The lifestyle as digital nomad is popular for more than a decade. It offers undeniable benefits like the possibility to discover many different countries in the world, enjoy the best locations without getting bored by the same scenery the whole year. While you travel around the world as digital nomads, you can set as many flags according to the Flag Theory as you would like to. Surely, it requires a job which you can do from anywhere in the world (why not becoming a representative of Singabiz®?). At the same time, digital nomads live in most cases completely tax free if they observe their stay duration in each country visited.
Increasing tensions in Europe
Having the digital nomad lifestyle can help (like a second, third, etc. permanent residency or citizenship elsewhere) to avoid current escalations in your home countries, yet before the exit restrictions or border closure might get in force. For example, the Christ-Democrats in Germany are seriously discussing the introduction of state of tension (the preliminary stage of state of war or state of defense) which would allow the government to install mandatory military service, restriction on leaving the country for certain categories of citizens, stringent controls at the country borders and many more other measures which would simply be not allowed or difficult to introduce in peace times. English article about it can be found on the website of American-German Institute. The German Ministry of Defense is currently working on a legal basis for an introduction of regular mandatory military camps or trainings for all reservists (article in German).
Different qualifications as tax residency
Different countries have different rules and laws in regards of the duration of the stay if it is about fiscal residency. Most countries follow the rule of 183 days: if you stay more than 183 days in a year in one of them, you most probably will become a tax resident as it will be assumed that the country where you spend the most time of the year is the country where you have the center of your interest.
Though even in this case, different countries count 183 days in different ways. It can be 183 days in a calendar year, or 183 days in the last 12 months, as an example. But there are also countries applying more sophisticated systems. For example, the USA apply a so-called Substantial Presence Test which considers the time period of the current year and the last two years. However, each year is weighed differently. The days of the current year are counted in full, the days of the previous year are counted to one third, and the days of the 2nd prior year are counted to one sixth. If – applying this approach – the sum of your stay in the USA in the last 3 years sums up to 183 days, it will be sufficient to spend there just 31 days in the current year and the mousetrap snaps.
90 days in a country may be sufficient
In other countries you can become a tax resident after a stay of 90 days only. Yet others can look at how long did you stay abroad compared to the stay in them. If your stay in that country is the longest compared to all others you were travelling in the course of the year, you can be considered as tax resident in that country.
Some others link your tax residency to the available and owned property in that country.
You see that the topic of tax residency can be pretty complex around the world and treated very differently from country to country.
Easy tracking
Keeping flight tickets, hotel bills and other proof of your stays in each country can be cumbersome. But how else can you efficiently observe the duration of your stays in each one of them?
Singabiz®’ partner has developed an app suitable for digital nomads covering the tracking part of the problem. When you install the app on your phone, it tracks automatically your location.
The app safely uses automatic background tracking and GPS to log your location history without draining your battery. You can also import data from your photo gallery (EXIF data) or add trips manually to build a complete history.
It provides complete visibility into your time spent in each country. It is designed to help you effortlessly monitor your days, avoid unintended tax residency, and maintain documentation for visa requirements or personal records. Your data is stored exclusively on your device. Nothing is transmitted to servers of our partner, ensuring complete privacy and data control.
Special offer
The app is available for android and apple devices in a free and paid versions. When you open our referral link on your mobile device and install the application, you can get one month for free on premium subscription services. This would allow you to test the application in depth before subscribing to it. Just enter “singabiz” in the “redeem code” section. This offer is available until 30.09.2026.
Feel free to book a consultation with us, if you would like to learn more about the setup as digital nomad or planning to apply for a permanent residency or a citizenship by investment. Singabiz® and our partners within Singabiz® Network will be glad to assist you.
