Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country • Hacker News Board

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#141

Post by pdimitar » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 3:25 PM UTC

zarro wrote: post #87

The problem of the countries in eastern Europe is primarily political corruption, rooted from the old soviet system and slowing dying off. But, this is being resolved by: People moving to other countries resulting in a decrease in government tax revenue, giving less incentive to extort money through corruption and forces efficiency on government services (out of necessity), and in the end, it makes it a competitive m…

> But, this is being resolved by: People moving to other countries resulting in a decrease in government tax revenue, giving less incentive to extort money through corruption and forces efficiency on government services (out of necessity), and in the end, it makes it a competitive market again.

Not my observation. Several months ago the fixed social insurances quietly got higher by 2-3%. This tells me that the government is like "oh well, less people pay social insurance, so let's make it a little bit more expensive for the others to compensate!".

I am not seeing any tangible pressure on the people of power in Bulgaria, and that's very worrying.

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#142

Post by joyjoyjoy » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 3:28 PM UTC

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…

" (and am currently doing something similar on the Black Sea coast of a different non-eu country)."

Would you mind naming the country? Thx

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#143

Post by Viker » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 3:28 PM UTC

axegon_ wrote: post #74

Bulgarian here, there are a lot of aspects the article does not cover. First one is that up until 1989, Bulgaria was largely an agriculture state with the soviet union being the only market. A heavily controlled market at that. Some might argue that Bulgaria used to produce computers but it was mostly a small assembly line using Intel chips, so no, not really. Mind you the math education was on a good level, hence th…

Yehh... Let's just pretend that Bulgarian semiconductor industry never existed

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#144

Post by rad_gruchalski » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 3:28 PM UTC

Zenst wrote: post #136

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One comparable to USA TAX for nationals in that it didn't matter what part of the World you lived in or earned your money, you as a national would now pay tax. This is not the case.

https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2011/12/poland-income-... "An individual is defined as resident of Poland, if at least one below-mentioned condition is fulfilled: the individual has closer personal or economic relations with Poland (center of vital interests) or The individual stays on the territory of Poland longer than 183 days in a given fiscal year." So if you have somebody working abroad, paying tax abroad…

Not anymore. For about 10 years.

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#145

Post by StavrosK » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 3:30 PM UTC

feu wrote: post #132

StavrosK wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, possibly, I haven't visited extensively but the food in Bansko leaves something to be desired, I hear.

I haven't been to Bansko, but the food in Veliko Tarnovo and Ravda is great. The food in Sunny Beach was poor but I chalk that up to it being a resort area. I was lucky enough to enjoy a number of home-cooked meals as well, I really enjoyed every traditional dish I was served.

Ah, maybe it was because Bansko is a resort area as well. I don't know about home-cooked food, I wouldn't be surprised if that was excellent. I was mostly referring to restaurants.

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#146

Post by nradov » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 3:33 PM UTC

drpgq wrote: post #117

tomp wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Aren't Californians moving to Idaho and Oregon

The last few years there has been a significant increase in people moving from California to Texas. Texas now has the fastest state population growth rate.

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#147

Post by lotsofpulp » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 3:34 PM UTC

drpgq wrote: post #117

tomp wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Aren't Californians moving to Idaho and Oregon

.

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#148

Post by joyjoyjoy » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 3:35 PM UTC

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #50

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…

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.

You don't know much about Europeans. You don't know much about businesses either.

What sense would it make for a plumber business or restaurant to move there? None.

What sense would it make for a high tech business to move there? None. No VC, no subsidiaries, and most important, no other business that you need. A hardware start up need tons of expertise from highly skilled suppliers.

Yes, for digital nomads it might work. But so does Panama or wherever.

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#149

Post by psv1 » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 3:36 PM UTC

Iwan-Zotow wrote: post #94

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…

YOu forgot about another random fact - gypsies

And racists.

Re: Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

#150

Post by helpPeople » Wed, Oct 02, 2019, 3:37 PM UTC

alipang wrote: post #80

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…

I have a company in Bulgaria while working remotely for a high-salary EU country, and it's almost shocking to realise how much you spend on taxes in most European countries when you see the difference in your bank account. It's quite a good deal if you want to be a digital nomad since it's an EU country and you can get a really small apartment for almost nothing to use as your official address while travelling. (You'…

How bad is it? I pay more than 50 percent of my income in various taxes in the United States.

Before anyone asks, federal income, Medicare, Medicaid, social security, state income, state sales tax, local property tax, and lesser- luxury and gas tax.