On the list of Latin American countries that pay the most taxes, Brazil comes second only to Cuba. According to data from Brazil’s National Treasury, the Brazilian tax burden reached 33.58% of the GDP in 2018, the latest period reviewed. In more recent information, according to the São Paulo Commercial Association, Brazilians have already paid R$1.1 trillion in taxes since January 2019, says the data from the taxometer. Such expressive numbers attached to the ever lessening work posts have increased the number of people who decide to restart their lives in another country. In 2018 alone, 22.4 thousand people handed in the definitive exit statement, according to the IRS. With this in mind, we have listed some of the countries where one pays the least taxes.
Beginning with the United Arab Emirates, a nation supplied by the wealth of the oil industry, and that exempts its inhabitants from paying high taxes. Besides offering job opportunities, the country doesn’t charge any taxes, not even for Social Security or for the health system, which is free. Kuwait is another country rich in oil and benefits for its residents, where no taxes are charged and jobs are offered for specialized openings in its main economic branch. To have an idea, foreign workers have access to the country’s health system by paying a tax of 173 dollars per year.
Qatar is another country that respects the earnings of its workers. This Middle Eastern nation does not tax its work force and does not charge taxes, even for the Health System or for Social Security, from natives as well as from foreigners. Let’s now go to destinations that won’t be seen as merely touristic, considering them as a possibility for residence: the Maldives and the Bahamas. Neither one charge taxes from its residents. With limited openings for jobs, both places make up for this with exemptions from the main taxes. Only in the Bahamas, residents are charged 11.8% for Social Security.
Besides attracting tourists from all over the world, the Principality of Monaco, a microstate in the South of France, is at first scary, due to its high cost of living, but makes up for this by tax exemptions on income and for companies doing most of their business in the country. This tourist and fiscal paradise only charges an average tax of 13% for Social Security, and millionaires comprise 30% of its population. Andorra is another principality that attracts new residents. Situated between France and Spain, it charges between 5% and 9% in taxes for Social Security. The microstate attracts expatriates due to its tax exemptions and work opportunities.
