Feedback on UK mail handling services

I have a slightly above average US income which I can work remotely from paired with a $1000 a month income stream and more than enough to purchase a middle end Flat in Ukraine. Does anyone with knowledge of this process have any advice to acquire a reliable way to stay in the country?

Hey Nomads, would love to know any thoughts here.

Top of the list are currently Tenerife, Lagos/Ericeira (Portugal) & Malta??

Would love to know if anyone can vouch for these at this time of year.

Beautiful beach would be the dream. Basically European Bali! I'm sure something many of us are searching for.

Thanks a million. Much love.

Leo

Hi all, my husband and I have been living in Bulgaria for the past month and were hoping to travel to Greece next. Have any UK nationals entered Greece lately? I believe that anyone entering Greece requires a negative COVID test 72 hours before travel - is this what they are requiring at the borders please? (Reason we ask is for Bulgaria we filled out forms but weren't asked for them) Thanks.

Hi all, my husband and I have been living in Bulgaria for the past month and were considering Turkey next! Have any UK nationals entered Turkey lately? I believe that anyone entering Turkey will undergo health screening and if they show symptoms they need to get medical treatement, did this happen for you? Reason we ask is for Bulgaria we filled out forms but weren't asked for them) Thanks.

Hi guys, wonder if you can help. I'm from the UK, and my husband and I are looking to go across Europe this coming year.

What's the best solution you've found re having all your post sent to you? I've found a site online that will set up a street address in the UK for you and scan in post to your email address, just wondering if you've found any other ways?

We've set up paperless statements, which has helped but with things like mortgages, official docs etc - how have you got around it?

Thanks so much!

Background:
I’m an EU national IT specialist, recently decided to become a digital nomad. I just left my permanent job in Germany and opened a UK based LTD (for a better taxation) to start a new career as remote working IT contractor. I also want to become a UK resident and pay personal income tax there BUT I don’t want to rent/buy a place because I have no interest in physically living in the UK, as a nomad I will be traveling abroad 100% of the time.

So I just need a UK address where I’m registered as a resident and could receive mail, but I would never actually be there. I could rent a place and keep it empty but that would be a total waste of money.

Question:
How do I find somebody who could give me an official residence at his/her address and keep my name on the door? I’m ok with paying a reasonable monthly fee for this “service” (but not as high as a rent), and give assurance in whatever form that I will never pretend to physically live there. I have no close friends in the UK to ask for this favor, and trying to propose this to a random landlord would be just weird since they are not familiar with the needs of a digital nomad.

Maybe you guys can suggest me somebody who understand the situation and want to make some extra cash every month to pay the bills? I’m ready to meet in person, provide full proof of identity or any other document, and to make a written agreement that gives the landlord the freedom to cancel this “situation” at any time.

Note:
This is NOT for tax evasion, it’s the opposite! I WANT to pay full tax as UK resident, I just don’t want to waste money on a rent which I will literally never use.

I would be very grateful for any advice!

Pavel

What’s the best place?
For residency I’m looking at Portugal and they have the NHR (non habitual resident) program which would exempt dividends from foreign income.
So all I’m really looking for is the best place to actually start the company.
Biggest factors are of course low taxes and ease of setting up the company plus a business bank account that enables me to receive payments through Stripe.

What I found so far:
Hong Kong
Corporate tax rate of 16.5% (8.25% for the first HK$2 million)
⊕/⊖ offshore income from outside HK is exempt from taxation but it’s not clear whether this can be done in the first year and prorated or if it’s only through filing the offshore exemption claim. This might take two years and requires not income from HK at all. More info on that would be great
⊖ seems very difficult to get a business bank account
⊖ necessary services and fees are roughly around €2000 / year
⊖ accounting requirements seem to be very strict
⊕ Doesn’t require local partner
⊕ Agencies available that seem to handle most of the work

Singapore
Corporate tax rate of 17% (0% on the first S$100k, 8.5% up to S$300k)
⊖ requires a local director. What are the implications of this?

Malta
Corporate tax rate of 35%
There is the “full imputation system” but I don’t really understand it.
"In most cases, the tax refund to the shareholder is 6/7 of the tax paid by the company on profits distributed as dividends. The tax refund rate may be different in the following cases: " This would result in an effective corporate tax of around 5%.
⊖ European customers would have to pay VAT and I’d have to deal with that

Cyprus
Corporate tax rate of 12.5% and there seem to be ways to lower this
⊖ European customers would have to pay VAT and I’d have to deal with that
⊖ requires staying in Cyprus for 2 months / year

I find it surprising how much research this requires and how much “it depends” information is out there when I’d assume that there are probably thousands of digital nomads who probably have very similar requirements.

Looking for recommendations for reliable accountants who understand how remote businesses with off-shore freelancers and clients work. Thanks!

On New Year’s Day this year, I was refused entry to the UK due to not having proof of funds, an outward-bound plane ticket (I was road-tripping out with a friend via car) and not being able to prove that I had indeed canceled the lease on the apartment I had leased during a prior recent trip.

I haven’t had any entry issues to any of the several countries I’ve visited after, but now I’m applying for a 462 visa (work and holiday) visa in Australia, and since Australia and the UK share an immigration info system, I want to make sure getting refused entry won’t keep me from getting a visa. None of the issues that cropped up in the UK (the proof of funds, the plane ticket, and the apartment) will be an issue in Australia, as I’ve never traveled there before, don’t know anyone and will have proof of more than sufficient funds for the trip and an outbound plane ticket.

