Offshore Banking, need advice from guys who have an account..

ncmedia said:
I've stayed out of this thread 'cause I kinda went through all this with the 'snowbirds' thread - op search for that here you'll learn a bit more - I'm Canadian as well with similar moves. Here's what i found in my research. Debate it all you want, I got facts, talked to 5+ immigration laywers, accountants, tax advisors, others that have offshore shit and this is what it comes down to for Canadians vs. Americans:

* There is a big difference between tax avoidance, and tax evasion. NO not all offshore activities are considered blackhat or tax evasion. NO it doesn't automatically put you on some hit list.

However, the big difference here is just that, tax avoidance and tax evasion. If you decide to open offshore accounts, it doesn't matter if you're from US or CAN, you are free to do so. It's not that hard actually, just choose your bank wisely as INTL banks can be notorious for shady shit re small/mid sized new comers.

The hard part is this: You have to declare it just like you would any other income. Telling the gov you moved some money to a different account somewhere isn't a requirement when you file, it's none of their business as long as you claim all your shit and pay accordingly. Many do this and just keep their savings/assets under protection and or hidden from crazy wives/husbands etc. People also go offshore to gain a MUCH better interest rate than you can imagine getting here...

If you decide not to claim it, you're fucked either way whether you move your money offshore or not. Not claiming AND moving xxx,xxx at a time, or even in 50/50 or 33/33/33 increments is not a wise idea at all.

Canadians: You are taxed on all your income as long as you remain residents of Canada. You can get residency in DomRep, Panama, Belize, Dominica, and or citizenship there through sponsorship programs (domrep is cheapest), and expatriate so now you are a Canadian citizen but your residency is DomRep let's say. < This now allows you to avoid taxes (NOT evade). Why? Because by law, Canadians are only taxed on foreign income when they reside here. So you can live wherever as a full time res, travel wherever even back to canada, and bank all your monies (taxes are literally nill/low $x,xxx max - considering you're making international money and not monetizing the local job market).

Americans: Unfortunately, to put it short, you're fucked. You cannot simply claim res. elsewhere, because your guv says that by law, you are taxed on all foreign income, despite where you reside in the world. So you can live in Germany, run an online biz making international money, and be taxed by the US if you are a citizen. You guys have to actually renounce your citizenships, and if you DO decide to go down that path, do so very wisely. I've heard your guv makes it next to impossible to do legally, especially if you make (them) good money.

^And yes, sorry we are taxed just the same as the US - highest tax bracket over 40%, i wish it was just provincial or just federal but...

N.
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I'm Canadian, live in Argentina, and do all my banking with Chase. works for me.
 


^ You're in a perfect scenario :) Congrats, I'll be posting my success/"I made it" thread when it happens for me. 40%, every, year, fuck.
 
All this info is fucking awesome. Any of you guys wanna talk about this on AIM pm for my ID.

ncmedia.. I'd definitely like to talk to you, already pm'd you.
 
1. Only thing that's cheap in Canada is weed.

2. I don't know shit about offshore stuff. But if it's too complicated or the time is not right, just get yourself a better fucking accountant. Seriously it can make a huge fucking difference.
 
HiGhPeR said:
All this info is fucking awesome. Any of you guys wanna talk about this on AIM pm for my ID.

ncmedia.. I'd definitely like to talk to you, already pm'd you.
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Hey man, no offense intended with my previous posts. I just want to repeat, looking for financial advice on an anonymous forum is not a good idea. Lots of people claim to know what they're talking about, say they've done this and that before - it's still an anonymous forum and you're asking for some pretty serious advice. Talk to somebody in person who is qualified to give you real advice, like a lawyer, accountant, go to a bank, etc.

However I'll shut up now, do what you want.
 
dsiomtw said:
Actually the OP is just the type of person who can easily benefit from some "cheap" offshoring.

It doesn't sound like he makes tons of money, so for the sake of an example let's say he makes 100k a year. He could open an offshore account and get a visa/debit card like he suggested, and then use it for every day expenses and withdrawals, never pay any taxes on it (if he chose not to) and the IRS would never know about the $$$.

But that's about all you can do easily and inexpensively, and if you're making serious money the "get a debit card and use it for every day expenses" won't help you much.

So yeah this can work if you're making say $100k a year, but the real question is what to do when you're making 100k a month ... then shit gets real and it's not quite as easy (if you like to sleep at night).
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Are you sure?

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Sonny Forelli said:
It's the problem of ever bringing them back onshore where you start running into issues that challenge some of the amateurish smoke screen setups I bet a lot of people have, and presume they'll hold water. A lot of people have gone down the same way. And yes, this post is referring to US CITIZENS only. We've made it a real PITA to do things kosher, and they cost a lot. Hell I'd had someone w/ an offshoring booth at a trade show tell me without laughing "oh you just wear your wealth back in"
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Yeah that pretty much sums it up ... how to get use of the money NOW here in the US to buy that 2M house you have your eyes on. A boat ... OK ... a car here and there OK ... but a 2M house?

I haven't researched enough to know, but I'd imagine if you just went around buying *everything* that cost more than a few bucks via your foreign corporation you'd run into some problems eventually.

So you make 65k a year but you work for this great company that let's you live in their 2M house, drive their 200k lambo, etc. just because what, you're employee of the month or something? srsly??
 
One way to look at this thread:

If you're a US CITIZEN, get the fuck out. Don't bother reading, don't get ideas and don't bother posting.

