Guides & how-tos

Tax residency, day counting, and the rules that catch people out.

Clear, practical guides to the day-count rules that decide where you owe tax - and exactly how to track each one automatically with Tax Residency Tracker on iPhone.

Digital Nomads Tax-Free and Low-Tax Countries for Digital Nomads in 2026 The complete 2026 map of zero-tax, territorial-tax and special-regime countries for digital nomads - 35+ options compared, what each really requires, and how to track the days that make it legal. 13 min read Digital Nomads Digital Nomad Visas Compared: The Best Countries in 2026 Every serious digital nomad visa in 2026 compared - income requirements, duration, and the tax clause nobody reads. Which visas exempt your income, which trap you, and how to track the days. 11 min read Global Rules The 183-Day Rule by Country: Complete 2026 Reference Day-count thresholds for 45+ countries in one table - who uses 183 days, who uses 60, 90, 180 or 182, rolling windows vs calendar years, and how each country counts a day. 10 min read Digital Nomads Best Tax Residency for Expats: How to Choose Your Base in 2026 A decision guide to picking your tax residency as an expat or nomad - the best base by profile (freelancer, employee, investor, retiree, family), what each requires, and how to make it stick. 10 min read Digital Nomads Low-Tax Countries for Online Business Owners in 2026 The best low-tax bases for app, SaaS and online business owners - Estonia, Georgia, Cyprus, Indonesia's 0.5% regime, Singapore and more, compared across all three tax layers. 11 min read Digital Nomads Zero-Tax Countries for Online Business Owners in 2026 Where an app or SaaS business can genuinely pay 0% - the UAE free zone stack, Caribbean zero-tax bases, the US LLC structure for non-Americans, and the residency rules that make 0% survive. 11 min read Digital Nomads App Store Payouts Without a Company: Where You Pay Tax Apple pays your app subscriptions to you personally and you have no company - how that income is taxed, whether you need to incorporate, and how moving to a better tax system legally changes the answer. 10 min read Digital Nomads Do You Need a Company for Apple, Google or SaaS Payouts? Whether individuals earning App Store, Play Store or SaaS income should incorporate - what platforms actually require, the real pros and cons of a company vs staying personal, and when the switch pays. 10 min read Country Guides Moving to Bali as an App Developer: Nomad Visa, KITAS and the 0.5% Tax What an app or SaaS developer really pays in Indonesia - when the nomad visa keeps you at 0%, when a KITAS makes you resident, and how the 0.5% turnover tax with its tax-free band works. 9 min read Digital Nomads How to Relocate to Bali as a Digital Nomad: The 2026 Playbook The best way to move to Bali step by step - the visa ladder from VOA to the E33G remote worker KITAS, costs, where to live, the 183-day tax fork, and how to do the whole move cleanly. 12 min read Digital Nomads How to Relocate to Thailand as a Digital Nomad: The DTV Playbook The best way to move to Thailand step by step - the DTV five-year visa, TDAC and TM30 admin, where to live, the 180-day tax line and remittance strategy, done cleanly. 12 min read Global Rules The 183-Day Rule Explained (and How to Track It) What the 183-day rule really means, how countries count the days, the traps that catch travellers out, and how to track every 183-day threshold automatically on your iPhone. 8 min read Global Rules Schengen 90/180 Rule: How the Calculator Works How the Schengen 90/180-day rule really works - the rolling 180-day window, how days are counted, what the EES border system now tracks, what happens if you overstay, and how to track your remaining days automatically on iPhone. 8 min read US Residency Substantial Presence Test Calculator: US Tax Residency Explained How the IRS Substantial Presence Test works - the weighted 3-year day count, the 31-day and 183-day thresholds, exempt individuals and exceptions, and how to calculate it automatically on iPhone. 8 min read US Residency How to Track US State Residency for Taxes How US state residency really works - statutory residency vs domicile, the 183-day day count, why the burden of proof is on you, and how to track your days by state automatically on iPhone. 