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Liberation Travel Hacks 05/2025
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The day in Bratislava hasn't even started yet, and already two of my service providers, whom I have always paid cashless on the invoice, have told me that they prefer cash for their services, and one has suggested no invoice at all.
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The year 2025 in Slovakia represents a return to the "Age of Cash" and massive tax non-payment. It looks like our comrades' original intention to increase tax collection will have the exact opposite effect.
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1. The most prominent leftists and socialists in Slovakia speak out against taxes
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I cannot believe my eyes and ears when I see and hear the most left-wing socialists in Slovakia speaking out against the transaction tax. They consider it to be very immoral because it affects all entrepreneurs, and instead, they propose to tax only the very rich. I would point out that the wealthy people have already left Slovakia (if they are not going right now, thanks to our aid), so they cannot be taxed.
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But where did the obligatory questions of the leftists disappear - "But we can't build a civilized society without taxes! Who will build the roads? Who will pay for public health care? Who's going to pay the firefighters?"
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Suddenly, the answer to these questions is not so important.
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I confess that I enjoy the leftists' debates about which tax is fair and which is not (and that the transaction tax is not fair). It reminds me a bit of the discussion on which torture technique against a woman is the least painful to make her obey a man the best.
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In short and simple - all taxes are immoral. And any violence (not just against women, but also against tax victims) is unacceptable.
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Opponents and coalition politicians (Andrej Danko and Peter Pellegrini) say that the transaction tax is blatant nonsense. However, this does not change the fact that the almost EUR 1 billion that the Slovak Government plans to collect from it is worth this nonsense and the annoyance of practically all productive Slovaks.
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2. Media in Slovakia urge people not to pay transaction tax legally
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And even leftist/progressive, which, of course, I very much appreciate. On the Slovak internet, you can find dozens of manuals on how to avoid paying transaction tax legally – on almost every major media outlet.
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3. Talking publicly about not paying taxes in Slovakia is no longer outrageous
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Just a few years ago, there would have been a heated debate in the comments about who would build roads and care for the dying homeless on the street without taxes and the state.
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When I visited Uruguay a few months ago and asked random people what they thought of their country, I was surprised by their response - almost all of them trusted their government (regardless of which party was in power), believed that paying taxes made sense, and believed in the power of democracy.
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Try asking random people in Slovakia what they think about the Slovak government and paying taxes. Most see the state as a greedy tyrant regardless of their political persuasion. A tyrant that people obey only when they are threatened with imminent criminalization. Otherwise, they cheat him wherever they can.
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This is not only happening but will happen much more in Slovakia in the coming months—Slovaks will use all means to avoid paying taxes (and not only the transaction tax).
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That is why I think that even though we have new bizarre taxes in Slovakia and the existing ones have increased even more, the total tax collection for 2025 will be significantly lower than the Slovak government expects.
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Not paying taxes in Slovakia is becoming a moral virtue.
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Because no one wants to support a tyrant, the mafia, and "Our People" anymore.
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And it doesn't matter if they share their chosen swag with someone else.
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Pavol Lupták, 12.5.2025, Bratislava
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EU
How to overthrow the EU state by increasing transparency and constant information:
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- Every citizen will receive a similar SMS/email notification from the bank when paying VAT, excise duty, or any other tax on every purchase made, as in the case of transaction tax.
- Each citizen receives a monthly (or yearly) statement in a text message/email of exactly how much money they have paid in health levies (in Slovakia, it's 15% of any individual's income) and how much of their money has been used for health-related tasks, ideally, with a competing quote from a global health insurer that has the same coverage so he can compare.
- Every year, citizens receive an SMS/email statement showing how much they have paid in social security contributions and how much their pension age has increased.
- How many government projects have just been exposed as overpriced (by how much) and corrupt? Ideally, citizens should receive notification once a month. Keep reminding them until they click away that they are fully aware.
