Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

Post by tomp » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 2:43 PM UTC

StavrosK wrote: post #28

kfk wrote: post #22

Random facts from living 3 months there on why this could be a high potential country: * 10% income tax (second lowest in EU), 5% dividend tax * Very low costs of living (rent is 300-400 eur for a flat in Sofia) * Relatively easy to start companies * It's quite safe, at least safer than Naples from where I am from * Very good quality of food * Close to the seaside (about 3 hours from Greek coast also) * Nice summers…

I hope the new Greek government manages to compete with this, so the next post will advertise Greece in this way. Most of your list applies here as well, except we have amazing food and beaches.

Post by Mediterraneo10 » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 2:44 PM UTC

Zenst wrote: post #89

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And assuming the EU's freedom of movement holds eventually people and business will realize this and move there. Then they'll do what everyone else does shoot themselves in the foot by making everything expensive. Eventually the new growth will happen elsewhere and the cycle will repeat.

Interesting that you say that, lets look at Poland. They saw a decrease in skilled workers and young who moved around the EU for better opertunities. This saw many parts of Poland become ghost towns. This got to a head and the goverment in Poland got to the point that they introduced a new TAX system. One comparable to USA TAX for nationals in that it didn't matter what part of the World you lived in or earned your m…

Post by NTDF9 » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 2:48 PM UTC

Post by drpgq » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 2:48 PM UTC

tomp wrote: post #107

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And assuming the EU's freedom of movement holds eventually people and business will realize this and move there. Then they'll do what everyone else does shoot themselves in the foot by making everything expensive. Eventually the new growth will happen elsewhere and the cycle will repeat.

Does that actually work that way? AFAIK the US freedom of movement is mostly resulting in greater and greater concentration... the only non-urban areas that are getting more and more popular are general "nice" (i.e. geographically advantageous) areas, like Florida and ski resorts.

Post by hydraxis » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 2:50 PM UTC

joefourier wrote: post #105

cpursley wrote: post #25

A side effect of a stagnant economy and population shrinkage is that Bulgarian property is really cheap. You can purchase a modern flat starting around $15,000 (or rent for really cheap) in a ski community with a very strong remote worker presence (Bansko). If you do this right, you can also become a resident and benefit from a flat 10% income tax which is lowest in the EU. No affiliation; I just find this type of ar…

That 10% income tax is slightly misleading in that you'll also have to pay social security on your personal income, which is up to 26%. So it's not as if you can pay yourself 100k€ and get 90k€ in your pocket (and while a 10% corporate tax is attractive, it's not out of line with other EU countries like Ireland, Hungary, Estonia, Malta...).