|
|
Liberation Travel Hacks 02/2024
|
|
|
The launch of the Liberation Travel Hacks newsletter was a big surprise for me. In the first day alone, we gained over 1,000 confirmed subscribers. I consider the great interest in the newsletter as a commitment to continue creating it by filling it with quality content.
|
|
|
Unfortunately MailPoet, the mailing list service I opted for, does not support "Dark Mode", so if you have it turned on in your mail clients or browsers, this newsletter will probably be difficult for you to read. In this case, I recommend you turn "Dark Mode" off. I have reported this to the developers as a problem, if this concerns you and you want to resolve it, then please "upvote" it.
|
|
|
I spent the last weeks of January in Paraguay (trying out the new process for getting a driving licence and applying for a new residency card). I plan to spend all of February in Brazil, where I'd like to try to live as much as possible by using Bitcoin (there are up to 86 big companies whose services can be bought through Bitrefill) and enjoy the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. From there, I'll head to my favorite island of Madeira, where the Bitcoin maxi conference Bitcoin Atlantis will take place March 1-3 (get 10% off with a SATSBACK or CRYPTOEVENTS voucher). Then to the Isle of Man, Georgia, Abkhazia and Armenia, where I'll be looking for a usable non-CRS bank account alternative. I'll wrap up my travels in the region at LibertyCon Europe 19-21.4 in Tbilisi. I won't be going to the European Union, specifically the Czech Republic and Slovakia, until May and June, when I've assessed that it's the best weather of the year there. I won't miss out on Pizzaday in Prague's Paralelní Polis 18-19.5, Monerokon 7-9.6 (you can buy tickets here) and BTC Prague 13-15.6. I will finish my stay in the EU on 27-30.6 at the Festival of the Future in Munich, where I will raise the topic of global opportunism.
|
|
|
If you are also a crypto digital nomad and are interested in crypto events around the world, you can find them here.
|
|
|
I look forward to all the events, and to the friendly interactions with you.
|
|
Pavol Lupták, 5.2.2024 Sao Paulo
|
|
USA
|
There have been two important legislative changes in the US since the beginning of this year:
|
|
|
|
If you are actively using a US LLC firm, I recommend keeping an eye on the new cryptocurrency legislation and avoiding crypto transactions over $10k while possible.
|
|
Georgia
|
|
|
There are unfortunately no longer an infinite number of entries. If you have the SOLO Club program, you have 12 entries per year (with all three cards), which I think is acceptable for most digital nomads.
|
|
Argentina
|
There are two great conferences in Buenos Aires in November (exact dates not yet announced), which I recommend to see (apparently in close succession): LaBitconf and Monerotopia. The weather in Argentina is great in November and I've been enjoying it in this country for several years in a row. You can try paying with Monero at the supermarket there.
|
|
Paraguay
|
In Paraguay, the process of obtaining a driving licence has changed. In order to obtain one, you need to physically arrive in the country and apply for it at any branch of the "Municipalidad" with a valid cedula. The whole process of obtaining a driver's license currently takes 1-2 hours and we will be happy to help you with it completely.
|
|
|
In my attempt to open my fifth BASIC bank account in Paraguay, I came across a limit on the maximum number of BASIC bank accounts you can have in Paraguay. Be aware of it. I recommend opening bank accounts at the following Paraguayan banks, which I consider the best: Banco Familiar, Itaú, Banco Visión and UENO.
|
|
|
I lost my Paraguayan residency card ("Carnet de La Radicación Permanente") somewhere at the airport in Rome. I told myself that I can manage it, I know Spanish, and since I will now be in Asunción for a few weeks, I will try to handle the whole bureaucratic process of regaining it myself. It took me over a week, I visited 5 offices in Asunción, 2 police stations, 1 Interpol office and about 10 times a notary. Despite the fact that I finally did it (I can pick up my residency card in two months) and I'm glad for this bureaucratic experience, I don't want to repeat it ever again in my life. And next time I'll leave it all to our Liberation.Travel lawyers who can get it all done in a day.
|
|
|
If you are a temporary resident of Paraguay and you are unable to come to Paraguay due to injury or illness within 12 months of your residency card/residency approval, please write to migraciones@migraciones.gov.py. Include in the email a scan of your residency card (and cedula) and a scan of your medical certificate explaining why you were unable to make the trip for medical reasons. They will reply that you need to make a further request for consideration of the period of absence from the country, which must be addressed to the Director of Migration Abg. Jorge Kronawetter.
|
|
|
|
|
If you want a crypto exchange with KYC on your Paraguayan cedula, try Globiance or Bitso.
|
|
|
A Swiss bank that opens bank accounts for Paraguayans without any problems is Dukascopy Bank.
|
|
|
Paraguay's Claro has stopped supporting roaming for prepaid SIM cards. If you want to use it, you need to get a postpaid flat rate.
|
|
|
Asunción has a new parking policy, you can pay for on-street parking with the app PARXin Autos.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
On February 20, the Crypto Summit Del Sur will be held in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.