- Every employee for whom the employer pays taxes and levies will have all his money paid in full into his account. Then he will have to "voluntarily" pay half of that amount in taxes and health and social security levies, as his employer does now - so that he too will have a real personal experience of "how to send half of his paycheck into the black hole every month."
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I am convinced that points 1-4 would already cause massive protests and the potential collapse of the current state. If not, the fulfillment of point 5 certainly would.
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For the defenders of the state - if there is no collapse of the state, it would at least help to improve it :-)
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We have the technology to track where every penny a citizen pays in taxes ends. The only spying I approve of is spying on the state, and it's completely detailed down to the penny. Now that the state is spying on the citizens, it's time for the state itself to be fully spied on as well.
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People are not protesting because they are not well-informed. Instead, they lack key personal experience in paying taxes and contributions to the state apparatus.
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USA
Kyrgyzstan
7 reasons you want a non-CRS bank account in Bakai with an elite VISA Infinite card!
I opened a non-CRS bank account remotely at the Kyrgyz Bank Bakai. I tested international transactions, crypto top-ups, and payments using their elite VISA Infinite card. I decided to summarize the reasons why you want this account.
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1. Opening a bank account without the need for residency or other connections to Kyrgyzstan
In most countries, you need local residency or other connections (employment contract, study, etc.) to open a bank account. This applies to all EU and Latin American countries, including Paraguay and Uruguay. As a Slovak citizen, most banks in Slovakia will not open a bank account for me because I do not have residency in Slovakia (fortunately, I do not need a Slovak bank account because I have a better :)
An exception is Georgia, where you do not need local residency or any connection to Georgia to use Georgian banking services. Unfortunately, Georgia has signed the CRS agreement and has thus become a member of the global spying cartel with automatic reporting. Suppose you are not a happy tax resident in a non-CRS country, such as Paraguay, and you do not have a Georgian bank account opened in your tax residence in a non-CRS country (which we will be happy to help you with). In that case, you can expect that it will only be a matter of time before your Georgian bank starts automated reporting to the tax office of your CRS country.
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2. Kyrgyzstan has not signed and does not plan to sign the CRS
Unlike most countries, Kyrgyzstan has not joined (and does not plan to join) the global CRS spying cartel (which includes all EU countries).
Paraguay has not signed the CRS either, but there are the following problems you will face if you want a full-fledged bank account in Paraguay:
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- To open a bank account in Paraguay, you need temporary or permanent residence in Paraguay (we will be happy to help you with this).
- To open a full-fledged Paraguayan bank account (without limits), you must declare local Paraguayan income, which is also taxed. Without local Paraguayan income, you can only open a basic bank account in Paraguay with a monthly limit of USD 1,000 (I recommend Banco Familiar, ITAÚ, or UENO).
- To apply for a USD account or a better VISA/Mastercard card at a Paraguayan bank, you must be a solvent client with a sufficiently high (declared) income.
And you can only dream of having an EURO account at a Paraguayan bank.
If you decide to open a non-CRS bank account with Bakai Bank, you won't have to face any of these problems— you don't need any connection to Kyrgyzstan or local income, and you get a full-featured account without any restrictions.
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3. Account held in multiple currencies (USD, EUR, KGS, KZT, TRY, RUB, AED, and CNY)
Bakai Bank allows you to easily open a bank account (with one click in their mobile app) in the following currencies:
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- USD - US dollar
- EUR - Euro
- KGS - Kyrgyz som
- KZT - Kazakhstani tenge
- TRY - Turkish lira
- RUB - Russian ruble
- AED - United Arab Emirates dirham
- CNY - Chinese yuan
You can receive foreign transfers directly in all of these currencies.
To receive EURO transactions, you can use the correspondent bank Landesbank Baden in Germany (SOLADEST), Raiffeisen Bank in Vienna (RZBAATWW), or Aktif Yatirim Bankasi in Istanbul.
My international test transfers were not completed within 24 hours (as with the Bank of Georgia), but they all arrived within a few days.
