Do you live in Costa Rica?

I was very close to moving there.....but I've decided that as long
I'm still conducting business it's better to first sit for a while on
the Bahamas. Costa Rica is paradise but it's not ideal if you still
need to work.

Bahamas has good internet facilities is 2 steps away from Miami
so just a better place to be when you're still working. End of
August we will make the move there. I've got all my stuff prepared
for it and busy finding a nice place on the main island New
Provedence.

Once I call it quits we'll probably settle down in Costa Rica.

DynaMite

Somebody told me a bottle of Pepsi in the Bahamas is like $6...

thats a almost a true statement.. i found some for $2.50

i'm sure it can be found cheaper in the non-tourists areas though

how hard was it to get the immigration paper ready so you can be a resident and take advantage of their 'benefits' ?

Portland is a lot like Costa Rica

fuck costa rica and anyone who lives there.

There are a couple of ways that make it really easy.

1: Buy property with a min value of $250K
2: Start a company which will give you a permit to live and work
on the bahamas as long as the business runs. Once you quit your
permit expires and you would have to leave again.

with 1: you get inmediate perminent residence.

DynaMite

Everything imported is expensive....but then again there are no
sales taxes or income taxes on the bahamas. For shopping you
just hop to miami with the boat it's only 50 miles especially for
big stuff like electronics, furniture, etc, etc.

DynaMite

I was thinking Argentina must be a dirt cheap country with the devaluation of their currency because of the economic crisis. Never been but its a 1st world country that must have 3rd world prices now and a reasonable alternative to Costa Rica in many respects.

"2: Start a company which will give you a permit to live and work
on the bahamas as long as the business runs. Once you quit your
permit expires and you would have to leave again. "

this one sounds better, you can have an idle business in most countries. Also since you'll stay there and work better benefit from the law taxes there

i know too many people in the PDX to believe this.

hahaha

That sound exactly like the Visa the United States gave me when I opened up a couple of Dunkin Donuts shops in upstate NY. Its called an E-2 Investor Visa. It doesn't have any strict minimum investment dollar amount spelled out, but states it has to be of a "substantial nature" which leaves huge discretion to the individual issuing officer whether you pass his sniff test or not.

Option 2: is also a dirtcheap one. For $1.5K you setup a BVI
But to own properties on the Bahamas isn't a bad investment
anyway.

DynaMite

i read there are a lot of kidnappings going there. not just of rich boys. they kidnap people for $50! its an epedemy there so i read.

Argentina is a very nice country but I have a few good Argentinian
friends that live here in Spain and trust me you do NOT want to
be in Argentina right now, but it is a place to keep an eye on.
As soon as it settles a bit down it's a perfect oportunity to buy
property DIRT CHEAP!

DynaMite

Yeah they have great schemes 2 guys with cellphones, they get
you in a parking garage, 1 waits with 1 hostage, other goes with
the second person to do shopping or to ATM machine, if that one
does not cooperate the guy in parking shoots the hostage.

DynaMite

Cool I can try that here in town... I bet it works great on sorority girls...

Annual or Permanent Residence

An Investment Promotion Program allowes wealthy foreigners to obtain permanent residence in one of three categories. Investment requirements start at USD 150,000. Special consideration of applications for annual or permanent residence is given to major investors, and to qualified owners of residential property valued in excess of USD 500,000.

i think if you do start a company you have to employee a certain amount of locals out there.

I was going to move to Costa Rica 2 years ago, but when I was there I found out that if you want to live on the beach you would have to dial long distance to San Jose for internet access. Is it still like that?

too many brown people

Nopes it works like this:

If you start a BVI you are NOT allowed to conduct business on the
bahamas.....so you can't sell your services to bahama companies
or individuals.

You can NOT start offshore activities for others....i.e. setup shell
companies for others or do financial services like banking stuff, etc.

If you hire people you should look for bahamians first and if you
want foreigners you have to proof there are no bahamians that
can do the job within any reason. This does not apply for officers
and high management functions. You can get a 3 foreigners for
such staff functions without any problems. Of course the VISA's
are valid for them and their family members.

Once an employee leaves his VISA expires 2 weeks after he left
the company.

DynaMite

Costa Rica has some sick surf !!!!!

Maybe true but the rum that goes with the pepsi is only $1.00!!

I'm heading to Costa Rica this Friday for vacation and if I enjoy myself there I will be moving there in September. Woo hooooooo!

I have been to the Bahamas and fled the country after 6 month out of sheer boredom.

I had all my papers filed and all I had to wait for the Immigration council to meet but I decided to turn back to better grounds.

It all sounds great: carribbean, nice internet connection(cable modem) and tax free but it has a lot of hidden disadvantages.

1. It is really expensive to live there. A case of beer is 40 to 50 bucks for example.
2. If you move there all your stuff you bring in is taxed by customs. I brought in my used BMW and furniture and it cost me about 10K .
3. You have to pay deposits on every utility and some of those companies. I still receive invoices of one of my phone lines even though they still have my security deposit and the line is canceled for over 2 years now. I had 2 lines and they did the same thing to the first. They gave the bill (100$) to a collection agency and they finally got the message of taking the money out of the security deposit. Therefore the company was forced to send me a check of 300 dollars which was the rest of the security deposit for that one line. Now they do the same for the second line and they owe me another 300 ;)
4. Get ready to feel some racism. As a white you are the minority and you are only tolerated for the money you have. Very hard to make any friends there because most whites are either tourists or belong to the very very rich.
5. Don't expect somebody to repair stuff right away. I lived in a 2800 square feet apartment. The rent was 3500 bucks a month plus about 1000 buck in utilities but don't think you get working AC. The people come to fix it, look at it, tell you they need a part and they will come back the next day. Well they never show up and you call again. They come again but of course without the part and guess when they want to come back? They never managed to fix it in 6 month.
Another example: You got cable TV. all of a sudden it stops working. Well tech guy comes in and it works again. Next day it stopped working again. Tech guy comes in and it works. Next day it is off again. Guess what the tech guys did? They turned my neighbor off to turn me on and vice versa. Fucking amazing.
6. Prepare for monster cockroaches even in a very clean high rent apartement. They simply are there.
7. Don't even try to get a decent doctor or dentist.
8. Don't expect your security deposit back if you move. They simply said well sue me. You are outside the country and no Bahamian citizen so you are out of luck.

