Thanks for the details. I messaged you directly, as I'm open to chat about your situation.

Finally have the Estonian OU setup - rejected by wise business banking. Curious what banks others had success with using an OU

What was the reason for Wise Business rejecting your application?

They don’t provide a reason

estonia nowadays really only makes sense for select business setups

most nomads are better off with a us llc or even a cyprus lp

My guess is you personal residency address was not supported by Wise.
Other wise alternatives would be Revolut businss, Payonee, Worldfirst, Paysera. depending on your needs one would be more suitable then the other.

If I set up a company in Wyoming, will I be able to get a Mercury bank account?

likely, but depends on your country/residency

I hold an Italian passport. But official resident in Dubai

final approval is always on Mercury. they can accept you or not

but yes US llc with residency in dubai is a good basis to apply, very likely you get it

Or would you recommend Delaware LLC? I guess it doesn't matter for Mercury or other fintechs

Better Wyoming for data security, Delaware is good if you’re going to get diluted. But for a solo member LLC Wyoming 100%

Delaware is unnecessarily expensive for a nomad. as solo member youd pay 400 usd extra in franchise tax for no reason

Right. I think with Wyoming I can also get physical bank account if I come to the USA?

I recently got my single member llc in Wyoming

You should have subbed Ronaldo.

yes but this is for an llc anywhere in the us really

tho you will need an itin first and us proof of address

can help

Me too anything you need let me know.

99% mercury will open the account for you if
• you have proof of address (utility bill) in either UAE or Italy.
• have the EIN for your LLC
for traditional banking you need a) proof of address in USA b) SSN number.

Will I get Proof of address in USA and SSN number from the registered agent?

Nope

If you’re after a proper US bank account. The LLC lets you get an EIN, but you have to apply for it. Proof of address can be a PDF that you get from Wise or another service. Just needs to show the US address and your name.

For lots of things you can just write 1111 if you don’t have an SSN.

If you need a US phone number then lots of people have recommended Tello which you can get really cheaply $6 or $8 per month, activate the eSIM whilst overseas (!) and receive SMS on it. Banks would reject voip, Skype etc, but not Tello.

Source: I have some experience in dealing with all this stuff, as a non-US person who earns USD on the internet, and my remote US phone as a service project.

you can't activate Tello from abroad anymore, only in the US

Interesting, you might be right. Mine worked but it was a couple years ago.

I tried recently

now I am using popcorn, it's more expensive but also gives unlimited internet/sms

not true my friend

“if you know you know” helps a lot, thanks for contributing to conversation!

not trying to be a dick here

but tello archived the posts, have to look for them on internet archive

glad to help but everytime i mention for people to message me the nomad bot bans me temporarily

What is the internet speed of this wireless?

Popcorn speed is pretty good

I haven’t got accepted yet 🫠

Hi all, I see talk of having a company. I understood that when I become a tax resident in Spain I can't keep my US sole proprietor LLC. Are there other companies I could have and use to work for US clients?

theres stuff one discusses in a group with 7000 people and stuff that are better discussed in private

tello archived the posts but they can be found on internet archive. they dont want it to be seen and my other messages get deleted when i insinuate ppl should write me

Great answer, thanks.

🫡

italian here,

yeah Wyoming 100% as your name doesn't appear in any report + it's cheaper

Yup, i was able to open basically every fintech bank possible with this structure, mercury included.

you can also open physical banks if you know the right people / have a partnerhip manager. No SSN / ITIN needed (but it helps for sure)

Thank you! Can I send you a DM?

not needed for every bank, but many of the biggest banks will insist on it, particularly if you wish to access credit products

also the itin will be associated with your credit score so will be beneficial to have it

First, why would you want a Spanish tax residency? And second you can have the LLC and declare the money you make as an autónomo

while it can happen it is luck based. i also know people that got denied for no itin

from spanish tax perspetive your LLC income is your personal income, subject to personal income tax on general bases. detail better discuss with Spanish tax accountant.

it's not luck based, ask me if you need if you do it the right way you'll always got it

If we move there full time we will automatically become tax residents

yes

Not really no, specific bank for sure if it's the first account, then it mostly depends on your profile

yeah maybe, I don't know why people are not talking more about this, this is huge, no income tax, no capital gain tax, no crypto tax (except for local stuff)
This is the new Dubai? but cheaper cost of living, and closer to Europe

It’s good on taxes side but the rest isn’t that great imo (infrastructure, weather, quality of life (e.g. air quality) etc etc)
I like Istanbul for like 2 weeks trip though

to put it mildly - living in turkey is not for everyone ) they would not give 20year tax holiday if people were coming in in bulk already….

I have read some Reddit comments about issues with bureaucracy, banking, and lifestyle

with such new announcement, you always need to understand that it's a headline tax aka advertising material

with research, you can always find some nuances, hidden fees, operation costs etc

my favorite example was with Portugal "0% tax on foreign income" that fooled a lot of people (or they were fooled by agencies

Interesting perspective guys, thank you! What happened to the Portugal "0%"?

the main thing was in the definition of “foreign income”

most people assume they qualify if they work for a company that is based outside of Portugal

in reality, if you are located in Portugal and provide services (aka work) for company abroad it's considered Portuguese source income

Singapore has a similarly exciting headline.