8 min read US Residency The California 183-Day Rule and Residency, Explained Does California have a 183-day rule? How California residency really works - the facts-and-circumstances test, the nine-month presumption, the narrow six-month presumption, the 546-day safe harbor, and how to document your days on iPhone. 7 min read US Residency New York's 183-Day Rule and Statutory Residency How New York's 183-day statutory-residency rule works - the 184-day line, the permanent-place-of-abode test, how any part of a day counts, and how to keep audit-proof records on iPhone. 7 min read Country Guides UK Statutory Residence Test: How Many Days Can You Stay? How the UK Statutory Residence Test decides your tax residence - the automatic overseas and UK tests, the sufficient-ties test, how days are counted at midnight, and how to track UK days on iPhone. 8 min read Global Rules How to Count Days for Tax Residency (Every Method) The four ways tax rules count a day - calendar day, the midnight rule, full 24-hour days, and overnight stays - how transit and same-day border crossings work, and how to count them right on iPhone. 7 min read Global Rules How Many Days Can You Stay Without Becoming a Tax Resident? The real answer to how many days you can spend in a country without becoming tax resident - the 183-day default, the ties and rolling-window traps that lower it, and how to track your safe margin on iPhone. 7 min read Digital Nomads Digital Nomad Tax Residency: A Practical Guide Where do digital nomads actually pay tax? How the 183-day rule, Schengen 90/180, ties and the resident-nowhere myth apply to nomads in 2026 - and how to track every country and threshold automatically on iPhone. 8 min read Digital Nomads How to Prove Your Days in a Residency Audit In a residency audit the burden of proof is on you, and undocumented days are counted against you. What evidence proves where you were, and how to keep an audit-ready day log and documents on iPhone. 7 min read Digital Nomads The Best Way to Track Your Days in a Country for Taxes Spreadsheets, calendars, or a dedicated app? What to look for in a tool that tracks your days in a country for taxes - automatic detection, every residency rule, exports and privacy - and how Tax Residency Tracker measures up. 7 min read Country Guides Spain's 183-Day Rule and Tax Residency, Explained How Spain's 183-day rule works: the calendar-year count, temporary absences, the centre-of-economic-interests test, the family presumption, and tracking your days on iPhone. 8 min read Country Guides Portugal Tax Residency: The 183-Day Rule After NHR When you become a Portuguese tax resident: the 183-day rule over any rolling 12 months, the habitual-home test, and what NHR ending (and IFICI/NHR 2.0) means in 2026. 9 min read Country Guides UAE & Dubai Tax Residency: The 183-Day and 90-Day Rules How to become a UAE tax resident in 2026: the 183-day rolling rule, the 90-day route for HNWIs, the centre-of-interests test, and why a treaty TRC still needs 183 days. 9 min read Country Guides The Cyprus 60-Day Rule and Non-Dom Status, Explained How to become a Cyprus tax resident on just 60 days: the four conditions, the 183-day alternative, non-dom benefits, and the 2026 change that dropped the 'resident elsewhere' bar. 9 min read Country Guides Thailand's 180-Day Rule and Foreign-Income Remittance Tax When 180 days in Thailand makes you a tax resident, how the 2024 foreign-income remittance rule works, the pending 2026 changes, and how to prove your day count. 8 min read Global Rules Domicile vs Residence: What's the Difference for Tax? Domicile and tax residence are not the same thing. Learn how they differ, why domicile is 'sticky,' how each is decided, and why dated day records matter for both. 9 min read Global Rules Tax Treaty Tie-Breaker Rules and Centre of Vital Interests Resident in two countries at once? Learn how double-tax-treaty tie-breaker rules decide: permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality, then mutual agreement. 9 min read Digital Nomads Get Warned Before You Cross a Tax-Residency Threshold Don't find out you're tax resident after the fact. Set threshold alerts for the 183-day rule, Schengen 90/180, the US Substantial Presence Test and US states on iPhone. 