Non-Domicile, Non-Resident Nomad: Can I pay tax?

clickyclick

Hey everyone,

Bit of a weird one for you!

I'm a 'Digital Nomad'; I work as a contractor and I am paid via a US based company. I have submitted my W-8BEN so, there is no need for me to pay tax to the IRS as I'm not in the US.

I'm not tax resident in Ireland as I left 2 years ago and the countries I frequent, I'm either not tax resident or if I am, they don't have the facilities to collect tax on income that isn't earned within the state.

I am eager to pay tax so that my financial records show due diligence, transparency and so that my conscience and money are clean.

I've done some reading online and I can see there is a remittance based option for taxation in Ireland but my money doesn't even touch an Irish bank account.

Is there any way I can voluntarily pay tax back home or would Revenue laugh me off the phone?

CIARAN_BOYLE

Earnines are almost always taxable where they are earned. Your self employed income while in a country counts as income earned within the state.

If you spend 60 days in 6 different countries you should be filing 6 different tax returns and work from each one.

clickyclick

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Earnines are almost always taxable where they are earned. Your self employed income while in a country counts as income earned within the state.

If you spend 60 days in 6 different countries you should be filing 6 different tax returns and work from each one.

I literally begged a tax office of a country I was in to pay take after technically being tax resident there and their response was that they didn't have the facilities to collect tax on income from outside of the state.

wiggle16

clickyclick wrote: »

I literally begged a tax office of a country I was in to pay take after technically being tax resident there and their response was that they didn't have the facilities to collect tax on income from outside of the state.

A national tax agency refusing to collect tax from you?? What country was that??

You need to establish your residency status for tax purposes in each of the countries you live in. Residency rules are complicated and differ between countries, so be honest, you would be best advised to put this to a professional tax advisor.

dennyk

Actually, assuming you lived in Ireland for at least a few years before you left two years ago, you are still ordinarily resident in Ireland and may be subject to Irish taxes on some of your worldwide income as a result (though probably not your contracting income specifically, as that may be considered "a trade or profession no part of which is carried on in Ireland"). After you've been away from Ireland for three consecutive tax years, you will no longer be considered ordinarily resident.

You may also still be considered domiciled in Ireland even when you are no longer ordinarily resident, as you likely haven't established a domicile (permanent home) elsewhere if you've been drifting from country to country and not taking up long-term residence anywhere else. That may also affect your tax status in Ireland.

Generally you can't choose to be tax-resident in Ireland if you aren't actually resident here, except in a partial year where you will be resident in Ireland the following year (e.g. if you move back to Ireland in the latter half of the year). You could live in Ireland for at least 183 days each year (or 280 days every two years) if you really wanted to be tax-resident here.

Every country has different laws regarding tax residency, so it is entirely possible to not be liable for any taxes if you move countries several times a year over the course of multiple years such that you never stay in any one country long enough to be considered resident for tax purposes. This of course also depends on the tax laws in your country of citizenship and also the last country you were tax-resident in (e.g. if you are a US citizen, you're permanently ****ed...). You also would likely be violating the terms of your tourist visa or permission by working in non-EU countries, of course, though the odds of being caught are of course rather low, assuming you're not making repeated visits that eventually make the border officials suspicious.

You are a rare breed op, the vast majority of of people would jump at the chance to pay no tax if given half an excuse.