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Exploring Uruguay

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Hi Everyone…

July 20, 2010 by Brian

It’s been a minute since our last post.

We landed back in Southern California just over 4 weeks ago. We stayed with family for the 1st 3 weeks while we found a nice house up here in the San Bernardino mountains in the national forest.

It’s amazingly beautiful… We’re at over 7K feet and near snowboarding and skiing havens, so we’re definitely going to get some snow this winter.

The summer here is absolutely perfect… It’s been in the mid 80s and it’s very low humidity around 20-25%.

We have a nice house nestled back on a quiet street not too far off from the main drag.

We have no neighbors to 3 sides of us, we’re the last house on our side of the street with only one house on the other side of the street. Here are a couple of pictures of our new back yard.

The girls are loving our new home. Zoë is getting bigger by the day and Kaylee is already sitting up on her own… She’ll be mobile in the next week or so via scooting on the floor.

Zoë giving a BIG SMILE
Kaylee showing her personality

There are a lot of squirrels, chipmunks and a wide variety of birds that Zoë loves to watch.

Kaylee loves playing with her big sister.

The stars are amazing. Zoë really loves looking at the stars too.

We’re loving our new home. If we continue to love our new home through our 1st mountain winter, we may stay here a while.

So what’s happening to Exploring Uruguay?

We’ve enjoyed creating this website and blog over the past year. We’ve met a ton of people and made a few good friends.

We’re going to archive our blog for people to read and learn from our experiences and keep the information on our site up to date.

If you still want to follow us and what we’re doing, you can follow us on Chrystal’s Happy Mothering blog.

If you follow Chrystal’s Happy Mothering blog, you know it hasn’t been updated since before we left Uruguay. It’s getting a face-lift and we’ll be posting on it regularly within the next couple of weeks.

Thank you for following us and best of luck to you.

Brian, Chrystal, Zoë and Kaylee

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Stuff Is Going Fast

June 8, 2010 by Brian

Because we’re moving back to the U.S. next Thursday, we’re having a moving sale.

First off, thank you to everyone who has responded… Literally half of our stuff we are selling has already been sold.

That leads us to the stuff that hasn’t been sold… We have some great deals on a quite a few things…

If you’d like to see a full list of everything go to http://www.ExploringUruguay.com/MovingSale

Thanks again for your support,

Brian, Chrystal, Zoë and Kaylee

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Uruguay Taxes… Don’t Be Alarmed

June 7, 2010 by Brian

Today’s blog post is a guest post by Juan Fischer, the managing partner of Fischer & Schickendantz. Juan wrote the following post to help alleviate concerns about the proposed tax legislation in Uruguay.

Unfortunately, much of what the press articles and blogs have been saying is much more alarming than the reality. It has been said that Uruguay will tax:

  • Its corporate vehicles’ offshore assets
  • Foreign residents’ assets
  • Foreign residents’ income

That is incorrect.

The problem was originated because a draft of a proposed change to a tax law was leaked several days ago.

That draft is still a work in progress. And the proposed change only aims to tax the money that Uruguayans have abroad, not foreigners who come to Uruguay.

Here’s the exact situation of where the issue stands on the three supposed taxes:

  1. Taxes on corporate vehicles’ offshore assets:
    • Friday, May 28th, the Ministry of Finance, where the bill proposal is being discussed, issued an official statement clarifying one issue of the proposed bill:
    • There will be no new taxes on Uruguayan companies, and that their offshore assets will not be taxed.
    • Explicitly: that nothing will change for Uruguayan corporate vehicles. So, Uruguay remains an offshore tax free jurisdiction.
  2. Taxes on foreign residents’ assets:
    • It has been made clear from the start that assets owned abroad by foreign residents in Uruguay will not be taxed at all. This was never in doubt.
    • This is only for citizens (at a very small scale; and remember that this asset tax is gradually being phased out since 2007, and will disappear by 2017).
  3. Taxes on foreign residents’ income:
    • Some types of income (not all) generated abroad could be taxed. But the aim of the law is to tax the money that Uruguayans have abroad, not foreigners who come to Uruguay.
    • The Ministry of Finance issued a second statement on June 1st, clarifying that the law will in no way jeopardize the country’s policy of attracting foreigners to relocate in Uruguay. And that their income will not be taxed.
    • The likelihood is that on income tax (on some types of income: interest on deposits and dividends) the tax will be circumscribed to Uruguayan citizens.

