Moving to Aruba/Cancun/Australia tax/residency questions
 

I'm considering moving out of the country sometime next year or the year after and I think the 2 most desireable places are Aruba, Cancun Mexico and perhaps Australia.

How can I get granted permanent residence in Aruba, Mexico or Australia? From my understanding you can only live in these countries for a temporary period unless you become a citizen or somehow become approved for permanent residence. How do I go through this process for each country and how hard is it to get in for a professional internet gambler?

Secondly, from my understanding Aruba and Australia does not tax gambling winnings. Is this true? Does Mexico tax online gambling winnings (is online gambling even legal?) and if either countries tax you what is their going percentage? I'm going to have to pay taxes on my winnings either way to the US but I'd like to get the 80k credit of course. If Mexico's/Australia's tax rate is as high as ours then I wouldn't be able to save anything on taxes.

I've tried to do alot of google research on the following questions but I just can't come up with anything. Please help me out with this or point me to a webpage/person that I could get some answers out of.

Thanks a bundles

Re: Moving to Aruba/Cancun/Australia tax/residency questions
 

For Aruba, you will be applying for Dutch Citizenship. You have to be a resident for 5 years before you can apply.

Re: Moving to Aruba/Cancun/Australia tax/residency questions
 

[ QUOTE ]
I'm considering moving out of the country sometime next year or the year after and I think the 2 most desireable places are Aruba, Cancun Mexico and perhaps Australia.

How can I get granted permanent residence in Aruba, Mexico or Australia? From my understanding you can only live in these countries for a temporary period unless you become a citizen or somehow become approved for permanent residence. How do I go through this process for each country and how hard is it to get in for a professional internet gambler?

Secondly, from my understanding Aruba and Australia does not tax gambling winnings. Is this true? Does Mexico tax online gambling winnings (is online gambling even legal?) and if either countries tax you what is their going percentage? I'm going to have to pay taxes on my winnings either way to the US but I'd like to get the 80k credit of course. If Mexico's/Australia's tax rate is as high as ours then I wouldn't be able to save anything on taxes.

I've tried to do alot of google research on the following questions but I just can't come up with anything. Please help me out with this or point me to a webpage/person that I could get some answers out of.

Thanks a bundles

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm assuming you are U.S. citizen. You have to pay taxes on your winnings no matter where you live.

Re: Moving to Aruba/Cancun/Australia tax/residency questions
 

[ QUOTE ]
Australia.

[/ QUOTE ] sounds good how about Costa Rica, Brazil, Italy, Spain or the south of France, Japan may be fun too. How about Puerta Vallarta for Mexico.

Re: Moving to Aruba/Cancun/Australia tax/residency questions
 

As TStone referenced in his original post...your first $80k of income that you make abroad are non-taxable in the U.S.
Income you make after your first $80k is still taxed.


You have to have lived a certain percentage of the year outside the U.S. to be eligible for this exception. Something like 180 or 210 days or something outside the U.S.
but saving on the first $80k isn't exactly small-potatoes.


Matthew Hilger also makes mention of having done this in his book Internet Texas Holdem.

LIGHTBULB: speaking of Hilger.....
TStone - Hilger lived in Australia for awhile and I believe in his book he mentions that he has lived in 16 or 20 countries or something.
You might want to swing by his forums (he has his own forum but I don't know the address) and ask him about it.
He's as likely to have knowledge about this stuff as anybody here will.


Let me know what you find out as this is a topic that interests me as well.
Cancun or South America or Europe could be possible for me in a couple years. Not terribly likely...but i'd still like to know.

Re: Moving to Aruba/Cancun/Australia tax/residency questions
 

My understanding is that you won't be able to legally obtain any tax savings. The problem is that the $80K exclusion applies only to earned income, and the US government specifically excludes gambling winnings from the definition of earned income.

Perhaps someone else knows something different.

Re: Moving to Aruba/Cancun/Australia tax/residency questions
 

If I'm filing a Schedule C as a self-employed, is my income not earned income regardless?

I thought about moving to Aruba, Mexico, Costa Rica, or Europe in a year or two to experience life in another country and get an awesome $80k tax-free bonus.

Sure, you still owe taxes after the $80k, but if you move to a country where internet gambling isn't taxed, you aren't paying them any taxes either. The savings plus decreased cost of living is huge.

Let me know what you find out as I'm seriously considering doing this after I spend some time living in Vegas.

Re: Moving to Aruba/Cancun/Australia tax/residency questions
 

Yes...I have also been hearing this.

I hadn't seen anyone post on that specific idea until just a few months ago...after there had been about 9-zillion posts about the $80k-exception.


It's possible that there's some difference in there for schedule-C professional gamblers and recreational gamblers.

I honestly have no freaking clue on that whole bit about gambling-income being outside the exception.

I do know that Hilger mentioned that you get the $80k exception in his book...and I think he did this for himself as well.

Re: Moving to Aruba/Cancun/Australia tax/residency questions
 

Here's the info straight from the IRS.

Whether you call it gambling winnings or business profits, it's still not earned income.

Re: Moving to Aruba/Cancun/Australia tax/residency questions
 

I'm not an authority on gambling taxes, so it's very possible that I'm misinterpreting the tax code. However, I also would not use a poker book as my source for tax information (no offense to Hilger).