Case study — crypto investor

You are the most expensive, but the best. This is my 4th and last consultation.

A young, talented man with a keen eye and an analytical mind, very young. A millionaire. He booked a consultation on a tax residency certificate, a company in Dubai, and the purchase of real estate. He was willing to pay for it all, to make sure it was done legally.

What he had been told

One consultant told him he needed a TRC, a company, and 183 days a year in the UAE. He doesn’t plan to live in Dubai, but he does plan to buy property and visit. He didn’t know which one, because while browsing the internet, he discovered how difficult it was to get a bank account for a Freezone company. Someone told him a TRC was required to avoid paying taxes locally and to avoid problems in Poland. He has no income in Poland; it’s all in the blockchain. He has no families, children, wives, loans, real estate, businesses, or traditional income.

What he actually needed

In the UAE, stock market, crypto, and real estate gains are tax-free. Many cryptocurrency traders withdraw their profits to a private account in the UAE. In other words, my client learned that he doesn’t need a company to profit from his blockchain earnings. All he needs is a bank account in the Emirates to withdraw money from here, and he also needs a residency visa — something many previous consultants confuse with a tax residency certificate.

The Tax Residence certificate, TRC, is a document issued by the FTA, based on income in the UAE, a stay of 183 days in the UAE (90 in the case of business owners) and a document on the rental of a long-term apartment. A residency visa is something else entirely.

A residency visa is a form of registration in the UAE metropolitan area of 10 million residents. It allows you to not be a tourist, have an Emirates ID, and live here. You can apply for a visa for a company, spouse, or job. A golden visa is available for bank capital, real estate, profession, or talent. There are 18 types of residency visas. You can also apply for a visa for remote work, providing proof of earning more than $5,000 per month, and receive a low-cost one-year visa.

The visa gives you a hassle-free private account in the UAE, which gives you the ability to withdraw money from the blockchain universe through an exchange, or connect a brokerage account to your private account and live peacefully.

The result

The young millionaire paid a substantial fee for the consultation, but he didn’t have to spend AED 30,000 on the company or stay in the UAE for a TRC, which he doesn’t need for the UAE, and wouldn’t get for Poland anyway. A Pole in the UAE won’t receive a TRC for an individual in Poland due to the signed agreement between Poland and the UAE. This certificate is necessary to fight the tax office over money and property held in Poland — the centre of his life — and the young millionaire has nothing in Poland.

He is currently deciding whether to get a golden visa for the real estate he is looking for, or to earn money remotely.

Why my consultations are paid

The problem with consulting with people is that they say things that help sell their own services. They often scare and obfuscate to keep you dependent. My consultations are paid, so I don’t feel pressured to sell anything. A client who has received real confidence in their actions sends an average of five clients a year for larger projects. I have no other means of advertising. I don’t need one.

Tax silent quitting

I and my clients coined the term “tax silent quitting.” It’s a process that occurs when a business owner relocates their income to the UAE and slowly disappears from Europe along with their capital.

It works great when someone trades internationally or offers online services. It doesn’t work when someone invoices their own Polish company for “consulting” using a company in the UAE, and somehow it always comes before the tax returns. Firstly, Poland adds withholding tax to such invoices, and secondly, it stinks and triggers audits.

Costs are published on this site — consultation fees, the pricelist, and the company setup process including the Golden Visa. Everything is split into official fees, which the client pays directly, and the cost of my — expensive — labour.