also called non-domiciled status · non-domiciled
A tax status in some countries for residents whose permanent home is considered to be elsewhere, historically allowing favourable treatment of foreign income.
A tax status in some countries for people who live there but whose permanent home is considered to be elsewhere, historically letting them treat foreign income favourably. It does not mean you are not a resident: you are resident, just taxed differently on money from abroad. That is the contrast with a non-tax resident, who is not tax resident at all. And these regimes get reformed, so an old understanding can be out of date.
Someone moves to a country under its non-dom rules expecting their foreign income to stay largely untouched, based on advice from a few years back. The regime has since been tightened, and income they thought was sheltered is now taxable, because they relied on a version of the rules that no longer holds.
Non-dom regimes can shelter foreign income from local tax, but the rules change and vary by country, so relying on an outdated version is risky.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
These are the favourable schemes some countries offer people who move in.
Non-dom status treats a resident whose permanent home is elsewhere kindly on foreign income, Portugal's Non-Habitual Resident and Spain's Beckham Law are time-limited versions of that idea, and lump-sum taxation in Switzerland and Italy lets certain wealthy residents pay a fixed annual amount instead of tax on actual worldwide income.
A flat tax is the broader idea of one fixed rate regardless of how much you earn.
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