Yeah, that dreadful 0% death duty, 0% Capital Gains, 0% stamp duty is a killer. We have GST (aka VAT) but it's tolerable and the income taxes are ok. Atleast you know if you turn up in hospital you'll be treated before any paperwork is done and when you have a loved one admitted for weeks or months their care is you main worry, not the bill. And your kids get a decent education at all schools, not just the private ones. And toll roads are few and far between. Taxes are not the reason to count NZ off the list. There are probably any number of reasons, just not that one.
Brendan Battles moved down here - and has been given such a hard time he's had to go clean - or so he reckons. Privacy laws can work both ways - parents have to fight schools and doctors to find out what's going on with their kids when they get older. But problems such as identity theft are pretty rare.
You take the good with the bad.... I have a friend that lives down there.. He's close to Peter Jackson...
I believe that Eastern Europe is a goldmine of opportunity. The Czech Republic will hit you with a 32% income tax and a 19% VAT tax, so it may not be the best first choice. Lithuania is only slightly better with their 27% income tax and 18% VAT. Mother Russia itself is somewhat of a bargain, with a low 13% income tax along with an 18% VAT. The trick may not be to find a country with all-around low-taxes, but to find one with low taxes for you. Many countries have what are called "territorial" tax systems. This means that those countries do not tax money that you earn overseas. And, in many cases, AdSense (etc...) income can be seen as "overseas" income. Does this make sense to you?
39% income tax plus 12.5% VAT is OK? The U.S. has only 35% income tax and no national VAT and I'm complaining about it here. The U.S. has the best health care system in the world, which is one of the main reasons we're having trouble relocating. The U.S. has the worlds best university system -- tied to one of the worlds worst primary education systems. We're planning to educate our (potential future) children at home. I can't imagine trusting any government-run school system with my children. We have one toll road here. With the new RFID toll tags, it's actually not annoying. I much prefer a VERY VERY VERY high gasoline tax to pay for roads, but I have come to peace with toll roads. If I were in charge, the U.S. would implement a gas tax which increased automatically by 3 cents per month -- every month. Ohhh... now you have my curiosity piqued!
I don't think I have ever been on a toll road in the USA. I've ehard they have them on the east coast.
Most of them are worthless... Specifically those in Illinois.. They are all over the place and suck... Myself, I just drive right through them.. I cannot bring myself to pay for a road that drives like shit..
I am not the biggest fan of Democracy; I am a big fan of limited government. I tried to write this up once in a blog post titled Why this isn't Fort Democracy. My wife speaks very kindly towards Fiji, but I can't figure out why.
The hosting company is HavenCo although the site looks pretty dormant now. You may also be interested in Seasteading an initiative was started by one of the HavenCo directors (but that looks pretty dormant as well now).
HOT - most girls down here are dark skin brown eyes... I think a white skinned latin chic with light eyes is the best mixture ever.