As promised, here is a little more information about our decision to deregister in Germany and move our main residence to Indonesia.
Since I travel a lot for work and I often work from outside Germany (Thailand, Indonesia, Dubai), I took the time to calculate how many days a year I/we actually spend in Germany and came up with 139 days in 2022 and 127 days for 2023 so far.
I currently have an annual income of €258k plus a bonus of €64.5k, which gives me an annual gross income of €322.5k, of which around €47.8% is paid in total taxes, i.e. €154.2k,
so that a net annual salary of €168.3k ends up in my bank account.
This year, we have asked ourselves more and more often why we continue to live in Germany and pay so much tax and then sat down with our tax advisor and calculated what our taxes and charges would be if we moved our main residence to a country for which we have permanent residence permits.
As I am married to my wife, I have an unlimited residence permit for Indonesia and, through my employer, I also have an unlimited residence permit for the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In Indonesia our total taxes are 20%, in the UAE 0%; in both countries we have to take out our own health insurance and provide for our pension. In Indonesia we own property, whereas in the UAE we would have to rent or buy an apartment or house and have a much higher cost of living than in Indonesia.
We then gave a lot of thought to security, political situation, infrastructure, people, culture, etc. and came to the conclusion that Indonesia is the best choice for us, partly because my wife was born there, we have been spending about 3-4 months a year there since 2014, we know the country and its people quite well and we also have a lot of friends and family there.
Once we had clarified this (and a few other things) for ourselves, we are planning to deregister in Germany in the first quarter of 2024 and move our main residence to Indonesia.
The main reason for relocating our main residence is clearly a financial reason, which is extremely reinforced by the current political situation.
"Our" government is in the process of transforming this country into a highly indebted, climate-neutral, green biotope and is spending money with full hands that it does not have and that future generations will have to pay for. Promises made to voters are not being kept, money is being made available with sleight of hand, debts are now called special assets, money is being shifted from A to B without a plan or priorities, the citizens' allowance paid for by our taxes will increase by 12% in 2024 and will, probably, be used diligently and often for the wrong reasons.
The nonsensical idea that we alone can change the world, save the planet, stop climate change and turn everyone into good people is absolutely unrealistic for me and will result in nothing apart from higher costs and probably higher taxes in the future.
I have no problem paying taxes in a country in which I like to live, which uses my taxes in the interests of its citizens and in which I receive a suitable and appropriate return for my taxes.
This is no longer the case for me in Germany.
My opinion may not suit some people, but just like everyone else, I only have one life and I make the best possible decisions for my wife and I to make this life as pleasant as possible for us.
Not everything that glitters is gold in Indonesia either, but with €100k more net in my account, I can tolerate a lot of things.
My wife once compared Germany to a candle that shines brightly and doesn't notice that it burns until there is nothing left of it; sometimes I like this Asian symbolism.
Due to the transfer of my main residence to Indonesia and the resulting deregistration in Germany, I will no longer be liable for tax in Germany within the next year and unfortunately have to gradually close my securities account in Germany for legal reasons.
However, I will set up a new custody account in Indonesia with BNI, which I will then track here in future.
My employer really liked the idea, as we are currently expanding within Asia, so I am closer to the action and as soon as we have finally moved and deregistered, my salary will be transferred in US dollars.
I will of course continue to be active here on GQ and will be happy to share one or two interesting experiences with you if you are interested.
By the way, in the picture you can see me lounging by the pool with my favorite raccoon @DividendenWaschbaer lazing by the pool and enjoying my evening.
