Getting a job in a tax-haven

[White-Tiger]

Even though you'd be working overseas, wouldn't you still be paid through the Canadian system, and thus pay the same taxes just like everyone else? I mean, you're still working for the Canadian gov't and all.

 

Yes you are still paid by the canadian goverment and technically you would still be paying taxes. However, the canadian military is special in the sense what if you are deployed in a medium or high risk area, you are exempt from paying income tax on the salary made during the time spent there.

And currently, Afganistan is considered a medium-risk deployment.

[A-Stark]

Again, you come off as the moron here. Good for you that you're in residency and woe is me I have yet to start medicine, but it doesn't negate the fact you sound ludicrious.

 

As far as I'm concerned, the admissions system failed when they funded you through medical school. Failed again when they funded you through residency. Unless you were living under a rock before you started your medical training (which by your continued ranting about how "wasteful" the system is I would not be surprised), you knew full well the state of Canadian public policy and politics and the taxes you'd be subjected to when you start working. But no, I guess your hypocritical libertarian views weren't against receiving support when it was in your favour.

 

In some perverted sense, you're a living example of tax dollars being wasted: education, social services, and healthcare dollars spent on someone who won't be contributing back to the system.

 

Don't colour yourself as some sort of "dissident" who's thinking outside of the box. Because you're not. You're just another narcissistic armchair politico moaning and ranting about how the system is wasteful and broken, all the while ironically refusing to engage in the very means that will allow you to express your opinions.

 

In the end however, it's not people like me that allow these so called corrupt politicians to run away with our money. It's sorry people like you who shut up and put up (whether it be through a refusal to engage in the system or abandoning it altogether) who are the ones that allow governments to get away with anything.

 

I've come late to the thread, but BRAVO.

 

In any case, the notion that governments are uniquely "inefficient" or "mismanaged" is exactly the sort of shoddy armchair commentary that ought to be consigned to the garbage - if you want to find corrupt, inefficient government, by all means, move somewhere like Afghanistan or Zimbabwe.

[Wolvenstar]

lol if your looking for corrupt, just hop south of the border. If you want useless you can stay right where you are, lol.

[doc2B]

Did you look into Bermuda?

[123coco]

ummm...actually if you're looking for corruption you'll find it within our own borders....except we do it in a more diplomatic manner...i.e when our government announces that it will be investing in new planes for the military...government officials give the contracts to their buddies for inflated prices.....the government has the option to go onto the world market and get the best price but these officials would rather see their friends get rich than to be effecient and invest the difference into our degenerating health care or the educational system......oversease we do a lot of damage i.e mining companies from canada will go into developing countries (costa rica) ...extract resources and claim bankruptcy before cleaning up the mess...when they don't clean up their mess responsibly or for that matter at all! the habitat is destroyed and locals who live off the land do not have access to basic neccessities sucyh as clean water...since these canadian companies benefit canada...our government continues to let these companies open shop under a different name although the board of directors and ceos remain the same....people need to realize that what we read in international news in determined by a few contract reporters hired western news agencies and can be greatly distorted before it reaches our homes...if one was to read alternative news sources and compare it to bbc, cbc, cnn ....a great disparity would be noted....Im not trying to bash this country as it is great but like every other nation, our politics and business practices are flawed

________

Nevada Marijuana Dispensary

[123coco]

I've come late to the thread, but BRAVO.

 

In any case, the notion that governments are uniquely "inefficient" or "mismanaged" is exactly the sort of shoddy armchair commentary that ought to be consigned to the garbage - if you want to find corrupt, inefficient government, by all means, move somewhere like Afghanistan or Zimbabwe.

 

ummm...actually if you're looking for corruption you'll find it within our own borders....except we do it in a more diplomatic manner...i.e when our government announces that it will be investing in new planes for the military...government officials give the contracts to their buddies for inflated prices.....the government has the option to go onto the world market and get the best price but these officials would rather see their friends get rich than to be effecient with tax payers dollars and invest the difference into our degenerating health care or the educational system......oversease we do a lot of damage i.e mining companies from canada will go into developing countries (costa rica) ...extract resources and claim bankruptcy before cleaning up the mess...when they don't clean up their mess responsibly, or for that matter at all! the habitat is destroyed and locals who live off the land do not have access to basic neccessities such as clean water...since these canadian companies benefit canada...our government continues to let these companies open shop under a different name although the board of directors and ceos remain the same....people need to realize that what we read in international news in determined by a few contract reporters hired by western news agencies and can be greatly distorted before it reaches our homes...if one was to read alternative news sources and compare it to bbc, cbc, cnn ....a great disparity would be noted....Im not trying to bash this country as it is great, but like every other nation, our politics and business practices are flawed

________

ARIZONA MEDICAL MARIJUANA

[DungeonMan]

I've come late to the thread, but BRAVO.

