Do you travel a lot and want to plan your taxes? Digital Nomads as permanent residents of Paraguay do not have to pay tax on their foreign-sourced income and must to visit Paraguay only once during every three years to maintain the status!

What are the advantages for Digital Nomads to become a permanent resident of Paraguay?

  • No tax on your foreign-sourced income
  • Affordable process and maintenance of the resident status
  • You can travel without entry-visas in almost the entire South America (in the Mercosur member states and the associated countries)
  • Transparent, legal and straightforward taxation

Is it legal to avoid paying taxes through obtaining the permanent residence permit of Paraguay?

Yes, of course. According to the law, your foreign-sourced income is tax-exempt. However, paying your burden on your local sourced (onshore) taxes is obligatory. And you can help Paraguay to develop, don’t forget that nothing is free. If you are a “non-resident Paraguayan permanent resident” (always living abroad), then you don’t have to pay to the state, but it is always an excellent step to do. Without taxation, you can’t become a citizen. Without the tax, you can’t register invitation letters to help your friends or family to settle in Paraguay. The onshore tax is 10%, and the VAT is also 10% in Paraguay. To summarize, you don’t have to pay taxes in Paraguay, but I strongly recommend to help the country, which became your new home. Just support your local team, you will get your reward for it.

Taxation is crucial for digital nomads. Nowadays, all states are trying to tax their citizens or residents who are travelling, which is unacceptable. Why would you pay taxes, when you don’t use the services? Except for the citizens of the US and Eritrea, you can choose your tax residence. You have to check out from your high-tax country and become a resident of a low-tax jurisdiction.

Where can Digital Nomads become tax residents and lower their taxes?

It’s a complex issue, I can’t explain to you all the laws (of all the different jurisdictions) guiding your personal business, but there are some general guidelines. The first is that you become a tax resident when you stay in another country for more than 183 days per year. In the same time, you lose your tax residence if you spend more than 183 days in one or more countries and obtain the tax resident status elsewhere. There are not so many perfect solutions, and most of these are expensive. If you are a wealthy digital nomad, let me know, and I help you to get a residence permit in Monaco. There, personal income tax does not exist; so it’s easy to avoid it.

The other usual and affordable options are Malta and Panama. Malta becomes more and more severe, but it is easy to maintain the tax resident status but will cost you a significant amount per year. Panama is also affordable through the Friendly Nations Visa, and you can become a citizen after five years, without physically residing in the country, spend some weeks there annually. Which solution is the best for you: Paraguay or Panama? I love both countries, and can’t decide. However, I live in Paraguay, where the cost of my living is less than a third of the amount I spend in Panama. 

How can digital nomads become permanent and tax residents of Paraguay?

First of all, contact our office. Obtain all the necessary information (You can read it here or ask for our brochure with the detailed step by step practical info) 

You will need the following documents:

  • birth certificate
  • clean police certificate
  • certificate of marriage or divorce (if it applies)

The necessary documents must have Apostille stamps and translate those officially to Spanish. I can’t emphasize enough; we need to check your documents’ scanned copies before your arrival in Paraguay. If there is anything wrong, we can’t help you to get the right papers in Paraguay. Perhaps your Embassy can help, but usually, the clients must travel to Brasilia DF, Buenos Aires or Santiago to get the correct versions. If we check the documents before your arrival, everything will be straightforward; we can guarantee the success of your process.

The deposit for the Paraguayan Permanent Residence Permit

You also must deposit Gs. 29.519.000 in cash (app 4,600 euros but it depends on the daily exchange rates) in the National Bank. You can withdraw it after receiving the permanent residence permit. (The information on the official site of the Migrations is not really correct, regarding the deposit. Because the amount is right, but they only accept cash and guaranís, or you can change your funds there and lose a lot. 

Instead of the deposit you can buy land or validate your university degree in Paraguay. It will take a lot of time and cost a lot if you don’t need to do that to be able to work on your field (like medics, etc.).

Come to Paraguay. You can stay here, or you can come two times because the process includes two stages: 

  • application for the permanent resident permit
  • application for the ID card (cedula) 

According to the law (it means that can take more or less time in Paraguay), the Ministry must issue your permanent resident permit in three months. Then we can pick up your Paraguayan Permanent Residence Permit and ID card (cedula, RG) with a Power of Attorney and send it to you by DHL. 

What else do you need in Paraguay to become nationally and internationally tax compliant as a Digital Nomad?

It is crucial. We receive panicky phone calls almost every day from applicants, who were ripped off by fixers. They finish only the first part of the immigration process and then the happy customer receives the pr permit, which is useless without the ID card. Another typical situation is that the digital nomad gets the ID card but does not have a local tax number. Paraguayan immigration fixers and even most of the attorneys know absolutely nothing about international taxation. Don’t lose your permanent resident status, because your fixer or attorney is not professional. Don’t get in jail because of tax evasion, when you could work legally, without any problems. Use the services of professionals like us. Ask for recommendations, references. Ask about your international tax situation, the bank accounts, how to issue invoices for foreign entities.

So the next step is obtaining the RUC (TIN – tax number or tax ID). We have to register you at the Treasury and must participate in a short course to understand how can you issue invoices and use the online tax filing system. We provide this service for you in English, German, Portuguese, Italian, sometimes even in Russian as well. So you can do your business tax exempt from anywhere (if you don’t become a tax resident officially in another country and must pay your burdens there). 

How can you open foreign bank accounts with your Paraguayan tax residency?

If you are a digital nomad (or used an offshore company ever), then you know that the hardest is to open a bank account with the residence permit of a low or no-tax country. In the case of Paraguay, this beautiful country is not on any black or grey lists. We open bank accounts for our clients in several international financial centres without any problem because of our contacts and experience. Of course, you can open bank accounts in Paraguay as well. But the remitted foreign-sourced income is taxable! Except, you transfer it to Paraguay from your foreign personal bank account. 

Digital Nomads from anywhere can become Paraguayan permanent residents quickly?

No. Only the citizens of developed and second world countries. However, the vital issue is entry-visa. Americans, Australians, Canadians can pick up one upon arrival. Meanwhile, citizens of China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the African countries need to ask the Embassy for a visitor visa. And it is challenging to obtain one. In most cases, we need to register an invitation letter at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for investors. We can help you, but that’s a more complex solution and costs three times more. 

Do you want to become a Paraguayan tax resident Digital Nomad? Ask for more information or set up a consultation with us at the “Contact” section of Tucanoprod.com!