There you have it from an Uruguayan attorney… Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments below or to contact Juan directly here.

Filed Under: Financial

Moving Back to the U.S.A. in 2 Weeks

June 3, 2010 by Brian

Hey everyone…. We are moving back to the U.S. on June 18th.

It’s not because of the proposed tax (although that could prevent us from moving back in the future).

Uruguay has been a great country to live in for the past year. We’ve met some great people from Uruguay and some wonderful friends from around the world.

We didn’t plan on having our 2nd daughter Kaylee when we arrived here… but we were blessed with her and we couldn’t be happier.

One thing about being abroad with young children is lack of family they get to be around. With us being down here, it’s impossible for some of our family to make it down here to see us and our girls.

The family who could come down and see us, would only be able to stay for a short period of time.

On the other hand, doing a short trip back to the U.S. is what it is, a trip…

With trips back and forth, our girls won’t get to really “know” our family, which we feel is important to us.

We plan to stay in the Southern California area for the next couple of years, then explore the idea of taking an extended cruise around the world. It’s tentative… but it sounds like it would be exciting.

We were talking about moving back to the U.S. in September, but as a buddy of mine pointed out… that’s 2 winters in a row… We did that when we arrived, so moving back at the beginning of summer in Southern California sounds like the way to go… And we found a great last minute deal.

Regardless… We’re glad we’ve called Uruguay our home for the past year… We’ve learned a lot from our experiences.

We have a few things we are going to be selling… Keep an eye on the blog here and our forum in the classifieds section as I’ll be putting up pictures and detailed descriptions. A few things off of the top of my head.

  • Coronado acoustic guitar, hard case, strap, 2 mic stands, mic cords, mics, guitar tuner
  • Panasonic Universal DVD Player… It upscales to 1080, has HDMI hookups and so on
  • Baby Jogger City Mini Stroller with all of the gadgets, attachments and carrying bag
  • Britax Boulevard Car Seat
  • BABYBJÖRN Travel Light Crib
  • Folding bassinet with mosquito netting
  • Baby Bouncy Seat – Pink of course
  • Baby Bumbo Seat – light blue
  • Cutco Knife Set
  • Queen sized comforter: brown, tan, white and green
  • Twin sheets with pink and purple hearts and pink comforter
  • Sofa Cama (sofa bed)
  • Click Here to see all of this and more with prices and pics

There’s more than that, but you get the picture. If there’s something in particular you’re looking for, we just might be willing to part with it.

Also, our 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with parking and a part-time porter located here on 21 de setiembre will be going up for rent when we leave.

Filed Under: Family

New Proposed Income Tax Law In Uruguay

May 31, 2010 by Brian

There has been a LOT of talk in Uruguay’s Expat Community about the new proposed income tax law in Uruguay.

I wrote a blog post when it was 1st announced last Wednesday, you can read the article here.

The Uruguay message boards and Uruguay forums have been buzzing with speculations of what is or isn’t and may or may not be happening.

There are people on both sides of the fence and everywhere in between, from supporting the measure to being strongly opposed.

There are a few well thought out speculations I’ve read and a few speculations which have obviously been charged with emotion.

Here are a couple of things that have been said and my opinions on them.

“Expat opinions don’t matter in Uruguay”

I would like to think this statement isn’t true… But it is.

I can’t speak for the rest of the world, but I think it’s a trend for people from the U.S. to feel a sense of entitlement to have a say in politics where they are living. It’s not a bad thing, it’s not a good thing… It is what it is.

Not having a voice in a decision that could potentially affect taxes is a very sensitive subject for people from the U.S. We have been brought up knowing our nation was founded because of unjust taxes being levied upon the people.

“Taxation without representation.”

The reality is, as an expat we have no representation in the U.S. Congress or U.S. Senate. We certainly don’t have any representation here in Uruguay or any other country.

As an expat who is not a citizen of Uruguay, regardless of what I bring to or contribute to the country, I shouldn’t have a say… Although I may not like or agree with decisions the country makes, it’s not my country.

“Expats infuse Uruguay with money it wouldn’t have otherwise. Imposing this tax will cause expats and foreign companies to leave Uruguay along with all of their money.”

