Countries Competing for You and Your Capital

Last week in Asunción, Paraguay, Ken Johnson and I had lunch at an exclusive country club with a Paraguayan congressman whom I cannot name. Now, I know what many of you are saying: “Jeff Berwick talks to politicians?” Here’s my excuse. First of all, your average politician in most small countries is usually a petty criminal. I can handle talking to a petty criminal like a pickpocket for a few minutes. It’s a matter of scale. If I ever were to be introduced to Darth Dick Cheney, I’d do a lot worse than what Doug Casey did when he didn’t shake Cheney’s hand and told him why at an investment conference a few years ago. Or Nancy Pelosi. Or Charles Schumer. But I digress. 

But as part of our mission to help as many people escape from the US leviathan as possible we do have to deal with governments. It’s a dirty part of the business, I know. But there is simply no other way to truly free people today other than getting them citizenship and a second slave card in countries with governments that have not developed (and probably never will develop) into the panopticon of the US government or other Western nation states.

As we spoke to the congressman in Paraguay, he told us about how Paraguay wants business to come there. How they are very open for business, and how they realize that they have to compete with other countries for skilled and/or wealthy expatriates.

They are all finally starting to get it. Some countries are getting it faster and some much slower than others… and some have no concept of what their pricing should be. Take Ireland, for example!

IRISH EYES ARE SMILING…FOR ONLY 2 MILLION EURO!

The government of the Republic of Ireland has been trying to rebuild the country’s economy after one of the largest banking collapses, and bailouts, in history. A few months ago they began offering a special residence visa (which can lead to full citizenship) to foreign individuals willing to invest in the country.

Under the program potential Irish investor-immigrants have several choices, including a one-time payment to “the arts”, or an investment in a low-interest bond, property investments and government securities. The minimum amounts range from 500,000 euro to 2 million euro.

Yes, you read that right! You can become a citizen of a country and region that is all but assured to collapse economically and steal from their own citizens. In fact in March 2009, the Irish government stole €4bn from the National Reserve Pension Fund to rescue insolvent Irish banks. Then in November 2010, the €2.5bn that remained in the fund was seized to support the bailout of the rest of the country. 

So it only costs a few million to become a tax slave to a country with an egregious top income tax rate of 41% and one of the most bankrupt countries in history? What a bargain!  They should be paying you to go there.

ANTIGUA THROWS ITS HAT INTO THE RING

But slowly, other more enticing tax zones with little or no debt are also realizing that a lot of money can be made attracting foreigners. This week Antigua is considering following in the footsteps of St. Kitts & Nevis. The Antigua Labor Party (ALP) is now embracing an Economic Citizenship Program (ECP) as a way to turn around the country’s ailing economy. Antigua’s government has noticed that St. Kitts & Nevis has raised $100 million with their version of an ECP. Though, Lester Bird of the ALP stated that the program would have to be higher than a one-time contribution of $250,000 and $20,000 per year like it is in St. Kitts & Nevis in order to “jump-start the economy”, which means Antigua’s expensive economic citizenship programs will be one of the more expensive ones available.

OTHER MUCH BETTER OPTIONS

Ireland and Antigua are going to have to get a lot more competitive if they really want to attract expatriates. While they may offer some value adds, such as a better travel passport (EU), they simply don’t compete in terms of cost with citizenship programs in places like Paraguay, Dominican Republic, and Cambodia, all exclusive programs negotiated direct by TDV Passports. All three countries have much smaller debt levels than their Western counterparts: 17.4% of GDP for Paraguay, 36.8% for Dominican Republic, and 28.6% for Cambodia (as of 2011).

All three have very little or no income tax. Paraguay didn’t even have an income tax until a couple of years ago and even now the income tax there is only a flat 10% which only affects higher wage earners and only applies to income earned in Paraguay. Cambodia’s top rate is only 20%. The top rate is 25% in the Dominican Republic. But it’s important to realize that in both Paraguay and the Dominican Republic residents pay zero tax on foreign income.

All three countries are also competing for your business, for much, much cheaper than Antigua or Ireland. And more are right behind them. Lately, Ken Johnson has been constantly on the go via planes, trains, and automobiles from country to country, negotiating on behalf of our subscribers for the best rates and ease of attaining citizenship. And our business is being welcomed with open arms wherever we go.

Then there are places like Canada, the country where I was born. I recently approached the Canadian government about the ease of getting a Canadian passport (solely for travel reasons) for my Mexican wife and daughter. Their demands were far too much for me: we all would have to live in Canada for a number of years and pay their massive income tax (amounts that would add up to millions) just to have the honor of holding the Canadian slave card. Ha! Thanks, but no thanks Canada. You can keep your free healthcare, I’ll keep my money—and my sanity, not having to live in the land of rules, regulations, and tax robbery.

The Dollar Vigilante is a free-market financial newsletter focused on covering all aspects of the ongoing financial collapse. The newsletter has news, information and analysis on investments for safety and for profit during the collapse including investments in gold, silver, energy and agriculture commodities and publicly traded stocks. As well, the newsletter covers other aspects including expatriation, both financially and physically and news and info on health, safety and other ways to survive the coming collapse of the US Dollar safely and comfortably. You can sign up to receive our FREE monthly newsletter, our Basic Newsletter ($15/month) or our Full Newsletter ($25/month) with specific stock recommendations and updates at our Subscriptions page on our website at DollarVigilante.com.