 

In any case, the notion that governments are uniquely "inefficient" or "mismanaged" is exactly the sort of shoddy armchair commentary that ought to be consigned to the garbage - if you want to find corrupt, inefficient government, by all means, move somewhere like Afghanistan or Zimbabwe.

 

You should probably try to use that brain of yours. It'll come in handy. Here, let me help you first...

 

Your statement is deliciously ironic. I hope you understand why...

 

In any case, since you are so brazenly Canadian, you should understand that I have every right to exist in this country as a tax-paying citizen.

 

Additionally, you should understand that this country is a place of free-speech, and I am exercising that right. You may speak freely as well, although your insultingly trite comments do nothing but show others how closed your mind is.

 

Your comparison is worthless. My overall argument is that my money is paying for things I find morally sickening and unjust, and thus I do not want to pay for them in the future.

 

I also have the right to leave the country to practice where I want to, and live in Canada in the meantime. I am not a prisoner of Canada. Do you get that? Let me spell it out for you:

 

I can leave Canada, and go to a tax haven should I choose. However, since I would be no longer in Canada, I'd be no longer liable to pay taxes but I would also not be covered by Canadian services that are payed for by taxes.

This is why I'm confused as to why a simple question as my desire to work in a tax-shelter brought upon so much fire and brimstone. I just asked for some assistance and I get attacked by holier-than-thous.

 

I'm going to go ask over on SDN. Screw this.

[coastalslacker]

I can leave Canada, and go to a tax haven should I choose. However, since I would be no longer in Canada, I'd be no longer liable to pay taxes but I would also not be covered by Canadian services that are payed for by taxes.

This is why I'm confused as to why a simple question as my desire to work in a tax-shelter brought upon so much fire and brimstone. I just asked for some assistance and I get attacked by holier-than-thous.

 

I'm going to go ask over on SDN. Screw this.

 

I would say do whatever you want, but if you have the courage of your convictions, give up your citizenship when you go (if you're going to stay someplace, not if you're just heading off for a few years).

 

Lots of people want to reap the benefits of paying less tax. However, I think the issue arises when they decide 20 years later to return to Canada and reap the benefits of the tax-payer funded social programs, infrastructure, and general high quality of life. Often this occurs right around retirement...isn't that convenient? Just when they aren't ready to contribute a damn thing to the economy they decide to come back, go golfing with their buddies, and get ready for a couple replacement joints to keep them active into their dotage. A peripheral family member will be doing just this in the next few years as he retires from being a pilot in Luxembourg for the past two decades. Not cool. He's old, he's going to get sick, he's going to tax our countries diminishing resources and he has not been contributing.

 

I don't know anything about you or where you're from, but the vast majority of Canadians have benefited tremendously from growing up here in Canada as opposed to, uh, a pretty hefty chunk of the rest of the world. The health care, education, sanitation, you name it, that we benefited from growing up was because our country pays proportionately more tax than many other places.

 

That, however, is the past. You sound like a frustrated, aggressive (RAWR!), forward-thinking frontierman with a sharp nose for fiscal policy and the keen insight to manage your very own banana republic. That sounds like a skill-set that lots of low-tax nations will be salivating for as soon as they hear you're interested. Who knows, if you like it wherever you end up, you just might stay. If you do, just remember, if you haven't been paying in, you don't deserve to come back (but you will! and you probably won't even feel bad!).

 

peace brother!

[KennethToronto]

Amen to that! Thank you coastalslacker.

 

And to DungeonMan: don't let the door hit you on the way out. Hopefully, you'll give up your citizenship and while you're at it, pay back all the money Canadian taxpayers have evidently wasted on your subsidized education and high living standards.

[A-Stark]

You should probably try to use that brain of yours. It'll come in handy. Here, let me help you first...

 

Funny, it certainly feels like I'm using it.

 

Your statement is deliciously ironic. I hope you understand why...

 

In any case, since you are so brazenly Canadian, you should understand that I have every right to exist in this country as a tax-paying citizen.

 

Additionally, you should understand that this country is a place of free-speech, and I am exercising that right. You may speak freely as well, although your insultingly trite comments do nothing but show others how closed your mind is.

