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Ask HN: Is it worth to move to another country for 1mil$?

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Re: Ask HN: Is it worth to move to another country for 1mil$?

#11

Post by [deleted] »

chefkoch wrote: post #9
giantg2 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's not saying that he wants to get the services without paying. He's saying he wants to move to another country to keep more of his money. If you can pay 10% for the same services (or the level of services that you want) in one country, but it would cost your 45% in your current country, then why not switch? There's nothing wrong with that. You're still paying your share under the social contract.

He already got the services all his life. Or do you think he could have started his company without education, infrastructure and security?

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth to move to another country for 1mil$?

#12

Post by Denniz »

orange_tee wrote: post #5

If you are settled with friends and family it is not worth it to upend your whole life to move. You will never have that back. I speak from experience. IMHO if you have a nascent business, focus on growing and ignore all else. It's not worth it to worry about taxes today. I would only move if this helps the business grow.

Actually it would help to grow the business. Especially there is regulatory uncertainty regarding what I'm doing in my country. Saw already few companies in a similar area liquidated themselves and moved away. Maybe they just wanted to save taxes, but I highly doubt it.

I'm not in this area. But here is some example what could theoretically happen: You're starting a twitter clone and the Government says you are responsible for every post on your platform. You get sued and you are done. Right now this wouldn't kill me since I could always move on. But it could cost a lot and possible give a huge setback.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth to move to another country for 1mil$?

#15

Post by pomatic »

I have the tee-shirt.

1. If you haven't done so already, you need to immerse yourself for 3 months+ in the target country in order to understand the lifestyle, the people, the culture, the weather...

2. You have a successful side project. If there is room for growth, you just need to wait a bit longer to achieve the magical 1m.

3. Depending on your personality, you may become a bit of a liability to your current employers. Having an independent income changes your perspective from a decision making perspective because ultimately the success of the company is no longer tied to putting bread on the table.

4. Life is short. Money comes and goes. Work out what would make you happy (not necessarily an easy thing to dow), and then work towards that goal. You are lucky, you have an amazing opportunity, don't squander it!

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth to move to another country for 1mil$?

#16

Post by Denniz »

david927 wrote: post #2

First, taxes paid isn't wasted money. It's (theoretically) going to those who need it. Tax havens, along with other tax avoidance schemes, are pretty popular with the rich, which means governments are on the lookout for them. It's not as easy as you think. For example, if you're American, leaving for a year doesn't do a whole lot. Second, countries are locked down now but even after this pandemic is over, your limit…

I once made that decision, to move away to another city for 4 years. So can definitely agree that it is one of the best experiences to move away, at least once. On the other hand not sure if I would be ready to settle down for example in Zurich.

Also, governments lookout for you. So basically if you start a business in my country and are then not satisfied, it becomes much more difficult to move away. You will have to pay a tax on the liquidation value of your company. Actually I never dealt with this stuff and was surprised about all the laws around this topic.

"don't do anything just for money if you can help it -- and you usually can." Can't agree more. Been always my mindset as well. It changed a bit to be honest as I'm thinking about paying multiple millions in taxes that can be avoided just by moving to another city. Especially since the Government actually wasn't able to provide a good and fair regulatory framework. So there is a non-zero risk that they could kill the company.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth to move to another country for 1mil$?

#17

Post by giantg2 »

chefkoch wrote: post #9
giantg2 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's not saying that he wants to get the services without paying. He's saying he wants to move to another country to keep more of his money. If you can pay 10% for the same services (or the level of services that you want) in one country, but it would cost your 45% in your current country, then why not switch? There's nothing wrong with that. You're still paying your share under the social contract.

He already got the services all his life. Or do you think he could have started his company without education, infrastructure and security?

You're assuming his education was publically funded - it might not have been. Can you say that he required the infrastructure or security to be successful?

So you're saying that immigration/emigration should be illegal? I believe people should be able to move if they want to if they follow the process. It's important that people can live under a government that they support and believe to be the best one for them.

It sounds like he has been paying his taxes all these years. So he has been contributing his fair share. Don't forget, him leaving means one fewer person for the government to provide services for. Knowing that healthcare costs increase as one gets older, this could be a large amount if healthcare is something his taxes cover.

Honestly, the logic that he owes society money for the past services is pretty convoluted. The government isn't keeping a tab of what people owe if they ever make more money. When then, would someone have paid their dues to society to earn the freedom to move? The people currently making money are paying current taxes. Are the kids in school paying taxes? No, it's the property owners, some of whom might not even have kids.

Tax schemes are designed to collect the amount that society needs as an aggregate. They try to be logical or socially acceptable in how they are collected. Society has not implemented a tax scheme saying you owe more for previous services because your income went up. They could, but they haven't.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth to move to another country for 1mil$?

#18

Post by claudiulodro »

You're clearly making a nice chunk of change already if tax-avoidance alone will net you $1mm extra. This plan seems very "Panama Papers"-y and unnecessarily greedy to me.

I can understand if your government is highly corrupt or something, but it seems distasteful to me to take advantage of the strong safety net, schools, etc. that are funded by a high tax rate, then once you've become successful to try and dodge your responsibility to give back to that same society.

Just my 2 cents -- you do you.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth to move to another country for 1mil$?

#19

Post by Denniz »

chefkoch wrote: post #9
giantg2 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's not saying that he wants to get the services without paying. He's saying he wants to move to another country to keep more of his money. If you can pay 10% for the same services (or the level of services that you want) in one country, but it would cost your 45% in your current country, then why not switch? There's nothing wrong with that. You're still paying your share under the social contract.

He already got the services all his life. Or do you think he could have started his company without education, infrastructure and security?

That is a point of course. I'm thankful for the education I got here. No question.

On the other hand I already payed a lot of taxes. And my father retired few years ago and is treated really bad after he worked more then 20 years. Actually he is treated like he never worked at all. So that is what I mean regarding tax policy.

In my opinion you can't say someone isn't paying his fair share if he pay lets say 400k on a 10% rate. He is still contributing much more then the average and I think he should not be treated like a "criminal".

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth to move to another country for 1mil$?

#20

Post by scsilver »

What's a year in a new place. Unless it gets in the way of other plans, I've never been the one to shy away from a new view expanding experience.

You know you can make new friends as well as keeping old relationships alive. You could invite friends to visit or live with you for a bit.

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