The list goes on but anyone has to get their own experiences but for me it was more expensive to move there then having payed the taxes.

I have been to Costa Rica this January and I think it is the most beautiful country in the world. I drove thru the country with a rental for a week and it was really amazing.

Monteverde definately was a great experience. You just get a new view on what the term 'Road' means ;)

Nice, so for 250k you get a 350 sqft apartment on the Bahamas, right?

No it's not that bad actually and who cares as long as the value
remains who gives a fuck about what the prices are? Unless you
can't afford it. $250K is your ticket to perminent residence. That's
not really high to get into tax paradise.

DynaMite

My father-in-law lives in Quepos, Costa Rica. He owns a bar and restaurant there called Dos Locos. He has an apartment right on the beach that he pays about $150/month US dollars. Nice to visit but I wouldn't live there.

He had a heart attack and even though he has great health insurance no one there could help him. They had to fly him to Florida for care. The flight was $10,000 cash upfront before they would take off. Then Cuba wouldn't let them fly over there air space so it cost an additional $4,000 to fly around. They were nice enough to let him pay for that after they landed.

I would say veist first and then decide if you want to live there.

Hey Dynaspain have you ever been to or looked at Grand bahama island ? I like it a lot better than Nassau..

I pay $1000 a year plus $25 each a year for my wife and child for yearly residence in the Bahamas.. It dosent allow you to "work" but it permits you to come and go as you please.. As long as you work from non commercial premises you are fine with a net business.

I have good connections on Grand Bahama island , and other on other islands if anyone is interested in knowing more..

MJH

i would go for sure...150 us? that rocks what about high speed?
i need high speed, i am not to concerned about my health yet, but i will get some extra insurance for sure

hmmm so then what's a better low tax nation?

I've looked to other islands but I've decided to go to New
Providence. I have almost everything in order already so far I
don't have any obstackles. I've lived in many different places in
the world already and adapt really easy. I'm in contact with a
webmaster who is a native Bahamian and he offered to help me
out with a lot of stuff......so I'm very thankful and lucky with that.

I'll be going within 2 months on a trip to take care of the last stuff
before I finally move down in August. I'm fucking excited and can
hardly wait......Let me know when you're there we can hook up
for some drinks

DynaMite

I've managed to live happily in Venezuala without any problems.
So I'm not too worried about adapting and I currently live in
Spain the way things work (or for some people don't work) is
something I am used to it requires some patience and some
tactics to deal with that but I know it's not impossible.

The geographic location of the Bahamas is just perfect......if you
get bored you can always go to Florida, Cuba, Domenican Republic, etc, etc. I'm quite positive that I will have no hard time
to get used and to adapt to life there.

DynaMite

And in case can't fit in somehow....then at least I've tried and
move on to the next location lol

DynaMite

I am not sure. You have to compare living costs, medical costs etc. with the tax savings. The more you earn the better you do on the Bahamas. I was earning about 250k the year I was there and I nearly spand as much to stay and move there than what I would have paid in taxes. So I would prefer to live in a country that offers me everything I am looking for unless I am earning a shitload of money more.

It's also a matter of greed. Paying a lot of taxes normally means you have also earned a shitload of money. If thats enough for you you fine. If you want maximum profit and take less confort to archive this than the islands are the best choice.

There are also other options to save taxes. Just incorporate the business there. You will only pay taxes for the salery you give yourself and not for the company profit. You can park the company profit offshore and leave it there until you want to get into retirement and then move.

You´re wrong man, it´s not a 1st world country, it´s more like 50% 1st/50% 3rd, and things are kind of calm now as far as security goes, but you really need to choose the right place to settle. Adsl is cheap, food is cheap, rent is cheap, but we do have taxes, so you have to find a way around it if you want to live here, imported stuff is more expensive, nice cars are a lot more expensive than the US, almost 100% more, so you really have to think what you want to do before making a decision, I guess it´s up to what you´ll be doing and how much $ you have

So given your experience with the Bahamas and (i take it) the German tax system, where do you live now?

Yeah for another $25 you get maid service too. He has monkeys that come in and out of his apartment. If you go to Quepos let me know and I will hook you up with the people at Dos Amigos.

Argentina is the place I was thinking of going. I haven't heard anything about the security issues, so I think that info is a bit exagerrated. As in any place that you are unfamiliar with you need to make yourself aware of the surroundings and areas you go into. There are many places that are very safe within Buenos Aires and of course if you go look around much you are bound to end up some place not so safe in a poor area and you will get yourself into trouble. Hell you can get yourself into trouble in any major city in this country if you don't know where you're going. I still am relatively sure that I will go to Buenos Aires in about a year though and set up shop, I know some people there and know agencies that do ex patriation.