 

I do not deny your right to exist, particularly not as a tax-paying citizen. But I consider your free-rider mentality immature and laughably self-righteous. I like to think I have a fair and open mind on most things but you've certainly not dispelled my impression that your shoddy armchair commentary is anything but simplistic.

 

Your comparison is worthless. My overall argument is that my money is paying for things I find morally sickening and unjust, and thus I do not want to pay for them in the future.

 

What a stunning refutation! I find it rather more "morally sickening" and "unjust" that you're quite content to enjoy a subsidized medical education (and, by any standard, high compensation) and then skip out on the societal contribution that goes with it.

 

I also have the right to leave the country to practice where I want to, and live in Canada in the meantime. I am not a prisoner of Canada. Do you get that? Let me spell it out for you:

 

I can leave Canada, and go to a tax haven should I choose. However, since I would be no longer in Canada, I'd be no longer liable to pay taxes but I would also not be covered by Canadian services that are payed for by taxes.

This is why I'm confused as to why a simple question as my desire to work in a tax-shelter brought upon so much fire and brimstone. I just asked for some assistance and I get attacked by holier-than-thous.

 

You are free to do what you want, but you shouldn't expect us to condone it, particularly if you do not (1) renounce your citizenship and (2) pay back every cent of your medical education that was subsidized. As a Canadian taxpayer, I am not interested in subsidizing the moralistic self-righteousness of the likes of you, but since I likely can't prevent that, I can at least spell out how these situations should ought to be dealt with.

 

Oh, and it's curious that you'd call anyone here "holier-than-thou" when the whole premise of your reasons for escaping Canadian taxes is pure moralism.

 

I'm going to go ask over on SDN. Screw this.

 

Bye!

[dalmedical12]

This guy is actually playing the system...and although I would hope that I'd never do this myself...we do need to show some respect to him for actually coming up with this idea an dpossibly following through? Canada is full of "systems"...however you define them...and it's pretty clear that the more money and power one gains, the easier AND more likely we are to exploit them. Haha although this is pretty laughable...it's our problem for allowing this to continue in our country...that's what we get with a Democratic society. What's SDN?

 

Oh...and the corruption in Latin America by Canadian Mining companies is bang on...and it's even crazier that so few Canadians know about it or are willling to take action...Canadian Gold companies are killing innocent people

[A-Stark]

Yes, he intends to play the system. He also thinks that his personal belief that tax money goes to, say, the Olympics and the odd bit of waste is about protesting things that are "morally sickening and unjust", as if a substantial portion of tax money were going to such discretionary projects.

 

Given all we know about the social determinants of health, I'm not about to concede that an imperfect system (i.e. democracy) justifies the sort of self-righteous moralism displayed here - taxes and, yes, even some redistribution are intregal to the social order and welfare.

[Guest BluePin]

The more that I have traveled, the more that I have learned to appreciate what my country has to offer. I would suggest it is a responsibility of those who "have" in our system to make more contributions to the general pool of benefits than those who "have not". It is precisely because we have such a safety net in place that Canadians do not often find themselves in unexpected and dire financial circumstances. Contrast this to the US, where a physician-- if though omission (failing to adequately review the policy) or comission (trying to save money) holds inadequate health insurance-- could easily find him /her self bankrupt due to unforeseen health issues.

I would argue that if you are going to retreat to a tax haven, you should give back the amount of subsidization in your medical education, as those funds were given to you on the expectation of your future contribution.

 

However, regarding your original question: I cannot answer for specific countries but I can tell you that revcan regulations require you to show intent to emigrate permanently. They do not want you to move to a tax shelter, while periodically returning to Canada to maintain social relations, use the health care system, use the schooling system, invest, recreate, etc. Specifically, you will need to: not maintain a place of residence, sell or store all personal belongings, not maintain any Canadian method of contact (cell phone, PO box, etc.), give up health care & social service benefits. I believe there are also requirements for how your investments are allocated. So, in essence, you must convince revcan that you are leaving and not coming back. Of course, people can and do, get around this.

 

I have looked into this in the past for overseas work in the oil and gas industry and know others who have done it.

 

What I found to be simpler and more in keeping with my social philosophy was to incorporate myself (in Canada). As a corporation, I have more lee-way for tax write-offs. I pay tax but less tax than I would otherwise. However, I must invest the time to keep track of more data. Professional incorporation is standard for physicians, no?