8 min read Digital Nomads Changing Your Tax Residency: A Guide for Snowbirds and Movers Moving states or countries mid-year, or splitting time as a snowbird? How to count days on both sides, prove the switch date, and avoid dual residency. 9 min read US Residency How to Establish Florida Residency for Tax Purposes How to become a Florida resident for tax purposes - the domicile checklist, the 183-day trap in your old state, what auditors look for, and how to track your days on iPhone. 8 min read US Residency Form 8840 and the Closer Connection Exception, Explained How the closer connection exception works - who can file Form 8840, the 183-day current-year limit, the June deadline, and how snowbirds track US days on iPhone. 7 min read Country Guides Canada's 183-Day Rule and Tax Residency, Explained How Canadian tax residency works - residential ties, the 183-day deemed-resident rule for sojourners, departure tax, and how to track your Canadian days on iPhone. 8 min read Country Guides Australia's 183-Day Test and Tax Residency Rules How Australian tax residency works - the resides, domicile, 183-day and super tests, the July-June income year, the stalled bright-line reform, and tracking days on iPhone. 8 min read Country Guides German Tax Residency: The 183-Day Rule and the Apartment Trap How German tax residency really works - the Wohnsitz dwelling trap with no day minimum, the six-month habitual-abode rule that spans years, and tracking your German days on iPhone. 8 min read Country Guides French Tax Residency: 183 Days, Foyer and the Four Tests How France decides tax residency - the foyer household test, the 183-day principal-sojourn rule, work and economic-interest tests, and how to track French days on iPhone. 8 min read Country Guides Italy's 183-Day Rule After the 2024 Reform How Italian tax residency works now - the physical-presence test where even part of a day counts, the new domicile definition, the Anagrafe presumption, and tracking days on iPhone. 8 min read Country Guides Singapore Tax Residency: The 183-Day Rule Explained How Singapore's 183-day rule works - the preceding-year count, the 2-year and 3-year concessions, the 60-day exemption, resident vs non-resident rates, and tracking days on iPhone. 7 min read Country Guides Mexico Tax Residency: Why There Is No 183-Day Rule How Mexican tax residency really works - the casa habitacion home test, the centre-of-vital-interests tiebreak, the 180-day tourist visa confusion, and tracking days on iPhone. 7 min read Global Rules EES and ETIAS: Europe Now Counts Your Days for You What the EU Entry/Exit System and ETIAS mean for travellers - biometric border records, automatic 90/180 overstay detection, the EUR 20 authorisation, and tracking your own count on iPhone. 7 min read Country Guides Indonesia Tax Residency: The 183-Day Rule and Bali Nomads How Indonesia's 183-day rule really works - the rolling 12-month window, KITAS and intent, nomad visas vs tax residency, and how to track your Indonesian days on iPhone. 8 min read Country Guides Leaving Germany: How to End German Tax Residency How to actually stop being a German tax resident - giving up the Wohnsitz, Abmeldung, the exit tax on shareholdings, the 10-year extended liability rule, and tracking your move on iPhone. 8 min read Country Guides Moving to Singapore: Your First-Year Tax Residency Guide Arriving in Singapore mid-year? How the 183-day count, the non-resident first-year trap, and the 2-year and 3-year concessions decide your tax - and how to track your days on iPhone. 8 min read Country Guides Leaving the UK: Split Year, Day Limits and the 5-Year Rule How to leave UK tax residency cleanly - split year treatment, the leaver day limits by ties, form P85, the 5-year temporary non-residence trap, and tracking UK days on iPhone. 8 min read Country Guides Malaysia Tax Residency: The 182-Day Rule Explained How Malaysia's 182-day rule works - the linked-period test, the 90-day rule, temporary absences, foreign-source income exemptions, and how to track your Malaysian days on iPhone. 8 min read Country Guides Costa Rica Tax Residency: 183 Days in a Territorial System How Costa Rica tax residency works - the 183-day count with sporadic absences, territorial taxation of local income only, the digital nomad exemption, and tracking days on iPhone. 7 min read