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I believe digital nomadism is the trend of the future, and AI is making solo businesses increasingly complete and efficient.

• closewith 1y ago
  No, it's a transitionary step before Governments introduce more comprehensive taxation regimes. You already can't work even a single day in many developed countries with becoming liable to the local taxation regime and as desirable locations developer, they inevitably have to restrict access due to overcrowding and taxation (along with visa availability) is the key lever available. What AI is doing very effectively is allowing tax authorities to identify digital nomads illegally working in jurisdictions without registering for tax.
  • oytis 1y ago
    I think the purpose of digital nomad visa is exactly to get their taxes. As opposed to say Germany where it's close to impossible to work for a overseas company even as a citizen, not to say get a visa for that
    • closewith 1y ago
      No, that's not the case for the most part. For example, the Croatian digital nomad residence permit that this article is about provides an exemption to income tax for earned income while working for a foreign company and living in Croatia. This means that most digital nomads can work tax-free in Croatia. This contrasts with, for example, Ireland, where not only does a digital nomad's income become subject to local tax on day 1, so does their company (if they are the beneficial owner). Croatia's approach is excellent if you want many wealthy (compared to local standards) people to bring an influx of hard currency into your economy, at the cost of inflation. Eventually the benefits outweigh the costs and the government begins to subject digital nomads to local taxation and stricter visa rules.
      • oytis 1y ago
        What's the benefit to have rich people in your country if they don't pay taxes and don't create any meaningful amount of jobs?
        • closewith 1y ago
          The benefit is similar to remittances - you get a huge influx of hard currency as digital nomads freely spend their high salaries. That does create jobs and raises tax revenue through consumption taxes and downstream employment. It's very similar to tourism - digital nomads are effectively semi-permanent tourists. However, like tourism, it causes inflation, prices out locals, and can detract from more sustainable, natural economic growth (the so-called tourism curse). So like tourism, developed economies inevitably place limits on digital nomads. That can take the form of stricter visas, capped numbers, or by implementing tax reforms.
          • FirmwareBurner 1y ago
            Since digital nomads use the same public infrastructure and amenities as the people who live and work there, why shouldn't they also pay the same taxes?
            • closewith 1y ago
              I think it's up to each country. Some jurisdictions have done very well from allowing digital nomads. Personally, though, I think they should be subject to local taxes and I'm glad they are in my country.
              • FirmwareBurner 1y ago
                >Some jurisdictions have done very well from allowing digital nomads. Which? How did they "do well?
            • techcode 1y ago
              Nomads and even more permanent expats use less of the infrastructure and amenities. Not just for periods before and after they are living there - also during their stay. For example. If they (nomads) lose their (remote) job - they won't get social benefits payments like the "locals". They (nomads) also don't accrue retirement/pension which is usually part of income taxes. And of course they pay all the other "taxes". If they rent/buy anything - there's VAT. If they drive around in their car - they pay registration, insurance, road tax, highway tolls. Pretty sure they also need to purchase some sort of health insurance.
    • mschuster91 1y ago
      > As opposed to say Germany where it's close to impossible to work for a overseas company even as a citizen That's by design of our employment laws. We are the ones whose social security system will have to pay up when the employer closes down shop or fires their remote employees over night, and we are the ones whose health system has to take care when people burn out from being overworked, so we demand that employers create a local subsidiary with people and bank accounts we can hold accountable when laws are being violated. Oh, and we also want to make sure that people and companies pay their taxes.
      • pjmlp 1y ago
        As someone working mostly remote across DACH, it is possible, but naturally the official residence and taxes have to be here.
        • mschuster91 1y ago
          Well, that's what the problem is. When all you as an US startup want is to hire a single or maybe a dozen Europeans, you can either go and pay them in cash or as sole-proprietors and leave the employees to deal with the rest (as long as the US gov't gets its taxes, you're in the clear from the IRS point of view), you hire some intermediate body-shop, or you do it the proper way and pay a loooooot of money for a subsidiary.
          • StopDisinfo910 1y ago
            I think it makes a lot of sense personally. You can contract with companies wherever you want as a company but you can only have an employment contract with a company based where the employment laws of your country applies.
            • oytis 1y ago
              It does make sense, but it also is pretty hard to work as a contractor being located in Germany. The main issue is that contractors don't by default pay pension contributions, so the pension fund hunts down those it considers "fake contractors" under a complicated and ambiguous set of rules.
• tmountain 1y ago
  Politics are making it more complicated. Many countries are taking a less friendly stance on foreigners occupying valuable real estate and pushing prices higher without assimilating the culture. Like anything, the real answer is, “it depends”.
  • exasperaited 1y ago
    And so they should. It looks like a fun trend until you realise how little digital nomads give back and how much they take.