What I would love to see is concrete examples of when it _does_ apply.

Portugal was

0% on PASSIVE foreign incomes that had the possibility of being taxed at country of origin

ACTIVE work income only tax free if already taxed, otherwise 20%
PASSIVE incomes from tax havens still taxes
CFC and POEM rules for offshore companies still apply so a foreign company without substance would also be taxed

feel free to DM me

You need to report foreign companies though (and people « omit it »)

with mercury specifically, since they are registered in US and not regulated by any EU based (or any 3rd countrly) regulator, they would not report anything. might not be the case with revolut/wise and other that are registered/regulated in several countries.

Would suggest you to be careful tbh, Mercury will cooperate, it’s not BoA or another tradfi bank

cooperate with whom? IRS - sure, definitely. tax body/cental bank from Uzbekistan or, say, Egypt - highly unlikely.

uzbekistan or egypt probably not

here is the thing - USA is not a part of crs process. so entities registered in and regulated by US law, have zero obligation to report anything of that sorts, unless, probably, if they are exposed to 3rd country regulations through their subsidiaries.

I am aware yeah, that’s what is stated in this document
Entities operating internationally are not exempt though (indeed through subsidiaries if they have some in EU)
Anyway do whatever you want, this doesn’t constitute a tax or legal advice

Curious who people are using for filing their taxes. I was using NomadTax for a while but they sold that off and looking for someone else

Are you a US citizen?

Yes

onlinetaxman.com, they are experts for US expats

Thanks, are the prices reasonable?

Did you try using claude? 😅

I think so. Pretty sure you can get a free consultation

Random question: I’m considering getting a second passport mainly for diversification, not for travel.

Given my nationality/lifestyle and how cheap they are, Panama (~5 years) and Paraguay (~3 years) seem like the most interesting options. The main thing for me is that I don’t want to significantly change my lifestyle or spend most of the year in one country. Ideally I’d maintain the residence properly, keep whatever local ties/assets are needed, visit a few times a year, and still be free to travel.

I’d consider citizenship-by-investment too if some cheap-as-fuck opportunity came up 😅, but I’m generally not interested in spending hundreds of thousands just for another passport as mine is already very strong (EU)

Has anyone here:
- actually obtained citizenship after ~3 years in Paraguay or ~5 years in Panama?
- done it while spending relatively little time there?
- found any other low-cost, low-physical-presence routes worth considering?

Also curious whether you think pursuing a second passport purely for long-term diversification is actually worthwhile.

have you considered an Argentine passport?

feel free to tell me more

do your research:)

>>>Also curious whether you think pursuing a second passport purely for long-term diversification is actually worthwhile.

I would say, if you can afford one (either by CBI or by changing your life in a way for few years to meet the criteria) - get one.

agree, two passports are much better than one, three even better

It really depends on your threat model.

If you’re a little bit dodgy and just want to avoid being drafted into a hypothetical war then having any two passports might help.

But if you’re a lot dodgy then maybe it’s hypothetical extradition over serious charges that you want to avoid and so you’ll need two unfriendly countries passports.

But if you just want a second one for fun and to say so, then I hear the brand new libertarian country Verdis will take some money off your hands for one ✨ Any nomads ever seen a Verdis passport?

haha, Verdis is only 80 usd

bad promt. should ask countries with most enemies and not under sanctions.

I have done lots of research on 2nd passport.

It all depends on your goal.

Trying to minimize costs it depends what it's worth to you.

Cambodia has a 2nd home path to citizenship.

Many Chinese "businessmen" do it.

hey Frank, may be late but the 200-300k figure isn't in the law anywhere. Worth flagging because it sounds like a rule and it isn't one.

Art. 8.1 of Ley 27/2014 says an entity is resident in Spain if its incorporated under Spanish law, or has its registered office here, or has its sede de dirección efectiva here. That third one is defined right in the article as where the management and control of the whole of its activities sits. Run it from Spain and that's Spain. https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2014-12328

Thats worse than paying personal tax on the profits. A Spanish-resident company files Impuesto sobre Sociedades on worldwide income, with Spanish accounts behind it. More money doesn't change the test. It changes whether real substance somewhere else is affordable

If you're American and end up going autónomo, the totalization agreement decides which country's social security you're in. SSAs own guidance says a self-employed US citizen resident in Spain is covered only under Spanish law, so no US self-employment tax, but you're in the autónomo system and that's a monthly cost people forget to budget. https://www.ssa.gov/international/Agreement_Pamphlets/spain.html

Beckham is worth asking a Spanish adviser about before you register for anything, since the election window is short. I don't know how it lands for someone self-employed with US clients, so don't take my read on it