Guide · E1

Live free + real company: cross checklist

Relocating for freedom while running a real company is two projects that must interlock: where you live (tax residence, schooling, banking as a person) and where the company sits (corp tax, substance, CFC as seen from your residence). Optimising one in isolation produces the classic failure — a low-tax company you cannot bank, or a high-liberty country where CFC rules tax your foreign income anyway.

This playbook is a cross-checklist across Liberty Stack modes: Liberty (life), Business (company), and optionally Real-estate (property). Use Liberty Stack Ranking as you work through it.

Who this is for

• Entrepreneurs planning move + incorporate in the same year
• Remote founders upgrading from informal freelancing to a defensible stack
• Families comparing family playbook constraints with business needs
• Readers of CFC, substance, and Solo vs Employer

Phase 0 — Honesty about goals

Before jurisdictions, write down non-negotiables:

If goals conflict (e.g. “zero tax everywhere” + “live in Paris” + “US clients only”), fix the conflict before shopping flags.

Phase 1 — Personal residence (Liberty mode)

Tool: /app Liberty mode, sliders or persona, optional expat-regime toggle.

Checklist

• [ ] Weight tax, money, self, infra, space per your family situation
• [ ] Shortlist 3–5 life countries — not the same list as company hubs yet
• [ ] For each, note tax axis and whether an expat regime applies (methodology: territorial vs worldwide)
• [ ] Read money — capital controls, cash, crypto, banking as individual
• [ ] Read self — homeschool if relevant (family guide), conscription, mandates
• [ ] Confirm visa path independently — Liberty Stack does not score immigration

Output: Ranked life jurisdictions with eyes open on personal tax, not only lifestyle.

Phase 2 — CFC lens (Business mode, residence row)

Tool: Business mode — find your candidate residence countries in the table.

Checklist

• [ ] Read CFC score and cfc_text for each candidate home country
• [ ] If CFC score is low (aggressive), foreign passive companies may not defer tax
• [ ] If you keep old residence ties, model dual-residence risk with adviser
• [ ] Check exit tax if emigrating from current country (exit column for departure country)

Output: Know whether “offshore co” helps before incorporating.

Reference: CFC & tax residence.

Phase 3 — Company hub (Business mode, profile)

Tool: /app?mode=business — pick Solo, Employer, or Holding.

Checklist

• [ ] Select profile matching headcount and structure (Solo vs Employer)
• [ ] Shortlist hubs — read corp, exit, banking, ease, labor, reputation, egov, holding, enforcement
• [ ] Open country business pages for indicative setup + annual cost bands
• [ ] Pre-clear banking narrative with a bank or lawyer (Liberty Stack cannot)
• [ ] Map permanent establishment where you and clients physically are
• [ ] Document substance plan: people, place, decisions (substance guide)

Output: One primary hub (+ optional HoldCo jurisdiction if Holding profile).

Guide: reading Business mode.

Phase 4 — Alignment check (the cross matrix)

Fill honestly — “green” means adviser-confirmed, not wishful.

Cross checklist

• [ ] Personal tax residence credible (days, home, family, economic ties)
• [ ] Company tax residence not fighting personal POEM rules
• [ ] CFC / GILTI / ATAD considered for life country
• [ ] VAT/sales tax where customers are
• [ ] Social security totalisation or double contributions understood
• [ ] Treaty network: dividends, interest, employment
• [ ] Banking: personal + corporate in workable currencies
• [ ] Compliance calendar: both jurisdictions’ filings budgeted

Phase 5 — Money and banking

Liberty money axis + Business banking score

• [ ] Personal emergency fund in accessible jurisdiction
• [ ] Corporate account opened before large contracts
• [ ] Payment processors accept company country + activity
• [ ] CRS/FATCA reporting understood — no “secret” accounts
• [ ] Crypto, if used, fits remote/crypto guide

Phase 6 — Optional property layer

If buying real estate:

• [ ] Liberty property + Real-estate mode yield/CGT for market
• [ ] Holding mode: primary / personal / company (holding structures)
• [ ] PropCo jurisdiction vs personal name — property + company
• [ ] Mortgage availability for non-residents

Phase 7 — Implementation order

Recommended sequence (adjust with advisers):

1. Clarify residence — reduce ties to departing country if emigrating
2. Banking pre-clearance for intended structure
3. Incorporate when substance and account path exist
4. Migrate contracts/IP with transfer-pricing documentation
5. Relocate personal life to match declared residence
6. File all registrations (VAT, payroll, foreign company forms at home)
7. Review annually — revenue mix and days trigger changes

MVP country pages (data starting points)

Life + business overlap often cited:

• Portugal
• UAE
• Estonia
• Georgia
• Uruguay
• Paraguay
• Cyprus
• Malta

Use pages for scores and indicative costs, not as relocation guarantees.

Red flags — stop and reassess

• Formation agent promises “no tax anywhere” without residence analysis
• Cannot open bank account after three months
• All revenue in country A, company only in country B, zero PE analysis
• Personal life unchanged while claiming new tax residence
• HoldCo added without participation exemption path
• Property in company without CGT mode toggled in Real-estate mode

Using Liberty Stack ongoing

• Re-run /app when you hire, marry, buy property, or cross 183 days
• Read methodology when scores version updates
• Real vs indicative data — epistemic humility

Annual review triggers

Re-run the checklist when any of these change: marriage or divorce, birth of a child, first employee, property purchase, material crypto gains, visa renewal denied, or more than six months away from your declared residence country. Small shifts move CFC, PE, and school-law outcomes more often than founders expect.

Limits

Immigration, criminal compliance, and industry regulation (finance, health, crypto) may veto otherwise attractive scores. Liberty Stack invents no testimonials, timelines, or provider rankings.

Work the checklist with qualified tax, legal, and immigration professionals in every country that claims you.