Episode Description Joey Langenbrunner built something that didn't exist: a fully remote tax residency program for digital nomads. No five-day trips to Paraguay. No physical presence requirements upfront. Just a flat $5,000 annual tax and you're a tax resident of Honduras via Prospera — the special economic zone that's becoming a magnet for unconventional builders. We recorded this on a rooftop in Prospera, talking about why traditional nomad tax setups are getting riskier, what "cutting ties" actually means, and why the people showing up to this tiny Caribbean jurisdiction might be the real story. Show Notes Nomad Layer: Building Tax Residency for Digital Nomads in Prospera — Joey Langenbrunner One-liner: The first fully remote tax residency program — $5K flat tax, no upfront travel, built specifically for nomads who actually want to pay tax somewhere. The Conversation Joey Langenbrunner spent a year building Nomad Layer after hearing the same question at every nomad conference: "What do I do about taxes?" The usual answers — Paraguay, Portugal's NHR (now dead), Spain's Beckham Law — all require physical presence, fees, and bureaucratic gymnastics. His solution: partner with Prospera, a special economic zone in Honduras, to create the first tax residency you can get without leaving your villa in Bali. For $5,000 annually (which is the tax, not a fee), you get a Honduran tax residency certificate, a Prospera residency permit, a company with 1% territorial tax, a bank account, insurance, and help with proof of address. The catch? You need to visit Prospera for seven days within 12 months. That's it. We also talked about what makes Prospera different from dealing with traditional governments (spoiler: no election cycles means policy doesn't get worse every four years), the concentration of interesting people in a place this small, and why Joey thinks high-tax countries are getting "more desperate" — which makes having real substance in your tax residency increasingly important. Key Moments [00:02:00] — "We built the first remote tax residency program for the modern nomad" — Joey explains what Nomad Layer actually is[00:04:00] — Working with Prospera vs. federal governments: "When you're dealing with a special economic zone, it's way better than federal level"[00:09:30] — The Paraguay comparison: Same cost, but you're chilling in Bali instead of flying to Asunción twice[00:13:00] — The "cut all ties" advice: "Get rid of your bank account, your lease, your car. If your girlfriend wants to stay, leave her there"[00:19:00] — Where the tax money actually goes: 12% to Honduras, 44% to Prospera[00:21:00] — "Other programs get worse. Ours gets better" — why building with nomad feedback changes everything About Joey Yusef Joey is the founder of Nomad Layer and a former DC lobbyist who now builds tax and residency solutions for digital nomads. He's worked with governments from the Philippines to El Salvador and chose Prospera as the jurisdiction to build what he calls "tax residency as a service." Links & Resources Nomad Layer Joey on Twitter/X: @JoeyLangenbrunner Prospera IMI Daily article on Nomad Layer (referenced in episode)
