Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

Work from home in Greece or Barbados? The Fight for Covid’s Digital Nomads

Work from home in Greece or Barbados? The Fight for Covid’s Digital Nomads

Like birds migrating south for the winter, a new species is packing up for the great trek: Work-from-homers looking for a sunny beach idyll with a good Wi-Fi connection.
“Digital nomads,” once a label applied to iPhone-toting millennials traveling the globe, are now an entire aspirational white-collar class to themselves. Working from home is one level of privilege, but being able to do so while escaping coronavirus lockdowns is another one entirely. One British engineer captured it perfectly from a rented windmill conversion in Portugal saying, “I forgot there was a pandemic.”

Countries of a sunny disposition, from tax havens to tourist traps, are competing hard to attract this new workforce aristocracy. For the princely sum of $2,000, you too can buy a Barbados “Welcome Stamp” to work remotely for a year on an island deemed a tax haven by the European Union. The Cayman Islands’ version, for people earning at least $100,000 a year, requires an upfront deposit of $1,469 in return for a two-year remote-work visa.

Even Greece is getting in on the act, targeting potential expats by talking up its track record fighting Covid-19, its climate and its tax incentives for workers who want to move there full-time. While similar to other European countries’ post-Brexit push to attract talent from abroad, Athens is especially keen to tap into the aspiration of work-from-the-beach. A top economic adviser waxed lyrical about the new utopia of remote work in comments to Bloomberg: “Technology means we can now choose where we live and work.”

The reality, though, is that the dream of the digital wanderer will soon hit some uncomfortable truths.

First of all, being an “Anywhere,” rather than a “Somewhere,” as David Goodhart termed the tribes of today’s populist times, is getting harder. Immigration restrictions were rising even before the pandemic, as seen in the Brexit backlash against free movement in the U.K. With the virus, we’re seeing travel bans extended in places like China. Nomads will find it tough to keep hopping back and forth between destinations with different health priorities, especially in a more epidemically conscious world.

Second, given the scale of the coronavirus-driven recession, which has blown a massive hole in government finances, those privileged enough to be able to duck out of the rat race will be in the firing line of tax authorities.

Bankers who fled New York City for the Hamptons earlier this year became a punching bag for politicians supporting a wealth tax, while those who escaped the City of London for destinations like St. Tropez were told to come back or face a change to their residency status. The U.K.’s tax authority has warned that any claim of “extraordinary circumstances” in terms of physical location would need to be justified and couldn’t exceed 60 days.


The current mood resembles the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, when countries competed to attract deep-pocketed investors but also sought to close tax loopholes and force foreign jurisdictions to divulge more information. This time around, citizens will be even more fired up than before about tax justice. Sophie Lemaitre of the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre points out that the money lost from tax evasion exceeds national health budgets. Some countries have blocked firms registered in tax havens from tapping bailout funds.

Everything will be in the firing line — the cushy “golden passport” programs, aggressive international tax planning by tech companies such as Amazon.com Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. and the digital nomads themselves. A recent proposal to tax remote workers to pay to rebuild the economy speaks to that frustration. While indiscriminately squeezing work-from-homers who are trying to make ends meet is unfair and would encounter resistance, turning the screw on tech companies and international tax evasion is popular and would make the nomadic life harder. As big government gets bigger, post-Covid Leviathans will be in no mood to let free riders take advantage of internet and mobile infrastructure without giving back.

Digital nomads certainly look fortunate right now, but societies scarred by Covid-19 will want them to lay down roots eventually. If you see such a wanderer on your travels, it would be wise to wait and see what their return journey is like before following.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
×