iNTERFACEWARE

Residency and Tax Status

Eliot is a full-time resident of the Cayman Islands and operates as an independent trader.

He does not expect his customers to pay taxes in the Cayman Islands, as they do not live there.

Likewise, he does not expect his customers to expect him to pay taxes in their countries, since he does not reside there.

Since neither Eliot nor his customers reside in each other's jurisdictions or use each other's government services, this is a very reasonable position.

Eliot pays significant taxes in the Cayman Islands, primarily through substantial duties levied on imported goods—covering nearly everything he consumes.

This arrangement keeps Eliot’s accounting overhead low, enabling him to focus on what matters most: ensuring that Iguana and his other products maintain the stability and reliability his customers expect.

No Relevant Tax Registration Numbers

If your country has specific requirements or opinions about what taxes should be paid, that is a matter you should take up with your own government. Eliot, as an individual with limited bandwidth, prefers not to be involved in such matters. He needs to concentrate his energies on delivering exceptionally reliable and easy-to-use products that the global healthcare system depends on.

All Payments Are for Eliot’s Time and Attention

Therefore, no local taxes from your country should be deducted from his pay. It’s straightforward.

Since Eliot performs all services from his home in the Cayman Islands, your payment is for foreign-source service income—even if the client is American and pays from a U.S. bank account. According to the IRS, the source of service income is where the work is performed. Foreign-source income paid to a nonresident alien is normally not subject to U.S. 30% withholding.

For a $1,000 services invoice performed entirely in Cayman:

It’s that simple.

What if I Disagree and Want to Withhold 30%?

If you still wish to withhold 30%, here is how it would work:

You would need to gross up the payment so that Eliot still receives $1,000 after 30% withholding.

Let X be the total amount the client pays.

So,

$1,000 ÷ 70% = $1,428.57

Therefore:

The client must pay an extra $428.57 above the $1,000 to ensure Eliot receives the agreed amount.

Payment Recommendations

To avoid complications such as withholding tax, Eliot recommends making all payments for his services directly, without deductions. This ensures you are not required to pay additional amounts to your local tax authorities.

Let Eliot Focus on Creating Real Value

Eliot brings over 30 years of expertise maintaining essential systems such as Iguana—critical infrastructure for global healthcare. Maintaining and improving Iguana is vital for secure and private data transmission supporting essential health services worldwide.

By supporting Eliot—the creator and maintainer of Iguana and Chameleon— and allowing him to focus on designing and writing exceptionally stable, user-friendly software, the global community benefits.

Just as it is important for Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, to be supported and able to focus on his work, it is vital that Eliot and others like him are not distracted by unnecessary paperwork, so they can continue producing the robust software our lives depend on.