The day you become a taxpayer
33 of the 41 markets with a day count use 183. Thailand uses 180 — and since 2024 it taxes foreign income remitted in, whatever year it was earned.
One dot is one market, coloured by what it taxes once you are resident. The last column is the markets whose test is not a day count at all.
What the chart says
- The threshold is nearly universal: 33 of 41 markets use 183 days. Thailand catches you at 180, and only 2 markets are quicker.
- What differs is what happens next. 38 of 53 tax worldwide income once you are resident, 13 tax local-source income only, and 12 have no day count at all — domicile, ties, or a statutory test instead.
All 53
Every market, soonest threshold first, with the rule in its own words.
| # | Market | Days to tax residency | What it taxes once you are resident | Top income-tax rate | Digital-nomad route | The actual test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Africa | 91 | worldwide | 45% | Remote Work Visa (Section 11(1)(b)(iv)) | ordinarily resident, or a physical-presence test (91+ days in the current year, 91+ days in each of the prior 5 years, and 915+ days total over those 5 years) |
| 2 | Paraguay | 120 | territorial | 10% | — | more than 120 days physically present in Paraguay in a calendar year |
| 3 | Philippines | 180 | territorial | 35% | — | 180+ days generally makes a foreigner a resident alien |
| 4 | Thailand | 180 | remittance | 35% | LTR / DTV | 180+ days in a calendar year |
| 5 | Cambodia | 182 | territorial | 20% | — | 182+ days in a 12-month period |
| 6 | Dominican Republic | 182 | territorial | 25% | — | more than 182 days in a calendar year, continuous or not |
| 7 | India | 182 | worldwide | 30% | — | 182+ days in the fiscal year, or 60+ days in the year plus 365+ days over the four preceding years |
| 8 | Malaysia | 182 | territorial | 30% | DE Rantau / MM2H | 182+ days in a calendar year |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 183 | worldwide | 30% | — | 183+ days in the year, or 90+ days in the year plus 365+ days across the preceding four |
| 10 | Belarus | 183 | worldwide | 30% | — | more than 183 days in a calendar year |
| 11 | Brazil | 183 | worldwide | 27.5% | VITEM XIV (digital-nomad visa) | 183 days (non-consecutive) in any 12-month period |
| 12 | Bulgaria | 183 | worldwide | 10% | Digital Nomad residence permit | 183+ days in any 12-month period, or centre of vital interests / habitual abode in Bulgaria |
| 13 | China | 183 | worldwide | 45% | — | 183+ days in a calendar year |
| 14 | Colombia | 183 | worldwide | 39% | digital-nomad visa | 183+ days in any 365-day period |
| 15 | Czechia | 183 | worldwide | 23% | trade licence (živnostenský list) | 183+ days, or a permanent home in Czechia |
| 16 | Ecuador | 183 | worldwide | 37% | — | 183+ days (including short absences) in a fiscal year, or in any 12 months spanning two fiscal years; economic and personal ties also count |
| 17 | GEO | 183 | territorial | 20% | Small Business Status | 183+ days in any 12-month period |
| 18 | Germany | 183 | worldwide | 45% | no dedicated nomad visa — freelance/self-employment residence permit (§ 21 AufenthG) | 183+ days in a 12-month period, or a habitual place of abode in Germany |
| 19 | Guatemala | 183 | territorial | 7% | Remote worker / digital nomad temporary residency (IGM, since 8 October 2025) | 183+ days in a calendar year, or a fixed place of business in Guatemala absent a foreign tax-residency certificate |
| 20 | Hungary | 183 | worldwide | 15% | White Card (digital-nomad residence permit) | 183+ days, or Hungary is the individual's only permanent home |
| 21 | Indonesia | 183 | worldwide | 35% | E33G remote-worker visa | 183+ days, or intent to reside |
| 22 | Kazakhstan | 183 | worldwide | 15% | Neo Nomad visa (B12-1) / Astana Hub Digital Nomad Residency | 183+ days in any rolling 12-month period |
| 23 | Kenya | 183 | worldwide | 35% | Class N Digital Nomad permit | 183+ days, or a 122+ day 3-year average |
| 24 | Laos | 183 | worldwide | 25% | — | 183+ days aggregate in a one-year period |
| 25 | Latvia | 183 | worldwide | 33% | digital nomad visa | registered (declared) address in Latvia, or 183+ days present in any 12-month period |
| 26 | Lebanon | 183 | territorial | 25% | — | 183+ days in any 12-month period, or a place of business or a home permanently available to your family in Lebanon |
| 27 | Morocco | 183 | worldwide | 37% | — | 183+ days in any 365-day period, or a permanent home / centre of economic interest in Morocco |
| 28 | Myanmar | 183 | worldwide | 25% | — | 183+ days in an income year for foreigners; domicile or principal place of abode otherwise |
| 29 | Peru | 183 | worldwide | 30% | — | more than 183 days in any 12-month period |
| 30 | Poland | 183 | worldwide | 32% | — | 183+ days, or centre of personal/economic interests in Poland |
