Tax-favorable countries: 0% on cap gains WITHOUT a 'professional' bucket taxing CGs as normal income

mitchell_1 said:
I read most of the tax-friendly-countries thread in the forum, but had a more nuanced Q I didn't see addressed.

There's a list of countries that levy NO personal income tax, which of course is ideal, but they are typically not all that desirable as places to live, e.g. Panama, Costa Rica, Monaco (so the absence of income tax is presumably a carrot they have to dangle to entice ex-pats.)

There's a far broader list of countries that would seem to be better options (developed cities, higher quality of life, etc) and with no (or very low e.g. <10%) taxes on capital gains. HOWEVER most of those on this list still differentiate between professional & non-professional traders, and if they determine that you're a pro (usually via factors like frequency/complexity of trades, % income derived from trading, etc) they'll tax your capital gains as ordinary income, defeating the entire purpose.

So I'm hoping someone else has looked into this and can offer any tips on developed countries where *any and all stock trades* are tax-free (or taxed very lightly) regardless of any pro vs non-pro distinction.
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You should check Gibraltar and Malta (both in Europe).
 
Sweden.

5% effective tax on passive investment. 30% capital gains tax on active trading. There is no distinction between capital gains and business. Trading as a person is taxed at a 30% capital gains rate - never as business income.

Now, depending on how much you earn from passive investments compared to active trading, let's say the combined effective rate is 23%. In Sweden you do not pay for health care, primary school, university, child care is primarily publicly financed, pension and a host of other stuff like cultural recreation. Adjusted for that the real effective tax rate compared to other countries for a trader is rather 10-15%.

I believe that makes Sweden quite attractive for traders. Swedish women are another asset.

Two caveats:
1) Your trading has to be consistently profitable on an annual basis, because you cannot carry losses forward.
2) Significant problems with immigration.
 
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