Open An Offshore Bank Account!
I have a Swiss bank account. Actually, I don’t, but if one really wanted to get one, it’s not as exclusive or hard as you would think because banks abroad are very much like banks in the US except they are governed by a different set of laws. Opening a bank account abroad is not inherently illegal but in many instances the motivations for opening those accounts is and the point of doing so is to prevent the US from seizing your funds. Ultimately, if you’re doing something illegal… you should probably stop.
This AskMen article talks about Switzerland (they keep secrets, don’t buckle to pressure and you can open one via mail), the Cayman Islands (also secretive but they do buckle to the US), Singapore (lowest tax rate in Asia, they invest in Asia), and Luxembourg (they ask some questions and they’re more stable).
3 responses to “Open An Offshore Bank Account!”
Chris responds:
Posted: May 25th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Having an offshore bank account legally, wouldn’t you be subjected to taxes by bringing the money back into the US, or at least some kind of currency exchange charge?
Tim responds:
Posted: May 26th, 2007 at 2:53 am
Chris: taxes i dependent upon the tax treaty. using luxemburg as an example, since you pay tax in luxemburg (much lower than u.s. tax), you would not have to pay u.s. tax. currency conversion depends on the bank. there are banks that allow retaining deposits in currency of your choosing.
swiss accounts: although there is a widespread notion of “secrecy” with swiss accounts, there is s a difference between secrecy and privacy, the latter of which is what is what you should be thinking in terms of offshore accounts.
with any offshore account, you should know your tax treaties as well as other treaties/agreements between countries. for example, 2003 u.s.-swiss info exchange would be nice to know if opening swiss account. ever since 9/11 these kinds of agreements have increased. also, with the inception of the EU, EU citizens are treated differently and do lose some offshore benefits.
three reasons to legally own an offshore account: tax benefits, limit of liability, and expat living.
tax benefits (tax haven) legally is using the tax treaties to your advantage. there’s nothing wrong with that. limit in liability is only smart if your assets are high. exapt living is self explanatory.
Posts I Enjoyed Last Week | The Sun’s Financial Diary | A Personal Finance Blog on Saving and Investing responds:
Posted: May 27th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
[...] at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity reveals that he has a Swiss bank account. I think it’s an interesting idea. But by getting an offshore bank account, what do I [...]