|
|
|
I get questions all the time about how exactly territorial taxation works in Paraguay. Let me try to explain it as simply as possible: any work physically done in Paraguay is taxed (usually 10%), even if it is done for a foreign company. The important thing in this case is not what company you work for, but where the work is physically done (the so-called "Paraguayan-source income"). As a Paraguayan tax resident only, if you have any income from abroad (dividends/profits of foreign companies) for work that was not physically performed in Paraguay, this income is not taxed or declared in Paraguay. This is similar in other countries with territorial taxation. But be careful not to be a tax resident of another country (for example, the EU). To do this, I recommend cancelling your permanent residence in the EU, not being there more than 6 months a year, and minimizing your center of life interests.
|
|
|
If you issue invoices as a Paraguayan tax resident registered with the Paraguayan Tax Office (SET), it is automatically assumed that you are physically in Paraguay and have "Paraguayan-source income" that is subject to declaration and taxation. This is the case even if you invoice foreign companies (in this case, beware of withholding taxes as most countries have not signed a double taxation treaty with Paraguay).
|
|
|
Therefore, the appropriate and popular combination is to own, as a Paraguayan resident, a US LLC company and do business (outside the US) with it. All EU countries have signed a double taxation treaty with the US. Beware: if you have income from a US company doing business in the US (or using the US stock market), that income is taxed in the US.
|
|
|
Another common question is how the conditions for obtaining permanent residency in Paraguay. The exact terms of the new legislation have not yet been published. It looks like a university degree should be an advantage. In any case, economic activity in the country will be taken into account. Whether you are registered with the tax office (SET), file monthly VAT (IVA) returns or have an employment contract.
|
|
Therefore, I would advise anyone considering permanent residency in Paraguay to think about how they can enhance the country through their economic activity.
|
|
|
Global health insurance
|
If you are a Paraguayan resident, the various international health insurance companies can give you special low rates. One such company is VUMI.
|
|
Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin mining in Paraguay
|
The future of Bitcoin mining in the EU is bleak. European bureaucrats are "saving the world" and have bold plans to regulate or ban Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining as part of their climate fight. Fortunately, there are many countries where Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining is still a profitable and poorly regulated business. One of these countries with very low electricity prices is Paraguay.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One of the things I am extremely happy about is our community of Paraguayan dudes. Smart people from this community are making a successful business not only in Paraguay, but also in other Latin American countries. There are at least two mining companies run by our Paraguayan clients in Paraguay that are worth mentioning:
|
|
- AmityAge, which specializes mainly in larger investors and players.
- Acuariohosting who in turn allow an investment from just one machine, the ability to order and use their services without KYC. The code "LIBERATIONTRAVEL" will get you a discount of 100 USD.
Best bitcoin accounting software
|
If you invoice in Bitcoin and want simple and functional accounting software that supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Lightning, and fiat, try Zaprite. Subscription is $25/month ($20/month if you pay a year in advance). It allows you to keep track of labor, tasks, create invoices, track payments, and has lots of plugins (LN can accept payments via LNbits, LND, Alby, Zebedee). For example, through Alby you don't even need your own LN server to accept LN payments. The creators of Zaprite are Bitcoin maximalists, so they don't support any other cryptocurrencies besides Bitcoin (I recommend the App.Request.Finance service for this).
|
|
Earn change when paying BTC
|
When you pay BTC for a number of services, you can get small discounts through the Satsback.com system. You can sign up here.
|
|
How to survive on Bitcoin worldwide
|
Before arriving in any country, I recommend checking what services you can pay for with Bitcoin. For example, you can use the Bitrefill app to buy gift cards for a large number of services, including topping up the credit of a number of operators around the world (for example, all mobile operators in Paraguay are supported).
|
|
Travel Hacks
Applications for tracking travel, tax residency
|
Digital nomads are on the rise, and so are the apps that track their journeys. Indeed, it is important for digital nomads to ensure that they are not in any tax hell for more than 6 months a year (some places even less). Tax hells are shown in pink and dark blue in the image below. The light blue countries represent countries with territorial taxation where you want to have tax residency.
|
|
|
|
|
Personally, I use nomadlist.com to track my travels, where I manually mark which countries I'm in when. Apart from the fact that nomadlist.com allows me to meet other interesting digital nomads around the world (there is also a nomad dating site like Tinder), I also create a proof track for all tax authorities of the world that I am not in any country in the world for more than 6 months a year (of course, I can prove it with tickets, accommodation, etc.). If there is a threat that I should become a tax resident in a country, nomadlist.com sends me an email notification a month before "It's high time to leave and avoid tax slavery".
|
|
|
If you don't mind having your location constantly tracked (which you probably don't mind if you're using a standard Android/iOS spy and not GrapheneOS), you can try the Chrono mobile app, which can automatically track your location around the world and assess which country you're in for how long, when your visa will expire, and of course, when you're at risk of becoming a tax slave to that country.
|
|
Quality earplugs
|
The thing that has increased my quality of sleep lately are loop earplugs. If you travel a lot and sleep in busy environments often, I definitely recommend them (they have quantity discounts).
|
|
Excellent notes app
|
I've started using Logseq, which I find secure enough for notes and at the same time very robust. I write down everything I can think of. Thanks to the notes in Logseq, I created this newsletter.
|
|
App to keep track of important events in your country
|
If you are interested in important information from a given country (political unrest, demonstrations, floods, tornadoes, ...), install the MySafeTravel app and you can monitor the situation in up to three countries at once.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|