    • FirmwareBurner 1y ago
      It doesn't matter what they contribute to the government and local communities, the digital nomad visa wasn't built with that in mind. Digital nomads make landlords and property owners richer so there's a high chance the system will be allowed indefinitely since a lot of Croatians are property owners so they directly or indirectly benefit from this gentrification. The system will only be challenged in politics once enough young Croatian voters find themselves priced out of their own cities like in Barcelona or Lisbon.
      • willvarfar 1y ago
        The local economy also gains from the small but continuous spend on restaurants and cafes etc, and the spend is encouraged to be year-round and not just in peak holiday season.
        • FirmwareBurner 1y ago
          >The local economy also gains from the small but continuous spend on restaurants and cafes etc Speaking as someone living in Austria ATM, that's the worst kind of industry you want to boost if you want more money in the community, as it only creates dead-end low wage unskilled jobs(often taken by seasonal immigrants who send that money home) and is rife with cash-driven tax evasion, leading to more wealth and income disparity. If you get more and richer tourists, you won't get better paid baristas or waiters with better pension plans, but wealthier business owners who will buy more properties and flashy cars while still hiring the cheapest most desperate labor possible from abroad. As a government, you should do the opposite, focus on attracting or creating highly skilled innovation jobs (like NL or Sweden did) and the hospitality jobs will follow naturally. There's a reason countries where the tourism industry is a big part of the GDP, are low income countries.
• oytis 1y ago
  It's been around for a while, with its advantages and drawbacks. What's going to happen in the future to make it more attractive? The current trend is on deglobalization
• exasperaited 1y ago
  It’s actually a terrible toxic idea that guarantees that anywhere beloved, prized, peaceful or beautiful becomes unaffordable as international jet setting tech people nurse a single cappuccino with their laptops in family-run cafés all around the world while driving up the price of property. The only way a country should approach digital nomads is to charge them massive flat fees and change the law to allow local planners to zone them out of most accommodation.
  • KronisLV 1y ago
    > while driving up the price of property. So punish the people wanting to travel instead of the greed that leads to this?
    • exasperaited 1y ago
      Punish? No. Compensate for their unfunded externalities.
  • littlecranky67 1y ago
    I am living in a Digital Nomad hotspot, and you are painting a dystopian picture that is not reality. Most DNs I know work either from Home or Coworking Spaces, which have sprawled up everywhere. You pay around 150-250€/month for your own desk. There are also now "coworking cafés", that usually target DNs and Coworkers by charging a flat fee (i.e. 5€ a day) a give either a free coffee included, or 10%-20% rebate on drinks/food. These cafés are specifically setup for Laptops (i.e. single table layouts). Other cafés that had those "nursing people" simply put up signs disallowing laptops - which is at every café owners discretion to do so. In my experience, the local starbucks is crowded with tourists and their laptops (or tablets with keyboards), but these folks are not DNs, they are just waiting for their plane or airbnb to get ready. Regarding property price and high rent, this discussion is pretty stupid. Every country wants richer-than-average people to come and pay taxes and/or spend their money. I often hear the bogus argument that DNs don't pay taxes which is bullshit, because even DNs pay taxes indirectly, as every amout they spend is someone elses taxable income (this includes rent). If they don't come, those incomes won't exist and no taxes be paid. Most places in Europe bring in millions of poor immigrants, while some countries (most prominently spain) the people complain about rich immigrants...
• pjmlp 1y ago
  Good luck finding companies that after covid don't require at least a couple of days per month on site, other than startups eager for personal.
  • fhd2 1y ago
    Even I, who doesn't require anyone to be in any sort of office (we don't even have one) only hire people from the same country my company is registered in. I've hired full time employees from other countries before, but it's quite the hassle bureaucracy wise. So yeah, I'm sure it's possible to find remote work from Croatia, especially in Europe cause it's a bit less hassle to employ someone across borders between EU countries. But I do think the chances of finding even a remote job are higher if you're based in a country with plentiful employers.
    • pjmlp 1y ago
      I work mostly remote, but do have those days that I am required to be on the office per month, and when working from another EU country is allowed, usually requires approval and is regulated how many days per month as well.
  • fy20 1y ago
    There are plenty of them out there, but they will expect to hire you are a freelancer/contractor, not an employee. Hiring an 'employee' across borders, even in the EU, is a lot of work, unless you use a third-party. The advantage is you (worker and company) usually pay less taxes, but there are a few disadvantages that put most people off - need to deal with taxes, may need to pay your own social insurance, banks may make it harder to get mortgages. The 'protections' of employment at the end of day means nothing in most EU countries. (Been working like this for well over a decade - never going back to a job with required office hours again)