Hello,

I am currently preparing to change my tax residency from the EU to Cambodia. I am a trader of options on the traditional stock exchange through Interactive Brokers.

I would like to move to Cambodia and have a few questions, as the information online is contradictory and I have also received answers from agents who do not know how it works exactly.

Business visa and tax residency confirmation:
Will obtaining a business visa provide me with confirmation of tax residency from the Cambodian authorities and a TIN identification number?

Sole proprietorship for individual traders:
As a person trading on the stock exchange on my own behalf, not as a fund, etc., do I need to open a sole proprietorship? If not, on what basis will I be able to renew my business visa without having a business there?

Taxation of stock exchange profits:
The Ministry of Finance website states that capital gains, including those from the stock exchange, are taxed at 20%. However, on another website, I found that the tax is suspended and stands at 0%. Could you please clarify this?

Opening IB and Binance accounts in Cambodia:
Has anyone here opened accounts with IB and Binance in Cambodia? Were there any problems with this?

ADDITIONAL IDEA from a friend in China:

What do you think about going to Hong Kong for a few days to open a bank account and IB there, and stating Hong Kong residency based on a visa? Apparently, there is no problem with this. Then, I could go to Cambodia and live there, but have all accounts registered in Hong Kong, which is a much safer residency with a guaranteed zero tax rate without any ambiguities. The only downside is that Hong Kong reports to CRS.

Thank you for your help.

I was able to open an IB account here no problem, not sure re: Binance.

You can trade a normal pleb from here, no company needed. You won't be able to get a tax number here, this I think you can just state that Cambodia doesn't have it, job done. Tax is still at zero as far as I know, the capital gains tax has been mooted for a while, but never pushed through so far; but I'm sure it will be coming at some point.

The visa for this sort of thing you need @PSD-Kiwi for, he's the expert

Ok, thanks for the information. I will ask Kiwi about the details of the visa.

And also regarding the tax do you know how far in advance they give information on how the next year will be, because as far as I know they have this practice of suspending this tax for many years.

No idea, it has been on the cards for a long time, but one of those sorts of things that takes a decade to implement in Cambodia. I haven't lost any sleep on it yet!

Thank you for your help. You know I live and do business in the EU then you can guess how controlled every move and transfer is, I guess I actually stress too much because Asia is a free world after all compared to the mess that goes on in Europe

K.T. wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 10:25 pm Thank you for your help. You know I live and do business in the EU then you can guess how controlled every move and transfer is, I guess I actually stress too much because Asia is a free world after all compared to the mess that goes on in Europe

You are on the right track. Cambodia is a very free society as long as you keep your nose out of politics and don't make accusations - true or not - against big Khmer companies or people; the defamation laws are not to be messed with. Financially, it is very lax, you won't get bothered by the taxman.

I suspect you're biggest job is to understand and comply with what is required to get your local tax authorities off your back. Make sure you fully understand what they require for you to break your current residency status and what it takes for you to restart it, perhaps accidently! Governments with mature and far reaching taxation systems (all of Europe, North America etc) don't like it when their own citizens wander off the dairy farm and stop being milked - this might be especially true if you go to what they see as a tax haven.

If there's a tax treaty between the EU country and the new country they're usually pretty lax, and all is fairly clear. If there's none, which is usually the case when moving to Cambodia, prepare for some serious wrestling with the bloodhounds which can take years. And don't forget the taxman has more power than you can imagine when you start the process. When they think you owe them, they can simply seize funds, properties etc etc or lock you in when you return.