Did you pay enough taxes for a lifetime?
My guess is that you’re inclined to say you paid enough taxes for two lifetimes. That may be true if you are thinking about having a child in the future and aren’t particularly worried about where. It may be a challenge for the lady to have all of her health records in order and trust a new health professional that easily with something as serious as giving birth.
But if this is a possibility, or perhaps you’re already distrusting of the service you receive in your home country, you’re able to give your son or daughter a head start from the get-go by granting them a citizenship of a foreign country simply by giving birth in that country.
There are 31 countries on record where this applies, but I’ve chosen 8 that can give your newborn citizenship with extended travel rights, access to certain privileges and cutting their tax bill down very low. The thought sounds silly now, but just as you may be interested in purchasing a piece of property with the idea it will appreciate in 10-15-20 years, so will this be a form of investment that will pay dividends in 30-40-50 years. You are providing your child with a commodity that others may not necessarily have– freedom.
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- Panama.
Panama is a Central American economy renowned for its famous canal, banking and business sector as well as it’s great tax benefits drawing an expat community down there. Panama has seen a number of economic problems and I question it’s long-term stability but speaking from experience they are very pro-business, easy to deal with and tax friendly for someone who has income earned from abroad.
If you had an incoming producing asset inside a trust and named your son/daughter as the beneficiary to receive this income and they were a resident in Panama they wouldn’t pay tax on your hard work that you’re handing down to them. Panama’s passport ranks 35th in the world, an excellent document to possess and they are known for their medical tourism–chances are you won’t find it difficult to find a hospital to give birth! - Fiji.
Fiji offers citizenship to anyone born on their islands regardless of the nationalities of their parents. Fiji is an interesting place, synonymous with paradise, big beaches, blue waters and one of the most developed islands in the Oceanic region between Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia. Fiji is a commonwealth country, which holds visa free access to Russia, China, most of Latin America and some interesting regions in East/South Africa. Fiji also has no tax on received dividends to Fijian companies and no withholding tax on dividends, royalties or interest payments so quite interesting if your companies, investors or yourself are abroad. Fiji could give access to whole different side of the world that your existing passport doesn’t–important in a bifurcating world. Go for a honeymoon–stay for children. - United States.
I spend a lot of time in Mexico and regardless whether the citizen drives a Mercedes or drives a pedal bike, they all know too well that it’s possible to gain US citizenship by giving birth there. I have heard at least a dozen cases of “someone in the states” all of whom are illegal. [In fact, you’re going to want to hear from someone who explains his recent travels to the USA but mostly stays within a commune of illegal migrants here, coming soon]
But not to pick on Mexicans, the world is well familiar with this benefit in the USA. The trick of course is gaining entry initially.
(I’m skeptical to write this one. United States are still the wealthiest nation by GDP, have the world’s reserve currency, nirvana for consumption, there’s lots of benefits… but they are politically charged, have some negative trends with respect to cost of living, disease, education, drug use and homelessness. US citizens are one of 3 countries in the world that tax their citizens based on citizenship rather than residency. Investing offshore is a pile of bureaucracy and the IRS & SEC is very strict in their regulations. Plus in the unlikely event that your mode of transportation gets hijacked by terrorists, the USA passports are killed first… Plan accordingly). - Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is a territorial tax country meaning you are only taxed on your Costa Rican sourced income and exempt from tax on foreign income. This may be changing (check out what I mean…) but you’re looking at a historically neutral country, one that has no standing army, a country that is not relevant in geopolitically events (so they tend to keep things easy going, pura vida man).
There’s a large expat population so you’ll find English as well as the countries’ language of Spanish. Overall, it’s a pretty relaxed easy going time with friendly people in the rainforest. [Interestingly, you as parents, can obtain permanent residency here too so let the tax savings begin!]. - Saint Kitts and Nevis.
I’ve been critical of this two-island country being too heavily reliant on their CBI program and they have shown they can easily be bossed around by their superiors. However for the time being they have some of the greatest LLC/IBC and Trust laws as well as their relatively unknown Multiform Foundations. Citizens there do not pay any income tax at all, there is no capital gains tax, wealth tax, gift tax, inheritance tax or no withholding tax for residents. This could be an excellent tool your child could use to legally reduce their taxes. Plus, who doesn’t like hanging out in the Caribbean? - Portugal.
Known to be the idealistic place for Americans. Lot’s of culture, great architecture, great weather. Portugal has had continual economic problems and they are known for their big government-high regulation-high tax approach on managing matters. But, it could be a great travel passport having access throughout the whole continent of Europe. It is a requirement however to have a residency and live in Portugal for two years before your son/daughter is eligible–so a hard one to plan. Plus, Portugal is a victim of mass immigration so the Portugal 2 years from now certainly won’t be the same country in 10 years from now. - Uruguay.
Uruguay is a quiet, small South American agricultural country. It was one of the first welfare states to come about and still received the name “Switzerland of South America”. It doesn’t get much news, but perhaps thats a good thing given the news that make headlines now a day. It has some amazing tax benefits, crime is low, it’s travel benefits are strong, it’s energy secure and the people are certainly not going to starve given their abundance of food. I’ve even seen weather patterns showing in the event of a nuclear war, the jet streams do not take the radiation levels over Uruguay; perhaps if you’re a serious prepper this is something to consider as well. In addition to granting your child citizenship upon birth, there are many pathways for you as parents to receive fiscal residency and citizenship. The main focus is you have to show you truly reside there & set up shop. - CA-4.
The CA-4 zone is comprised of Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. All of these grant citizenship to those who are born on their soil regardless of the parents’ nationality. Nicaragua and Guatemala are territorial tax regimes (like Uruguay, Costa Rica and Panama), and with the exception of Nicaragua, the remaining 3 are not in the Common Reporting Standard (of bank accounts) to retain some financial privacy. These countries have access to Russia and some other Asian countries that could be interesting. El Salvador is undergoing drastic change, it’s hard to say how much longer communism will last in Nicaragua and Guatemala has had some libertarian voices appear recently. Generally, it’s a chaotic & poor region but given some circumstances this could be an interesting citizenship to give your child.
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