I couldn’t agree with this statement more.

One really cool thing for us about Uruguay was the tax laws coupled with banking secrecy.

A big change (other than taxing) this potential law will bring is information sharing. Some people see no problem with governments sharing information with each other about their citizens, how much money they make and everything else under the sun. But that’s not cool in my book.

“The majority of expats who come to Uruguay are retirees.”

That may have been true… But with the age of the Internet and telecommuting, there is a trend of people leaving the U.S. and living abroad simply because we can.

Over the next several decades, I think it will be the norm for people to live wherever they want in the world… That is if the world doesn’t end in 2012, the NWO doesn’t exterminate 80% of the population or the aliens don’t take us to the mother ship.

We have the flexibility to live wherever we want as long as we have access to high-speed Internet. We know of several families here in Uruguay who are location independent too.

Because of inflation and the devaluation of the dollar, there are several families who have already left Uruguay. I believe imposing an income tax, upon overseas income, changing the banking secrecy laws and sharing information just may be the final straw to send a lot more people out of Uruguay and deter people from moving here.

At this point in time, with the information I’ve seen, I think the new Uruguayan income tax law will pass.

What are your thoughts?

Filed Under: Financial

Watch “The Great Tax Exodus From Uruguay” Begin

May 26, 2010 by Brian

Okay, the title may be a little dramatic… But, it could be the truth.

I just read an article in MercoPress about the proposed changes to the tax laws in Uruguay… This article completely blew me away.

Uruguay’s Economy Minister Fernando Lorenzo announced that a new bill has been drafted and is being sent for legislative consideration to tax overseas income and deposits.

“This means that once the bill is approved residents in Uruguay will have to pay income and wealth taxes on overseas income and from their share of assets in financial or other investments overseas” – Lorenzo

There is opposition to this, but there is good reason to do it.

The article goes on to state that an estimated U$S 8.18 billion is deposited outside of Uruguay from residents of Uruguay.

I don’t know what rate they are planning on taxing it at, but even if it was only at 10%… that would be an additional U$S 820 million a year injected into the country. That’s a LOT of money down here.

The article also goes on to state that the banking secrecy would also be loosened up to accommodate the tax office.

A formal request from a judge can open all banking records.

“The tax revenue office working with reasonably founded information or claims can have access to the taxpayers’ accounts once a Judge decides affirmatively to such a request.”

Pedro Bordaberry (who ran for President in the last election) and former Deputy Cabinet Chief Leonardo Costa are both strongly opposed to the legislation.

“Furthermore Uruguay lacks specific courts for tax issues and will be at the mercy of the officials from the Revenue Office and their interpretation of regulations, putting an unbearable pressure on the magistrates who don’t have the necessary technical support.” – Costa

“According to the draft I have read tax payers are left quite exposed and with limited rights. This is a very delicate terrain, since the country has a long tradition of protecting people’s rights (human, civil, fiscal) and the only purpose should not be to have us out of the OECD grey list.” – Costa

This could play out to be very interesting if the legislation is passed.

I have a lot of questions… a few off of the top of my head are:

  • Would this include taxing SSI or a pension from the U.S. for retirees who live in Uruguay?
  • Would we be “double taxed?”
  • If it passes, when would it go into effect and for what tax period?
  • How many people would leave Uruguay because of this?

Coupled with the dollar and euro losing value and inflation… I think the passing of this legislation could cause an expat exodus…

What’s your opinion?

Here’s a link to the article on MercoPress.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Marijuana in Uruguay

May 21, 2010 by Brian

This past Saturday May 15th was “Marcha Mundial Marihuana Montevideo – Movimiento por Liberacion del Cannabis”

“Global Marijuana March Montevideo – Cannabis Liberation Movement”

There was a line up of reggae bands that were going to play… But weather just didn’t go along with those plans.

My buddy and I got out to Punta Gorda (a beautiful little beach community about 7K outside of the heart of Montevideo). The dark clouds had been hanging around, but it was just a little cool 11-12C…

We met some cool locals. They shared some Grappamiel… It’s Grappa mixed with honey… It taste pretty good until you stop drinking, then you feel the burn in the back of your throat. It’s worth trying though.

