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Barbados introduces plan to allow visitors to work remotely there for a year

money.yahoo.com

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Re: Barbados introduces plan to allow visitors to work remotely there for a year

#11
post #4
post #2

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?

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 gu…

> 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.

Re: Barbados introduces plan to allow visitors to work remotely there for a year

#12
post #11
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 gu…

> 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 t…

"worth paying for tax advice"

I knew someone who, through their employer, got tax advice from one of the big name accounting firms that turned out to be completely wrong - leaving them liable for tax both in the UK and in the country they had travelled to. It all got sorted out in the end but took a long time and was he was rather unhappy with the whole thing, as you can probably imagine.

Re: Barbados introduces plan to allow visitors to work remotely there for a year

#13
post #7
post #2

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?

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

>> 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

Re: Barbados introduces plan to allow visitors to work remotely there for a year

#14
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> 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.

And you're still liable for social security.

Re: Barbados introduces plan to allow visitors to work remotely there for a year

#15
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 t…

"worth paying for tax advice" I knew someone who, through their employer, got tax advice from one of the big name accounting firms that turned out to be completely wrong - leaving them liable for tax both in the UK and in the country they had travelled to. It all got sorted out in the end but took a long time and was he was rather unhappy with the whole thing, as you can probably imagine.

I had this situation where an employee insisted on tax advice from the company's lawyer. The law firm represents who is paying, same for liability. In the end we sponsored an expensive email basically saying as such.

Re: Barbados introduces plan to allow visitors to work remotely there for a year

#16
post #8

> Mottley addressed the concern: “In terms of broadband, we have two major telecommunications companies, and at the same time we are looking to see how we can continue to boost our national television station and move it from being a broadcasting entity to digital services.” Not... the most inspiring, but maybe the internet is good? That would be my biggest worry. It's an absolute must have.

I'd imagine the internet just has to be good enough to have video calls and transfer the occasional large file for 90% of people.

I think life on a Caribbean island would be enough reason to ditch our usual high bandwidth vices like gaming and streaming for just a year.

Re: Barbados introduces plan to allow visitors to work remotely there for a year

#17
post #11
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 gu…

> 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 t…

Ah OK thanks for the clarification. I will definitely consult an accountant once I'm moved and settled.

Re: Barbados introduces plan to allow visitors to work remotely there for a year

#18
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

>> 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

"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.

Re: Barbados introduces plan to allow visitors to work remotely there for a year

#19
post #16
post #8

> Mottley addressed the concern: “In terms of broadband, we have two major telecommunications companies, and at the same time we are looking to see how we can continue to boost our national television station and move it from being a broadcasting entity to digital services.” Not... the most inspiring, but maybe the internet is good? That would be my biggest worry. It's an absolute must have.

I'd imagine the internet just has to be good enough to have video calls and transfer the occasional large file for 90% of people. I think life on a Caribbean island would be enough reason to ditch our usual high bandwidth vices like gaming and streaming for just a year.

If the latency is good enough for video calls, it’s good enough for gaming.

If it’s broadband of any kind, it can be used for streaming. Even 3-5Mbps is workable for HD, with a bit of upfront buffering.

Re: Barbados introduces plan to allow visitors to work remotely there for a year

#20
post #16
post #8

> Mottley addressed the concern: “In terms of broadband, we have two major telecommunications companies, and at the same time we are looking to see how we can continue to boost our national television station and move it from being a broadcasting entity to digital services.” Not... the most inspiring, but maybe the internet is good? That would be my biggest worry. It's an absolute must have.

I'd imagine the internet just has to be good enough to have video calls and transfer the occasional large file for 90% of people. I think life on a Caribbean island would be enough reason to ditch our usual high bandwidth vices like gaming and streaming for just a year.

Some examples:

https://discoverflow.co/barbados/broadband/overview

https://discoverflow.co/barbados/mobile/plans/prepaid

https://www.digicelgroup.com/bb/en/mobile/plans/postpaid-pla...

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