Eight Countries with Zero Income Tax

Paying taxes from your hard earned income is like a burden for you. The word 'tax' also scares you even in your dreams. What will you feel if one day the government announces that from now on you shall not be required to pay income tax? It may sound very unreal but for some countries it is true.

There are eight countries in the world where the citizens pay zero income taxes, as reported by CNBC based on KPMG's 2011 survey of 96 countries.

1.United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates is a country with the world's highest per-capita incomes i.e $48,000 but it does not charge personal income taxes to its citizen. It is the third highest exporter of crude oil so it largely depends on the taxes paid by the oil companies which amount to 55 percent in corporate tax.

As a citizen you will be asked to contribute 5 percent of your total earning for social security and your employer shall pay 12.5 percent of your base salary for your pensions and social security.

2.Qatar

Qatar, the gas rich nation is the richest country in the world with the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) above $ 88,000, according to Forbes. It primarily relies on its third largest gas reserves in the world to earn revenue. The country levies no taxes on personal incomes, capital gains, property dividends, royalties and profits.

As a Qatar citizen, you will have to pay 5 percent of your total income and your employer will contribute 10 percent for your security benefits.

3.Oman

Oman earns majority of revenue from crude oil. The crude oil revenue increased by 35 percent in April 2011 to $8.49 billion against the statistics of 2010. Being a resident of this nation you must pay 6.5 percent of your monthly salary for social security benefits.

You will also be charged with 3 percent of stamp duty for owning a property in the nation. You will also witness several protests by the countrymen, demanding jobs and employment benefits.

4.Kuwait

Kuwait, world's sixths largest oil exporter, achieves 95 percent of its total revenue from the sale of oil. Out of the entire population only 7 percent of Kuwaitis work in the public sector and each contribute 7.5 percent of their salary as tax and 11 percent is paid by their employer for social security. Being a Kuwaiti you shall be no stranger to the political chaos and corruption scandals. Taking into consideration Kuwaitis political and economic conditions International Monetary Fund's dignitaries have recommended Kuwait to introduce the value-added tax and comprehensive income tax system.

5.Cayman Islands

An off shore financial center, the Cayman Islands is a place for big pocketed people who are ready to pay $ 550,000 for an apartment and $ 736,000 for a house, according to government figures in April 2011. You can still relax over social security contributions, personal income taxes and capital gains taxes as these are not compulsory to be paid.

As an employer you are required to pay pension plan for all your worker, including the expatriates (refugees), if they have worked for more than nine months.

6.Bahrain

Abu Safa oilfield generates 70 percent of Bahrain budget revenue inspite of the fact that this oilfield is shared with Saudi Arabia. Being an employer you will make a contribution of 12 percent of your employee salary and they shall put in 7 percent for their social insurance. A stamp duty of 3 percent of the property value is paid registering property in your name. If you are an Expatriate and you rent a house in the Persian Gulf state then you would be required to pay 10 percent municipal tax.

7.Bermuda

Bermuda is a nation where you will have to spend more money as the cost of living index is quite high. Custom duty charged on the imported goods turns up to be a bigger source for the government. The total population of Bermuda includes 20 percent of foreign born. For relocating you will be charged with 25 percent for the goods you take along and a 10 year work permit in this nation will cost around $20.000.

8.The Bahamas

The Bahamas is one among the wealthiest Caribbean countries and it depends highly on tourism and off shore banking for its economy. Duties on imported goods fetch 70 percent of the government revenue.

As a self employed individual you shall have to contribute 8.8 percent of your income earned for social security called National Insurance.

10 most celebrated discoveries of 2012.

The ten most important discoveries that have been made in the year 2012 are listed below:



1) A giant crocodile, record-breaking 


Giant crocodile Lolong reaches a length of 6.17 meters. He lives in captivity and is officially the huge crocodile, as announced by the Guinness World Records in July.

The news of this reptile was one of the 10 most popular news of this year, according to the edition of National Geographic. 


After the crocodile attack against the people and the murder of two people, a giant was caught in the Philippines in September 2011 and placed in the nursery.

Guinness World Records lists based on information provided by the experts. In this case, a zoologist Adam Brittonmeasured the beast in its new home, the eco-park and research center Bunavan.

