters. But if you ask him how far it is from London to Brighton, he might say it is 50 miles.
        perl4ever 6y ago
        >gallons are rarely exchanged between America and the UK I didn't go looking for an example; it's one that I've run into a lot over the years, because people spontaneously ask why, over and over, American cars get much worse MPG than elsewhere. Not realizing the gallons are smaller.
paranoidrobot 6y ago
It's the residency rules that matter here. For an Australia, you pay income tax if you're a resident for taxation purposes. For an Australian Citizen to answer that they're not a resident for taxation purposes is complicated and depends in part on the type of Visa you have. Last I looked, for me, as an Australian citizen, to not have to pay tax would mean getting a permanent Visa in another country and being resident in that country. They specifically excluded time-limited visas, even if you can get them renewed automatically. It means travelling around the world, even for years at a time, I still need to account for my income and lodge tax returns in Australia. The one upside is getting credit for income taxes paid in another country. I believe a similar situation also applies to Canadian citizens, as a few former Canadian colleagues in Australia had to go through a whole process of getting their Australian taxation recognised in Canada.
- sk0g 6y ago
  Do you mean if you pay, say, 20% tax in Switzerland as an Australian, never setting foot in Australia for an income year. Then you lodge tax in Australia and the ATO says you only have tax credits for 20% of your income, meanwhile you'd be paying 32% of your income as tax - you would then have to pay ATO the 12% difference out of pocket? Do you have any links to information regarding Australian citizens being taxed abroad? I know for HECS, etc you're still meant to lodge and pay those amounts, but didn't realise it might be a fair bit worse than that!
  - paranoidrobot 6y ago
    It's complicated, but assuming that the ATO thought you were a resident for taxation purposes, then yes you still lodge a tax return in Australia, claim the tax paid in Switzerland as a credit (assuming it's recognised) and pay whatever gap there is. It's made more difficult because tax years don't align, so it needs to be worked out that way too. Oh, and because Switzerland probably put their tax records in Swiss-Fench/Swiss-German all your documents would need to be formally translated. I'd start by checking put the ATO site they had a bunch of tests for your residency there.
- EE84M3i 6y ago

skissane 6y ago

Their FAQ says you don’t pay Barbados income tax It doesn’t mention being only for US citizens, it appears in principle citizens of any country are eligible. (In practice, I imagine some countries’ citizens will find it easier to get approved than others, due to differences in national security risk, likelihood of submitting refugee claims, etc.) https://www.barbadoswelcomestamp.bb/faqs/ https://www.barbadoswelcomestamp.bb/faqs/

UglyToad 6y ago

As the other poster says you continue to pay income tax in your home country and you're also forbidden from working for any Barbados company since they don't want people taking local jobs. However this may have tax consequences in your home country. I'm from the UK and if you spend more than 180(?) days abroad in a tax year you become non-resident which has some implications. You'll need to consult an accountant I guess. I got my visa and I'm hopefully heading out towards the end of September, it should be fun.

graham_paul 6y ago
half a year is still good
- UglyToad 6y ago
  Luckily since the tax year ends in February (?) it should be possible to take almost the full year by having it split into 2 half years over the tax year ends without having to change any tax stuff, I don't think the non-resident implications are too bad. I'm just going to sort out the accountancy stuff when I'm out there, but even if it's expensive it's worth it for the experience.
  - tomatocracy 6y ago
    UK tax year for individuals is 6 April-5 April.
objclxt 6y ago
> I'm from the UK and if you spend more than 180(?) days abroad in a tax year you become non-resident which has some implications This isn’t quite accurate. There are other tests that come into play, including whether you own a house in the UK, and how long you spent outside the UK for the rest of the year (and the preceding years). Basically if you live in the UK, then spend 180 days (or even a whole year) outside the UK but then immediately return HMRC is not going to consider you a non-resident for that period. It is worth paying for tax advice before you leave because the rules are complicated and there are other factors aside from just not being in the country.

tjbiddle 6y ago

Other commenters have address your questions, but what I will add is that if you stayed the full 12 months (Or really, 330 days) then you apply for FEIE and won't have to pay federal income tax as a US citizen.

BrentOzar 6y ago
> you apply for FEIE and won't have to pay federal income tax as a US citizen. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion only applies to the first $107,600 you earn in 2020. You still have to pay taxes on the rest.
- cpursley 6y ago
  And you're still liable for social security.
  - seanmcdirmid 6y ago
    No, you only pay SS if you are resident.
    - cpursley 6y ago
      For most situations, you're liable: https://brighttax.com/blog/do-us-expats-pay-medicare-tax/ https://brighttax.com/blog/do-us-expats-pay-medicare-tax/ https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/social-security-tax-consequences-of-working-abroad https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/soci...
      - seanmcdirmid 6y ago
        No, not even close: most expats do not pay social security taxes abroad. If you work for the USA embassy, you pay SS tax, but if you work for Microsoft China, you do not (you do, however, pay Chinese SS of course). In particular, see https://www.hrblock.com/expat-tax-preparation/resource-center/income/foreign/social-security-self-employment-taxes-expats/ https://www.hrblock.com/expat-tax-preparation/resource-cente... > If you are working for a foreign employer who has no requirement to withhold U.S. social security, you have no obligation to remit U.S. social security taxes on your earnings and in fact, are prohibited from making such voluntary contributions to the U.S. Social Security System. Almost every US company has it setup that you are going to be working for a foreign employer, not a US one.