Offshore banking for a lot of us non-US people is legal, simple and has many tax advantages.
 
dsiomtw said:
Yeah that pretty much sums it up ... how to get use of the money NOW here in the US to buy that 2M house you have your eyes on. A boat ... OK ... a car here and there OK ... but a 2M house?

I haven't researched enough to know, but I'd imagine if you just went around buying *everything* that cost more than a few bucks via your foreign corporation you'd run into some problems eventually.

So you make 65k a year but you work for this great company that let's you live in their 2M house, drive their 200k lambo, etc. just because what, you're employee of the month or something? srsly??
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Of course the math doesn't work on that level.. a 2MM house, really? a lambo, really? Get real.

Wanna lower your tax burden some and keep it all in the US? How about paying yourself a salary to stay under a certain tax bracket and then pay yourself the rest in dividends that are only taxed at like 15%.

Of course that doesn't mean "I get to be an idiot" and pay myself 65k and then give myself dividends of 3MM.

If your looking to be that stupid with your money, then you deserve to be caught. If you got 2MM in the bank to buy that house and 200K to buy that lambo after the taxes and addon Lux. tax as well, then you got enough to do something more serious with your money.
 
Ok so as a hypothetical example, what are some realistic options for someone in the US who makes say $1 million a year in profits from aff marketing as opposed to just paying yourself a huge W2 salary and/or dividends?
 
eliquid said:
Of course the math doesn't work on that level.. a 2MM house, really? a lambo, really? Get real.

Wanna lower your tax burden some and keep it all in the US? How about paying yourself a salary to stay under a certain tax bracket and then pay yourself the rest in dividends that are only taxed at like 15%.

Of course that doesn't mean "I get to be an idiot" and pay myself 65k and then give myself dividends of 3MM.
.
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Well I think back in 2000 the costs to open my offshore corp was 30k. That was in Nevis. The Company was set up and it was owned in part by a trust, then me and my 2 biz partners each had a trust that owned the trust that owned the company. We had an offshore bank acct setup, and cards issued.

The income does have to be paid, but since the company was setup offshore, we had a staffer there which handled mail, telephone calls etc. eliquid is right that you have to report your revenue as a portion of your income. But the benefit is that the offshore corporation issues company cards for the use of expenses such as travel, gas, clothing allowance, even rent on a home ( as long as the company is named on the lease). Very doable but to be done right it is going to cost.

As far as the income taxes in the US, basically you simply need to run your business as an S-Corp and pay yourself a salary of 120kish or less ( the max that the govt recognizes as social security contributions) and then pay the rest as dividends. Which will drop your overall tax rate a from not having to pay the fica, ss, medicaid etc.

The dividends you do have to be somewhat smart about as stated by others. You can pay yourself 6 figures a yr, but dont want multiple 7 figures as dividends. But you can also issue company cards to yourself which will pay your gas, clothing allowances, entertainment etc etc. Also your company can be used to pay for your place of residence as a perk of the job.

My advice is to not try and do all of the shit on your own, get a good CPA and Biz Atty to make sure your structuring everything right. A lot of countries have high tax rates, but it is all about how much of your companies earnings can you make work to your benefit instead of giving away. The expenses and stuff I mentioned are all totally valid and if your mortgage is say 2k a month, you take a salary of 100k per yr, and do not need to pay your own mortgage, lights, cable, car payments etc,, it is like making a qtr mill . Add that to your dividends and your saving money without needing to go offshore.
 
Mortgage of 2k a month? I don't think that's very realistic in the context of this general discussion. My electric/gas/water bill alone is about 2k a month. I don't think people with 2k mortgages are even thinking about offshoring anything ...
 
It's doesn't matter what your mortgage is or your recurring monthly expenses for going offshore. I made my first million living in a house that only cost 80k and I was wanting to go offshore.

A 2k a month mortgage means nothing when looking to go offshore. Plenty of people do it just because they travel a lot and want a bank account in the countries they travel to.

Having a 2k water/electric bill though just sounds like a lot of overhead to me. I have the same shit... pool, hot tub, big irrigated lawn, gas heat.. etc. and my bills total are less then $800 a month. I know it depends on how you use it, your local rates, etc., but I use mine almost every day except in the dead of winter.

I personally feel that if your making millions a year and looking to offshore it, you shouldn't have a mortgage at all to even worry about. Anyone that is making 1-2 million a year and has a 10+ million dollar mortgage with 4k of utilities a month is just someone that made a very bad home purchase IMHO and offshoring should be last on their list of things to do.
 
dsiomtw said:
Mortgage of 2k a month? I don't think that's very realistic in the context of this general discussion. My electric/gas/water bill alone is about 2k a month. I don't think people with 2k mortgages are even thinking about offshoring anything ...
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I might have the math wrong, but wouldn't 2k a month x 12 months x 25 year note = $600k? In this market and the market for the past couple years you could get a great deal for that much.

You think all millionaires looking to offshore only live in greater then $600k homes? I know plenty on this forum that either live in apartments, condos, or huge houses that are right at or less then this. I also know guys that live in more then this as well. I think all of them would be interested in offshoring options.
 
There's no point in getting hung up on specific dollar figures - the cost of homes, electricity, etc.

Costs depend on where you live, and everything is relative. If you think you can buy a "huge house" for 600k then that's a pretty good example of relativity, because you can't buy a "huge house" in my world for 600k. Not even close. Where I live, 600k will get you an old 2500 sq ft starter home. As far as a 2k utility bill, I'll just take a wild guess that electricity where I live is probably at least twice as expensive as where you live.

I do agree with you that in general it's a bad idea to have a 10 million dollar mortgage in almost any situation. :)
 
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