They also had home grown green bud… It’s the best thing I’ve smoked since I’ve been here. The quality was as such that it would sell for U$S 150 per oz in Southern California.

Just as we finished smoking a bowl it started to rain… The people setting it up started putting musical equipment away and were frantically covering up gear with tarps. So my buddy and I thought it was a good idea to catch a cab back to Pocitos.

Catching a cab in Punta Gorda in the rain was not as easy as we thought it was going to be. So we started walking in the direction of Pocitos.

I’m originally from Missouri and we found Missouri street in Punta Gorda… You can’t tell in the pic, but it was raining pretty decent at this time… I’m glad I had my cheap poncho.

We finally found a small bar and we were able to get a beer and some pizza.

The bar was packed full and you could hear a pin drop when we walked in… Everyone was totally engrossed in the futbol (soccer) game on the t.v.

The game ended about 10 minutes after we walked in and obviously the entire bar’s team lost, because very few people said anything and almost everyone left. It was an interesting experience.

We ended up walking for a little and finally got a cab.

So if you ever had the question of, “Can I get Marijuana in Uruguay?”

The answer is “Yes you can!”

Is marijuana illegal in Uruguay?

No and yes.

Possession up to 5 grams is legal… Anything over 5 grams is illegal… But, up to 25 grams is considered for personal use and is overlooked.

Most of the herb here comes from Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina… It comes packed in 1 kilo bricks.

The weed is full of stems and seeds… It’s all sativa; the climate in this part of the world isn’t good for indicas.

The average weed here smells and taste like ass… actually horse piss. That’s because “apparently” that’s what the growers pour over the herb in their packing device to help make sure it compresses into a tight 1 kilo brick.

If you’ve ever got part of a Mexican brick, you know what “brick weed” is… Here, the bricks are tighter and more compact than Mexican bricks.

As far as price goes… You’ll pay anywhere from 400 pesos to 800 pesos for 25 grams of brick weed.

There is the elusive “cogollo” here too…

What is “cogollo?”

Sin similla ganja weed… In other words, the female flower of a marijuana plant with no seeds that was grown with some TLC.

I’ve been given numerous prices ranging from U$S 10 per gram (ouch) to 1,000 pesos for 25 grams…

The most consistent thing about “cogollo” is the lack of availability. When cogollo comes around it is typically gone as fast as one hears about it.

As far as the marijuana in Uruguay goes… I call it “work weed.” Because it works and more often than not doesn’t leave you with a headache.

Marijuana is all around Montevideo… all you have to do is look for it.

Filed Under: Culture

Penarol VS Nacional Wednesday May 12th

May 12, 2010 by Brian

It’s set to be a great futbol (soccer) match tonight.

I think Penarol will win. My buddy Fede is a huge Penarol fan (his Penarol tattoo to the right).

I’ve went to a couple of Penarol matches and they are very exciting to watch… Don’t get me wrong, the team is cool to watch… but the fans are entertaining.

The energy at the stadium is electric.

There is expected to be 60,000 fans (both Penarol and Nacional) attending the match tonight… and I’m pretty sure that’s what everyone will be watching on T.V.

It’s pretty cool at how animated Uruguayans get about their futbol.

From my experience it’s not uncommon when people meet at a bar for them to ask who their futbol team is…

If they are opposing teams, they tend to raz each other… If they’re the same, it’s almost like “instant friends.”

I grew up around football my whole life and I’ve been to a lot of pro football games… I know some serious football fans. But in my time I’ve never seen fans as crazy or as wild as Penarol fans…

Regardless if you love futbol or not, the futbol fans here in Uruguay are pretty cool in my book.

Are you for Nacional, Penarol or another team?

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Customer Service in Uruguay

May 10, 2010 by Brian

There are a lot of different views on the customer service a person receives in Uruguay.

We’ve received bad customer service here in Uruguay just like the in the United States, but for the most part it’s pretty decent.

From a business point of view, I feel there is a lot of over-employment… too many people working at one establishment at the same time. In a deli in Uruguay you could see 7 people working at one time. In the same type of deli in a high traffic area of San Diego you’d see no more than 2 people working at one time.

Because there are more people, doesn’t make service faster. It can be drug out… but for the most part, the actual services we have received have been good. One positive note of over-employment is that the unemployment rate is lower than it would be otherwise.