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4. Elite VISA Infinite card
What surprised me most about the Bakai bank account is the elite VISA Infinite card, which you get for USD 120/year. With the highest Georgian SOLO Club account, you get a VISA Signature card, but Bakai immediately gives you a VISA Infinite card. You can find out about the benefits of this card directly on the bank's website or the VISA website.
One key benefit of VISA Infinite is collision damage waiver (CDW) insurance when you pay with this card.
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After opening an account with Bakai Bank, you will receive two VISA cards, one VISA Infinite denominated in USD and the second embossed card in Kyrgyz som.
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After opening an account with Bakai, you will receive two VISA Infinite cards in USD and an embossed card in Kyrgyz som. All cards can be topped up via the Bakai mobile app. I tried using the VISA Infinite card in Slovakia/Austria, and everything worked on the first try.
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5. Crypto friendly
Kyrgyzstan does not have a crypto infrastructure as developed as Georgia. Here are three ways you can send crypto to your Bakai bank account:
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- Through our Signal group P2P Exchange for Bakai owners, we voluntarily connect our clients with a Bakai bank account and want to trade crypto. Crypto transactions can be done P2P, with fiat cleared through their EUR/USD account in Bakai. We have a similar Signal group for our SOLO bank account clients in the Bank of Georgia, and it works great. This is probably the safest and most convenient way to trade crypto.
- Through the Kyrgyz exchange Bitbanker / ElCrypto, you can do KYC on any document (including a Paraguayan ID card). For withdrawals to Kyrgyz banks (in KGS, USD.k, RUB.k) to work, you must go through the KYC+ process, which requires signing a physical contract in Kyrgyzstan (Bishkek). Withdrawals in USD.k are possible to international VISA cards with a fixed fee of USD 50 per withdrawal.
- SimpleKey Solutions (which does not yet have a crypto license) charges a 3.5% fee for deposits in USDT, with a minimum deposit of 5000 USD.
6. Option to open an account entirely remotely
A bank account in Kyrgyz Bakai can be opened entirely remotely based on an apostilled power of attorney and a copy of your passport. We have tested both regional and international apostille services. You will then need to fill out a KYC document in Kyrgyz or Russian (we will fill it out for you based on the information you provide).
After opening the account, you must pay USD 1,000 to the bank and an annual fee of USD 120 for VISA Infinite. This fee does not include the costs of apostille certification of documents and opening a bank account based on a power of attorney.
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7. We will be happy to help you!
If you are interested in opening a bank account in Bakai and preparing the necessary powers of attorney and apostille of your documents, please do not hesitate to contact us. We want to launch this service in the coming months. Before the launch, we would like to finalize two things:
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- Enable clients to open a verified account (KYC+) at the Kyrgyz crypto exchange Bitbanker / ElCrypto based on a power of attorney (which is currently not possible remotely).
- Reduce the cost of opening a bank account through our local broker. Currently, the total cost of opening an account is approximately $2,500.
If you leave us a message, we will contact you as soon as we have resolved this issue.
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Panama
Paraguay
Uruguay
Positive news from Uruguay - the Uruguayan government has removed the reference to citizenship by place of birth from Uruguayan passports, which has caused many problems for naturalized citizens. This means that by obtaining Uruguayan citizenship (a relatively simple process when you've lived in the country for a long time), you will acquire both Uruguayan citizenship and Uruguayan nationality, giving you a real boost of optionality over your original passport.
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Bitcoin, Monero, and cryptocurrencies
If you're looking for a cheaper, reliable, fully functional alternative to XAPO, check out the CypherHQ card.
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If you want to accept crypto (including Bitcoin Lightning and Monero) in your store (including a physical store), then OpenCryptoPay can be a beautiful solution.
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Privacy
Travel Hacks
Interesting links
In this thought-provoking episode, political philosopher Larken Rose challenges the commonly accepted notion of government and authority. In a lecture titled Rebooting Humanity, Larken explores how deep-seated beliefs about political authority contribute to societal problems such as war, corruption, and oppression.
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Events
8-12.8.2025 WHY2025 in the Netherlands
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