Yes I lived as a trader in CT for 12 years. My top tax rate under Obama was about 49% (8% state + 39.6% Fed + various high income surcharges). Last year my IRS tax rate was 4.8% (from interest on trading margin account balance), and $0 to PR. I am thinking of keeping zero-coupon treasury bonds instead of cash as collateral in my margin account, to earn capital gains instead of interest, and thus reduce my IRS taxes to near zero. I have almost doubled my net income simply by spending my winters in PR.
Businesses must have most of their income from outside PR. Most of the Act 60 ex-pats I have talked to are business owners, not traders. Insurance sales, software contractors, game developers, Internet sales. The records are public, and one guy told me that he went to the PR tax office one day, counted 100 records, and 86 of them were business owners. There are organizations that, for a fee, will fill out the forms and guide you through it. Really helpful since all the forms are in Spanish. It takes 3 to 5 months to get approval.
is peurto Rico nice? We went to the west side (conquistador) and it wasn’t very nice. We went to San Juan (typical tourist stuff) and that wasn’t very nice. I figured it was like India. The nice places are behind gates and armed guards.
I visited there a couple of years back. I could see myself living there part year for sure maybe in/around the Condado area in San Juan
There are several areas that are quite nice. Near the capital San Juan, for singles, the best areas are all of Condado and parts of Miramar. For families Guaynabo. Stay away from living in Old San Juan. Just too busy and too touristy. The Dorado area, about 25 minutes from San Juan, is an extremely wealthy area, with gated communities and their own private schools and hospital. Most of the hedge fund guys live in Dorado. For a more laid back lifestyle, the extreme coast has several town such as Rincon that are very popular with surfers.