My husband left the Dominican Republic at the age of four, so he has limited knowledge of living adult life there. He does have family still there who can share certain info, but are likely not too savvy on these subjects. As we have been reading the blogs regarding certain challenges, we are wondering how being a Dominican citizen will ease our transition in relocating there, specifically in the areas of income and or business taxes, opening a business, being employed, bank accounts, employment, and legal residency or citizenship for our two children and myself. We have a comfortable position of having sufficient resources, capabilities, and flexibility to choose employment or opening a business without hurrying, and to select what will be most advantageous financially and for our family life.
Also, we are wondering if it would benefit him to obtain US citizenship before he returns and maintain dual citizenship. He has been a resident alien in the US for 43 years and contributed plenty to the economy and social security in the US. (We are thinking about future benefits such as social security or perhaps situations of governmental instability that may cause us to want to easily return to the US.) We wonder if dual citizenship for him will complicate our situation tax wise? Or Can he maintain status as a resident alien in the US? Can our US business pay us dividends tax free in DR? We hear unofficially that the US has universal taxation- could this mean we have double taxation?
Perhaps we need to contact both an attorney AND an accountant who understands the tax implications and legalities- in the US and DR?
Would appreciate any input or resources!
Dominican Citizen Returning- Business, Taxes, Dual Citizenship
Welcome to the forum! As a former financial planner you need to ask a good tax accountant there and probably here as well.
I absolutely suggest he get dual citizenship. And yes him being Dominican citizen makes things much easier when you are here. You have right to citizenship by marriage as do his offspring! So much easier for you all.
Take your time deciding where to live, work, build, invest in etc. It's very different here from one place to another.
Welcome to the forum.
YES get his US citizenship before moving here. You also should contact an international tax accountant/lawyer as well as one here.
Come for a long visit (a couple of months) before deciding on relocating.
Bob K
Welcome to the forum. Like Bob and planner suggested, he should get his citizenship, otherwise he will have to re-enter the US every 6 months to maintain his resident status. Universal taxation is true, and if you plan to become citizens here and open a legal business there is a good chance you will have to pay double taxes. There are a few folks living here that work remotely and neither have a residency or citizenship and have managed to get away with not paying taxes here, but that is probably not the best way to go if you are planning on settling here.
Thanks for all the input!
Here in Florida we pay federal tax on incomes, business taxes, sales tax 6%, real estate tax, tourist tax, permits and licenses for everything. Is it pretty much the same there? And what is that special tax at restaurants? And then a ton of money to our accountant annually to figure it all out for us!
Taxes: How do you compare taxes in the DR to US in specific or general terms?
Employment: Also, knowing what and who you know, besides being independently wealthy or having a great pension, what seems to be the ideal situation you have observed for a man still in his prime supporting a family? Working for a US company or going into business...or....? I hear the wages from a Dominican company are extremely low-comparable to the cost of living. It sounds as though going into an official business is more complicated than we expected, considering labor laws, taxes (maybe double), corruption, dishonesty, etc. We are looking for an uncomplicated and low stress life- but will still need to supplement our reserves.
Thank you in advance for your thoughts.
Taxes on a whole are a lot less here.
Jobs ... that will be a problem for you guys. Many who have to work do so for "home companies' and work here remotely. Other wise it is hard to make a decent living. If you have an idea for something that does not exist here that may be the ticket. Service orientated companies also can do well.
Bob K
My husband inherited a never give up, just work harder attitude from his parents who scratched and scrapped until they created a good life for their family- against all odds in the US 40 plus years ago. Ironic that he now is showing the same bravery (in my eyes) to return to the DR and figure out the right thing to support our family there. Ironic that he wishes for the simpler life, while they wanted to give a "better" life of opportunities.
He currently owns a very successful and honest auto repair shop, but also has extensive experience in heavy equipment (sales, service, and inventory control) for Caterpillar and John Deere. He can fix anything in a home or mechanical. He is also a smart and conservative businessman. I have every confidence in him figuring something out!
As a general rule- do I have this right?: From what I am understanding, pursuing a job from an American based company as a Caribbean rep might be best. Next might be creating a business- which seems complicated due to unfamiliarity and not being able to trust advisors who may want to take advantage. Seems as though performing a labor or service personally would rarely pay, since DR labor is so cheap. And lastly, most DR based jobs have low pay, with the possible exception of a high pressure corporate job, which is part of what we want to escape. We are simply trying to understand the most likely advantageous avenue to explore first.
Enjoy your feedback, and very grateful for it! And we are all working on achieving dual citizenship as soon as possible, thanks for that advice.
I do both recruiting and placement here in my consulting g practice. He has some interesting options. First does he speak fluent Spanish? I don't want to assume.....
Private message me and we can discuss the options.
Also setting up a company here is not hard at all!
And I will reinforce his getting his US citizenship before coming here. Once here you can all get your Dominican citizenship as well!!!
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