Why Latin America is “Tax Hell”

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Discover how to avoid "Tax Hells" in Latin America. We explore the criteria that make a country a tax nightmare and highlight nations with favorable tax conditions like Uruguay and Panama. Learn about investment opportunities, tax residency requirements, and strategies to minimize your tax burden while enjoying life in Latin America.

00:00 Start
00:37 Criteria for Tax Hell
01:04 Countries Improving
01:25 Issue in the Tax Hell Definition
04:11 List of Tax Hells
05:34 Countries with Favorable Tax Regimes
06:42 Uruguay’s Tax Policies
07:15 Panama’s Territorial Tax Regime
11:50 Comparison to Emerging Asia

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We create and execute holistic, multi-jurisdictional Plans that help clients keep more of their wealth, increase their personal freedom, and protect their families and wealth against threats in their home country.

No other firm offers clients access to more potential options to relocate to, bank in, or become a citizen of. Because we do not focus only on one or a handful of countries, we can offer unbiased advice where others can't.

DISCLAIMER: The information in this video should not be considered tax, financial, investment, or any kind of professional advice. Only a professional diagnosis of your specific situation can determine which strategies are appropriate for your needs. Nomad Capitalist can and does not provide advice unless/until engaged by you.

[oreilly]

I asked some small business owners in Mexico about paying taxes. They said that they don't pay taxes, they pay the cops.

[franciscoriandasilvamoreir]

As a Brazilian, here are some of the atrocities that happen here.
- Want a new vehicle? Around 38%~ of its value is taxes. Not to mention gas prices come with its own taxes as well, varies per state (but its around 30%)
Oh, you want to drive your vehicle? Pay IPVA (Motor Vehicle Property Tax) and the licensing on your vehicle YEARLY.(again, varies per state, IPVA is between 1-4% of the vehicles VALUE.)
- If you live anywhere but under a rock, you need to pay a Tax on Urban Property and Territorial Property (IPTU), which varies depending on your state, can go as low as 0.6% or 1.4% of the property value. There is also one for Rural areas, but it's essencially the same thing.
- Recently the government approved a law that taxes imported products by a ludicrous 92%, if said product goes above a $50 threshold. (they also want to get rid of this threshold, so anything is taxed).
The Olympics are happening right? One gymnast won R$826k (U$145k~) from the Brazilian Olympic Commitee, she needs to pay 27.5% of her earnings as income tax (R$227k, or U$40k)
I just scratched the surface, theres PLENTY more where all of those came from.

[CovilSecreto]

In Brazil our economy minister is called TAXAD!

[pepperoni-pizza]

In mexico there is a criminal tax called "Derecho de piso" that is when you establish a small business and suddenly criminals come to you and demand a payment to do business in that area, otherwise you risk to be killed or your business destroyed. Fortunately it doesn't happen everywhere. But many successful business owners have died because of that.

[lm]

Brazil is such a nightmare when talking about taxes. We pay so much money in taxes and we have absolutely no return from the government. The quality of public services is just getting worse every year. No surprise so many people are leaving the country. 😕

[gabriel]

In regards to rule of law Latin America is particularly terrible.
In Brazil in particular it is a nightmare, you never known what is coming next.

[WilliamGK]

Brazil I don’t know I’m living in Canada 🇨🇦 and there is tax on tax on tax on tax on tax every penny here in Canada is taxed the worst country in the world is here under Trudeau.

[MG-ktck]

I live in Uruguay, it's a bureaucratic nightmare. If that's a favourable business country, then things are worse than I thought. Prices end up being pretty much the same as in Europe, but without the services and quality of life.

[belstar]

i heard a lot of horror stories about Brazilian import taxes and also in some other south American countries in most countries taxes are not a big deal for the average person. but in brazil it really ruins a lot of basic things .

[facbl]

I am brazilian! Here we work from 1 january till 27 may only to pay taxes. Umbeliaveble but true. Everything you buy have taxes over taxes.

[gustavop]

absolutely true, BRAZIL is the bottom of that.

[primeracalidad]

Living in costa rica now for 20 years. You are incorrect about the taxes. If you want to go iut to eat you pay 23% tax. Pretty much anything you buy from construction materials to electronics to autos. You pay double the price of what they are worth because they are taxed heavily.

[osmaks]

You don't need a bank account in Bosnia, it's cash only 😂

[lucialoftus]

I think the government's instability is essential. One day, you have one president, and in two years, there may be someone new. I have friends from Argentina who go there often. The Americans say, "They let this white guy, " etc. I find this ironic because most Argentinians are of European descent. There are white people in every Latin American country. People say to me you are white you do not look Hispanic. Hispanic is not a race. The best Italian food I have ever eaten is in Argentina!

[HalKW]

Apparently, Uruguay is the Switzerland of Latin America; very, very expensive ....

[calebgillett]

Moving to Paraguay for a few years coming from America and I can not wait it’s such a beautiful country and I plan on doing business in Asunción

[srbrigao]

I'm Brazilian and Brazil really is a fiscal and bureaucratic hell. Mainly bureaucratic, here it is more difficult for you to know how much tax you need to pay than it is to actually pay it. I'm so used to this hell that I can't even imagine what it's like to live in a free country.

Everything is controlled by the government, businesspeople are seen as villains and profit is frowned upon by society. Here it became a true communist country. As incredible as it may seem, it is slowly improving. Before the 2000s we couldn't even import technology, what we had were pirated copies of goods from abroad. But I still have hope for improvement here.

[Iyasakami]

I study accounting in Brazil and it's the hell. Here, the accountants works mostly for tax reduction and the tax system is so confusing that a lawyer just made a book with all tax legislation and the book finished with 2, 1 meters height (taller than LeBron James).

[Norrieey]

Hey, I'm in Australia. Wondering if the stuff you recommend is USA specific or does it translate to other western countries? I know the US tends to have quite unique tax laws. Positive cash flow properties don't tend to work in Australia for example.

[josebazocosta]

In Perú only big corporations are audited, most small businesses are "informales"... In any case, income tax is 30%. Personal tax, for earnings in investments is 5%. Sales tax 18%...
"Informal Economy" is 75%....
Peruvians are extremely entrepreneurial...
While the private sector moves at 150 km/hrs.. the public sector moves at 20 kms/hrs
Unfortunately....