Do Digital Nomads Pay Taxes?

More and more people are able to live wherever they want and work remotely. Home is where the heart is, and work is where the laptop is. Many a blogger, designer, developer, journalist, consultant, etc. etc. dreams of working a few hours a day from a Balinese beach, iPhone in one hand, coconut in the other. This life is often referred to as being ‘ digital nomads ’. 

Digital nomads have no home base and travel from one pleasant place to another while being able to work and make money as long as they have power and wifi. Popular destinations for digital nomads are, for instance, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Colombia Costa Rica.

We regularly analyze digital nomads ’ tax positions. They often argue that as they live everywhere, they live nowhere, and thus need to pay tax nowhere. The (Dutch) tax authorities beg to differ. In their point of view, you only stop being a Dutch tax resident when you start paying taxes elsewhere. Especially when you come back within a few years, this might trigger back taxes, both for income tax and VAT.

Therefore it is important to take the right decisions and measures. Do yourself a favour and prevent such worries by having your tax position reviewed professionally. Get in touch through email or phone.