Anybody have any suggestions on how to make the approval process go as smoothly as possible?

Many thanks in advance!

The situation is that my BF is a UK citizen and I am not. We are traveling around SEA and planning to stop in the UK for 6 months to rekindle funds. Granted, the UK is not the cheapest place to rekindle funds, however, he can work and get a good job there.

I have already done my working visa in the UK so I can’t legally work there again. I’m a graphic designer and web designer and have decided that I will try and get freelance work to support myself whilst I’m over there.

My question is more related to tax and visas. I am an Australia citizen so I can get a 3 month tourist visa. I’m just a little worried about how strict they are over there on visas and questioning finance etc

Hi, I know there are a few posts around this topic but none of them quite answer my questions.

I am British and currently a resident in the UK.
Next year I am going to become a non-resident and spend over a year traveling mostly around Europe, moving every few weeks never staying anywhere longer than a month. (My first venture into becoming a digital nomad!)

I am remote, self employed, software developer working mostly for one client based in the UK.

Where am I liable to pay taxes?
From what I have read I will not be liable to pay taxes in UK, can anyone confirm this?
If not the UK then where if I am moving every few weeks?
If possible I want to avoid starting a company as this seems unnecessarily complicated for my work setup.

Thank you in advance for any help

Hey everyone,

Has anyone visited Sihanoukville recently? I would like to visit and give it a try for working but I am a little unsure about the following:

• Internet reliability (power cuts and speed)
• 4G connection as backup
• specific areas to live

In anyone can offer any info, suggestions on specific areas or recommended accommodation that would be great. I visited around 8 years ago so I am assuming the place has changed quite a bit since then.

Thanks!

Hi everyone!

I have recently opened a company in Estonia, and now looking for a bank to open a private account to receive salary to. Thing is, I am a Ukrainian citizen, and the fees are huge when making payments from my Estonian company bank account to the Ukrainian private account. For EU transfers, there are no fees. Also I do not feel my money are safe in Ukraine.

So currently I am looking for a bank in EU to open a private account with.

My priority is to have the costs associated with the account as low as possible. E.g. I’m fine with paying €200-300 to open the account, but it is a no-go for me if they require a monthly maintenance fee of €20-30. Which many of them do for foreigners. Also if they need an initial deposit or minimal remainder on the account of €1000+, this would be a strain for me. Another priority of course is nomad-friendliness: if I decide to withdraw the money outside the EU in a non-EU currency, I should not pay more than 5% in fees. And internet banking and customer support is also of importance, as I believe frequent visits to the bank’s country would be inconvenient for me as a non-resident.

So far I have looked at Swedbank, Rietumu and BlueOrange, all from Latvia. So far I had a great experience with Estonian corporate banking, so another Baltic country seemed like a good option to me. However, all of these banks have high maintenance fees for non-EU residents, from €20 to €50 per month. Also OrangeBlue has a minimal balance requirement of €1000.

All in all, I am very unexperienced in the matter of banking and am a bit in a loss. Can anybody kindly advise me on the “big picture” of banking in EU from the non-EU client’s perspective?

Hello, I’m a nomad based in Asia, but recently incorporated in Wyoming. Does anyone use a mail forwarding service with a Wyoming street address that you would recommend?

Hello all,

I have a mail management service in the UK which all my mail gets sent to. This works fine 90% of the time and most can be dealt with digitally.

The other 10%, I need the mail sent on to me, which they do offer as a service. However, where I struggle is giving them an address to send it to in the Philippines, namely Manila.

I’ve used DHL for really important stuff, like bank cards, but it would be nice to have an address where I can forward certain mail. Anyone been able to set something up like this in the Philippines? Would a virtual office allow me to receive mail?

Thanks in advance

A friend of mine is setting off on her first long solo trip, starting in Brazil. She will initially be backpacking but may turn to working on the road at some point.

I’d like to get her a nice gift for the trip and though I have a few ideas, I thought I’d come here for some further inspiration. What have you found yourself missing on the road, or what item or service has made your travels better/more comfortable/enjoyable ?
An example from my experience: a way to organise laundry, eg packing cubes or dry bags.

Think American Blue Apron, or Moscow-based Elementaree for that matter. I’m not a big fan of food-shopping or market-haggling, you know. Yet I’m OK with cooking myself Such services would definitely make a stay easier.

Has anyone stayed in Barcelona longer than 3 months as a nomad?

I realise UK citizens have to apply for a NIE number if they are staying longer than 3 months in Spain. But can you actually get an NIE number while working in Spain for a UK company?

My company is registered in the UK so I will be remote working from Spain, don’t want to setup as a freelancer or sold trader in Spain as it will only be a temporary pit stop for 3-6 months.

I’m finding it harder and harder to work with my friend from the Ukraine, to transfer money from the US, in USD to USD (he has an account that allows dollars).

• I used to work with Western Union, which was a hefty fee around $60. They closed the account years ago on concerns I was operating a business (I am)
• I opened an HSBC account to be able to wire internationally, with a $45 per wire fee, but they have stopped allowing transfers
• Ria Money Transfer was great, but they stopped this week doing deposits in to UA

Arrgh! If a Ukrainian is on a freelancing site like UpWork, how do they get money from their accounts, especially US clients? It must be incredibly expensive by now?