2) Sugar in Space 


Not long ago, astronomers made the "sweet discovery": the simplest sugar molecules floating in the gas around stars located 400 light-years away, which suggests that other planets can support life.

The search for extraterrestrial life continues This is the August opening, of course, does not prove that extraterrestrial life does exist elsewhere in the universe. But it greatly increases the chances that once we learn about the real existence of extraterrestrials. 


Molecules of carbon-rich are the building blocks of life forms. It now appears that they may be present in the stellar  even before they began to form a planet. 

Scientists began to use the word "sugar" to mean, in this case organic molecules known as carbohydrates, which are composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

3) New planets in the solar system


According to the study, which was published in May, on the edge of the solar system, there are undiscovered planet. These planets are too far away and too dark environment so they can be easily seen with a telescope. 


Rodney Gomez, an astronomer at the National Observatory of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, said that the existence of these invisible planets probably because they are a little shift orbit Kuiper belt objects. These objects are small icy bodies, including dwarf planets that are located beyond the orbit of Neptune

4) Finding of the God particle - a binding element of the Universe


In July, two independent teams of researchers working withthe Large Hadron Collider reported that with a probability of 99 per cent discovered the Higgs boson, which is immediately dubbed "God particle."


The particles that were looking for a long time, helps to provide a complete physical model, and explain why the objects in our universe are endowed with mass.Moreover, precisely because of this bit of galaxies, planets, and even you and I have a right to exist.

5) The Lost World of Antarctica 


Not yet received the official name of the Yeti crab lives about hot springs, rich in minerals, in the ocean near Antarctica. Scientists said the vast depths unknown to science have found the "lost world" of living creatures never seen before.


Special device for the robot submersible, equipped with a camera recovered in the ocean and discovered previously unknown barnacles, crabs, anemones, and even an octopus. All these creatures are almost completely devoid of color, because they live in total darkness at a depth of about 2,400 meters.

6) A stellar system with nine planets in the constellation of Hydra 


The star is located at a distance of 127 light years from Earth, can have its orbit more planets than the Sun, making it the star system "most populous" of all known star systems.


According to the study, published in April, HD 10180 - sun-like star in the constellation Hydra South of the turning of at least 9 planets, while in our own solar system, as we know, only eight official planets.

7) New species in South America 


A new species of night monkeys - one of eight new species of mammals discovered during an expedition to the northern part of Peru - National Preserve Tabakonas Namballe, the researchers reported in September.


Team of biologists from Mexico and Peru discovered new species in the period from 2009 to 2011 during his famous expedition. The fact that they were not previously known to science, has been proven in the past year.

8) New legless amphibians 


These creatures are not worms and snakes, as it might seem. This burrowing ground legless amphibians that arecompletely new to science animals, the researchers reported in February.


Amphibian family Chikilidae live in north-east India. Scientists have already found 6 types of this brand new family.

9) Evidence that the Mayans did not predict end of the world 


In the last open City Maya archaeologists found only frescoed house, these frescoes - special.

They portrayed fairly lively scene from the life of the ruler and his entourage, as well as calculations that allowed the scientists to trace the events fairly long period of time. This calendar does not end, but continues for thousands of years in advance, so this proves that the Mayans did not predict end of the world December 21, 2012. 



10) Unusual Mayan temple in the jungles of Guatemala About 1600 years ago, the Sun Temple of the Night was a blood-red beacon that could be seen from several kilometers away. He was decorated with giant masks Mayan sun god, who appears in the form of a snake, bloodsuckers or jaguar. 


For a long time the church was lost in the jungles of Guatemala, but in 2012 was discovered by archaeologists, who showed his true colors. This discovery allowed researchers to learn a lot about the ancient Mayan civilization.

The ancient Maya civilization 


Maya lived in what is now Guatemala, Belize and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. In contrast to the relatively centralized empires of the Aztecs and Incas, the Maya civilization consisted of independent and warring city-states.

Kalpana Sar-ojFrom child bride to multi-millionaire in India

Kalpana Saroj heads Kamani Tubes, a company worth more than $100m

An Indian Dalit (formerly untouchable) woman, who once attempted suicide to escape discrimination, poverty and physical abuse, becomes the CEO of a multi-million dollar company.

The BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan in Mumbai captures Kalpana Saroj's journey - a symbol of the Dalit struggle to mark their arrival at the top.

Her life reads like the plot of a Bollywood film, with a narrative which has defied so many obstacles, to conclude with a happy ending.

The "rags to riches" cliche can be overused, but it goes some way in describing the story of Kalpana Saroj, a woman who struggled on so many occasions on her way to the top.

Born into a low-caste Dalit family, she was bullied at school, forced into marriage at the age of 12, fought social pressures to leave her husband, before she tried to take her own life.

Today, she is a multi-millionaire. At the helm of a successful company, she rubs shoulders with prominent businessmen and has won awards for her professionalism.

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I was treated badly by my husband's elder brother and his wife. They would pull my hair, and beat me, sometimes over little things”Kalpana Saroj

"The first time I came to Mumbai, I did not even know where to go. I was from such a small village. Today my company has two roads named after it in the city," she says, summing up the extent to which her life has transformed.

India's caste system is an ancient social hierarchy, which places people into different categories by birth. Those born into the lower castes have historically faced discrimination.

"Some of my friends' parents would not let me in their homes, and I was not even allowed to participate in some school activities because I was a Dalit," says the 52-year-old.

"I used to get angry. I felt really nervous because I thought even I am a human being," she adds.

Marital woes

Even though her father allowed her to get an education, wider family pressures saw Kalpana become a bride at the age of 12.

She moved to Mumbai to be with her husband who was 10 years older, but was shocked to find herself living in a slum.

But that was not the only hardship she had to endure.

"I was treated badly by my husband's elder brother and his wife. They would pull my hair and beat me, sometimes over little things. I felt broken with all the physical and verbal abuse," she says.

People from all backgrounds and caste work in Kalpana's company

Leaving a husband is widely frowned upon in Indian culture, but Kalpana was able to escape the violent relationship, thanks to her supportive father.

When he visited her in Mumbai, he was shocked to see his daughter emaciated and wearing torn clothes and took her back home.

Many villagers were suspicious of her return, viewing Kalpana as a failure.

She tried to ignore the judgemental comments thrown at her, focusing instead on getting a job. She learnt tailoring as a way to make money.

But, even with some degree of financial independence, the pressure became too much.

"One day, I decided to end my life. I drank three bottles of insecticide, termite poison," she says, recalling her lowest moment.

Kalpana was saved after her aunt walked into the room and found her frothing at the mouth and shaking uncontrollably.

The big change

It marked a watershed for her. "I decided to live my life, and do something big, and then die," she says.

So, at the age of 16, she moved back to Mumbai to stay with an uncle and work as a tailor.

She began by earning less than a dollar a month, but tirelessly learnt how to operate industrial sewing machines, and as a result saw her income rise.

But the money she earned was not enough to pay for her sister's treatment which could have saved her life, a moment which defined Kalpana's entrepreneurial spirit.

"I was highly disappointed and realised that money did matter in life, and that I needed to make more."

She took a government loan to open a furniture business and expand her tailoring work.

Kalpana (right) is one of the few Dalits to have succeeded by unleashing their entrepreneurial spirit

She worked 16 hours a day, a routine she has not managed to shake off to this day.

In the following years, she remarried, this time to a fellow furniture businessman, and had two children.

Her reputation led to her being asked to take over the running of a metal engineering company, Kamani Tubes, which was in massive debt.

By restructuring the company, she turned things around.

"I wanted to give justice to the people who were working there. I had to save the company. I could relate to the staff who needed to put food on the table for their family," she says of her motivations at the time.

Now, Kamani Tubes is a growing business, worth more than $100m.

Kalpana employs hundreds of people, from all backgrounds and castes. She has met prominent businessmen such as Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani, and in 2006 won a prestigious award for her entrepreneurial spirit.

Kalpana regularly visits her home village and does charity work to help those in her community.

As a Dalit and a woman, her story is all the more remarkable in a country where so few CEOs are from such a background.

"If you give your heart and soul to your job and never give up, things can happen for you," she says.

It is a mantra that has helped Kalpana through the worst of times and still rings true for her.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-18186908