| 31 | Portugal | 183 | worldwide | 48% | D8 digital nomad visa (2022) | 183+ days present in a 12-month period, or a dwelling in Portugal on 31 Dec implying habitual residence |
| 32 | Romania | 183 | worldwide | 10% | digital-nomad long-stay visa | 183+ days, Romanian domicile, or centre of vital interests |
| 33 | Serbia | 183 | worldwide | 25% | — | centre of vital interests in Serbia, or 183+ days present within a 12-month period |
| 34 | Slovakia | 183 | worldwide | 35% | no dedicated nomad visa — ordinary business/self-employment residence permit | 183+ days present in a calendar year, permanent (registered) residence in Slovakia, or a Slovak dwelling with evident intent to stay permanently |
| 35 | South Korea | 183 | worldwide | 45% | F-1-D (Workation / digital nomad visa) | 183+ days in a tax year, or a Korea-based domicile/livelihood |
| 36 | Spain | 183 | worldwide | 47% | Beckham regime / nomad visa | 183+ days, or centre of economic interests |
| 37 | Taiwan | 183 | territorial | 40% | Employment Gold Card / Digital Nomad Visa | 183+ days in a calendar year |
| 38 | United Arab Emirates | 183 | no income tax | 0% | remote-work visa | 183 days for a tax-residency certificate |
| 39 | Uruguay | 183 | territorial | 36% | — | 183+ days in a 12-month period, OR Uruguay as the centre of economic/vital interests (spouse or minor children based there), OR (from 2026) ~US$2M in qualifying real estate / US$100k a year for 11 years into the National Innovation Fund |
| 40 | Uzbekistan | 183 | worldwide | 12% | — | 183+ days (regional norm, not primary-source confirmed) |
| 41 | Vietnam | 183 | worldwide | 35% | — | 183+ days, or a registered permanent residence |
| 42 | Argentina | no day count | worldwide | 35% | digital-nomad transitory residence | permanent migration residence, or 12 continuous months of temporary residence (resets on a 90+ day absence) |
| 43 | Canada | no day count | worldwide | 33% | — | no single day-count test — residential ties (home, spouse/dependants in Canada, etc.) matter most; 183+ days/year is a common sufficient trigger |
| 44 | Chile | no day count | worldwide | 35.5% | — | six consecutive months in one calendar year, or more than six months across two consecutive calendar years; domicile (intent to stay) can trigger it from the arrival date |
| 45 | Costa Rica | no day count | territorial | 25% | Rentista / digital-nomad | based on Costa Rica-source income, not day-count |
| 46 | El Salvador | no day count | territorial | 30% | Digital-nomad residence (Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería, since April 2025) | domicile-based, not a day-count: 200+ days in the country, a Salvadoran home, or a local income source |
| 47 | Iran | no day count | worldwide | 35% | — | domiciled in Iran, or present more than 6 months in a tax year |
| 48 | Japan | no day count | worldwide | 45% | digital-nomad visa | a Japanese domicile, or roughly 1+ year's residence |
| 49 | Mexico | no day count | worldwide | 35% | — | home or centre of vital interests in Mexico |
| 50 | Panama | no day count | territorial | 25% | Pensionado / Friendly Nations residency | based on Panama-source income, not day-count, though 183+ days/year triggers formal tax residency |
| 51 | Turkey | no day count | worldwide | 40% | — | more than six months in one calendar year; time spent on a defined project, or extended by illness or detention, does not count |
| 52 | United Kingdom | no day count | worldwide | 45% | — | the Statutory Residence Test (day counts combined with UK ties), not a single threshold |
| 53 | United States of America | no day count | worldwide | 37% | — | citizenship, green card, or the substantial-presence test |
The last column is the actual test. Where it is prose rather than a day count, no number is invented for it.
Where this is wrong
- Not tax advice. This is where the lines are, not what you owe. Treaty tie-breakers, remittance timing and visa-specific regimes (Thailand's LTR) all override the threshold.
- A threshold is not the whole test. Most markets also catch you on a home, a family or a centre of economic interests well before the day count matters.
- Rules move. Thailand's own remittance treatment changed in 2024 and was under review again in 2025; the table states its as-of year, and it is not a live feed.
Sources
National revenue authorities and PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, per market, as of 2025–2026. Per-market citations are in DATA_SOURCES.md.
Tax is one of the 13 tabs on each country deep-dive.
More charts
See Thailand's tax tab →
Rates, the remittance rule and the LTR/DTV routes in one place.
The per-market deep-dives — 13 tabs of cost, visa, tax, safety and sub-national ratio for one country — are behind the Pro gate. Everything on this page is not.