TAX situation for long time travellers

Topics

• Do I have to pay TAX if I live everywhere?
• Which country try to collect TAXes from me?
• How can I work legally in any country?

Working On Tourist Visas

Most digital nomads travel on tourist visas, which is kind of a legal grey-area. You are not technically supposed to “work” on a tourist visa.

Unfortunately digital nomads are not well understood in many parts of the world, and the laws are not set up kindly for us. While we are technically working, we’re not taking jobs away from locals — which is what work visas try to prevent.

When immigration asks what you’re doing in their country, most digital nomads say "tourist".

When officials ask what I do for a living, I say I work in marketing, and I’m traveling on vacation. Keep it simple. Complicated explanations will get you pulled aside for more questioning, and possibly denied entry if they don’t like or understand your answer.

Is It Legal To Be A Digital Nomad?

Technically, not really. Most digital nomads work while traveling on tourist visas, which is illegal. However because they are just working from their laptops, and not stealing local jobs, it is very difficult to enforce.

Some countries have started making it legal with special remote work visas you can apply for.