Restaurants

Waiters here are typically very friendly… I found that here, as in the U.S., if I strike up a little conversation, it goes a long way.

Since Kaylee was born back on Valentine’s Day we have been getting our food para llevar (“to go” pronounced “para shevar”).

While I’m waiting for my food the staff typically likes to talk to me, look at my tattoos and ask questions about California 🙂 Of course, they like to practice their English too.

When we do go out to eat with the girls, we’ve noticed that the waiters are very attentive to kids. They like to talk to them and play with them.

One difference I see between waiters in the U.S. and waiters in Uruguay is waiters here don’t tend to stop by their tables as much as in the U.S.

I worked in the hospitality industry for years… bartending, bouncing, waiting tables, cooking… you name it, I did it. I’ve waited on more tables than I can count. I was always taught to check on your tables every 5-10 minutes and that’s what I was accustomed to in the U.S.

In Uruguay, your waiters are paying attention to your table… but they do it from a distance. When you want something, you look at them and motion them over. It’s not a bad thing, just a little difference.

The dining experience is different too. It’s much more relaxed and drawn out. In the U.S. everything is go-go-go… In and out of a restaurant within an hour. When we first got here I thought food service was slow… It’s not uncommon to take 2+ hours for lunch or dinner here. At the end of a meal, it’s almost expected that you order coffee or tea and have a postre (dessert).

It took a minute to get accustomed to, but now I think it’s a much more enjoyable way to eat. And I’m glad the waiter doesn’t stop by every 5-10 minutes.

Another thing I find different is when they bring your check and you want to pay with a card… If you intend on tipping the waiter on the card you need to let them know immediately, because there is typically no place on the check to add a tip after they run it.

The way to say that is “con propina por favor.” The waiter will typically ask “10%?” The average tip is 10%. Sometimes more or less, but 10% is a good rule of thumb.

Government Offices

We’ve had a couple of problems… But it hasn’t been with the people or service they were giving us, but the processes and procedures that are set up to get things done in this country. There is a lot of red tape.

The customer service through Antel is good, the people there are nice… they just had some internal issues that made it take a little over 3 weeks for us to get our Internet turned on.

Dealing with immigration has always been easy for us. We just make sure our ducks are in a row when we go and they are nice and efficient.

Stores,  Local Shops & Ferias

Once you’re established as a regular customer, people will bend over backwards to help with whatever you need.

I have 3 guys I see at the feria… The fat guy, the skinny guy and the egg guy.

The fat guy has jalapeno, serrano, chilli and tabasco peppers for me and I get my cilantro through him too… Every once in a while he’ll have something exotic and I’ll pick it up from him too.

I get the majority of my produce from the skinny guy. He makes sure I get the best produce he has. If he doesn’t have something, he’ll go to another vendor and get it for me. He also always makes sure that all of my stuff gets delivered.

The egg guy is who I get my eggs and cheese from… We eat a lot of eggs and I always buy from him… His prices have went up over the past year with everything else… but my price isn’t quite as high as the price everyone else receives.

At grocery stores and shops… the people serving you are just people working… If I give a smile, I usually get one back…

I think the service one gets in Uruguay is as good as the relationship they establish with the person they are getting service from… Which is pretty much the way it is everywhere else.

Filed Under: Culture

Mr. Musculo Is Awesome

May 5, 2010 by Brian

A few months ago, I spilled chicken grease all down the left leg of one of my favorite pairs of jeans. I thought the jeans were a lost cause.

I washed them 5-6 times (and line dried them), to no avail.

We found Mr. Musculo at the store (we’ve seen it in both Disco and Devoto).

I pre-treated the stain with the spray and then washed them with the powder and they came clean. There is not one bit of evidence that grease was ever on them.

A while back, Zoë fell and busted her lip open and there was blood everywhere. A few large drops fell on my khaki colored shorts—I thought they would stain for sure. I’ve had a few shirts ruined from blood stains, they are super hard to get out…

A few sprays of Mr. Muscolo and the blood disappeared… literally, right in front of my eyes.

Chrystal has used it to get wine out of her shirt and it worked like a charm.

So for those of you who need to get a tough stain out of your clothes while you’re in Uruguay… check out Mr. Musculo.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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