Expat Files - 01/10/14

-We all know that the IRS is an agency that’s been out of control for the last few decades. The tax nazis with with their ungodly 60,000 pages of tax code will snag you if they can. It’s understandable why everyone grumbles about it. That’s why its important to know about huge tax advantages for gringos and expats living outside the USA.

-Some broke, highly bureaucratic Latin countries (the “usual suspects” being Panama and Costa Rica) in their quest to be just like the big tax and spend countries like the USA have been trying to slip in their own subversive first-world style tax bills without open hearings or debates. Here’s the dirt on what’s just happened in Panama…

-For some adventurous folks one of life’s great dreams is to take a cruise around the world and through the Panama canal. Some romantics even dream of taking their own boats through the locks. How might that work out in real life and how much would it cost? This will really surprise you…

-Due to pressure from its citizens, Cuba is slowly opening up commerce and a limited amount of street-level capitalism. But when the government loosens the noose a bit they always seem to dole out a fair dose of pain along with the deal…. as seen by the new 2014 liberalized auto purchasing laws. Now, for the first time since the 1950's revolution, residents can buy a car without waiting years for special government permits. But the hitch is that uncle Fidel has raised vehicle taxes to a point where cars now cost about 400% of their first-world sticker price!

-People often want to know how they can earn a first-world salary in Latin America. Expats who start businesses do it all the time. But some people don’t want the usual business headaches and prefer working for the man… on a first-world salary of course. Yes, it can be done but it’s not at all easy- or everyone would be doing it.

-My January 2014 “Expat Wisdom” seminar is filled. For those of you who wanted in on that and didn’t sign up in time, you’ll have to wait some months and see if I’m going to do another (maybe, maybe not).

-Follow the link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com to schedule a private consultation with me. If you want to discuss the details of living, working, playing, doing business and/or retiring in Latin America, now you and I can talk about your situation one on one.