opening an offshore bank account question
 

i'm thinking to open an offshore bank account and i have some questions:

what is the procedure to open an offshore bank account? if i open an offshore bank account i don't have to pay any taxes anymore? what is the cost to open an offshore bank account and after i open the account how do i receive my money from sponsors?

any other commentary is more than welcome

if you're doing it for no other reason than to evade taxes, the IRS will eventually nail you to a cross. They're starting to crack down on that shit.

Tax evasion and tax avoidence are two different things. As long as you have a legal offshore entity and don't repatriate the funds, the IRS can't legally do a single thing.

i'm from eastern europe.. we don't have IRS here yet.. but i'm tired to pay these taxes (40%) :(

Do a google search on offshore back accounts.

Fr ex,

http://www.finor.com/offshore_banking_centre.htm

thanks.. but i'm looking from some opinions and answares at my questions from peoples that already have an offshore account..

I just watched something about this a few weeks ago. You may have a LEGAL offshore entity, but if that entity serves no real purpose other than to funnel money away from tax responsibility, they are starting to classify you as a tax evader. From what they said, this is because this type of hollow entity is becoming more popular recently.

And in all truth, it IS tax evasion if your entity does nothing more than shield you from taxes.

I would recommend the offshore online banking from one of the British banks. HBSC offers very good worldwide services. Another option is Citibank. Expect to deposit $5000 to open an account.

Open account on CYPRUS! :)

Carefully planning the legal jurisdiction of your web business is very important.

There is a lot of flexibility when all you do is send bytes around the world.

:rasta

Avoidence is legal.

If you have an offshore company making offshore revenue and you have no immediate plans of repatriation of assets then the IRS can't do squat. The IRS in international matters has almost no power to enforce local laws so they push the idea on the news that hey can to scare people.

You have no requirement to pay taxes to one jurisdiction from profits made in another. U.S. Oil companies funnel billions of dollars every year into offshore corporations because they have no plans of bringing the money back to the U.S. This is legal.

It is in the IRS interest to gather as much revenue as possible whether they have a right to it or not.

no response to any of my questions untill now :(

If you live in the US, hire an attorney and get the appropriate legal advice. When IRS knocks on your door or freezes your account, a copy of this thread won't mean shit.

Giorgio seems to know what he is talking about :winkwink:

what if you make $3k a week, cash in hand....how do you get that money from your house to the offshore account?

Opening offshore account are alot of trouble! :2 cents:

interesting thread... google searches on this subject are frustrating i've found in the past; i've wondered just as jace has how to get money into these accounts in the first place from the US, if you've already been paid in US dollars what would be the appropriate method for getting the funds into your offshore account (just for the sake of the question lets say no solid amounts over $5000US)..?

How can the IRS freeze a foreign account?

Ask any Colombian. :P

so, is anyone here that realy have an offshore account/company and can answere at my question?

why?

alexa - contact me privately for info

I have two offshore corps.

How much money a month are we talking about, Alex? If it is less than $10,000, all this won't be cost effective.

If you are really worried about this and want a 100% correct answer - hire a tax or corporate attorney who will oversea the process or just give a legal advice. Let me know if you want me to recommend you my corp. attorney.

i just want to know how much will cost.. and what is the process to opening an offshore account..

Offshore bank account: $5000 (initial deposit and must maintain that balance)
Offshore corporation: $500-$3000 plus $200-$500 yearly renewal

This thread gave me an excellent business idea. Adult webmaster business structure resource site.

open an acount in Swiss:)

what about identify the source of funds etc ...

i mean money from adult biz ?

Any experiense with this ?

control and ownership are 2 entirely different things

The source doesn't matter. You aren't going to bring cash.

alex_a,

Different countries are different. In some countries - it's cheaper, but economy is bad, in others - it's more expensive, but it's a more solid economy. Also, if you have a US attorney - you are probably a better off with an English speaking country.

Also, some countries require you to register as a business there and obtrain appropriate licenses.

did you hear about Payswiss, maybe they can help you
about this, switzerland..

hm...what if it is cash?

well, until my overpriced accountant changes his mind on the subject and tells me it's a good idea, I won't be screwing around with the IRS. Fucking with the Mob would be less dangerous.

your asset column is huge?

big enough

Ampiezza,

I completely agree that everyone should consult a professional in the field before taking any action. My attorney is button #1 on my speed dial. I believe your situation is quite different.

You are a U.S. citizen providing services render in the U.S. to primarily U.S. companies. It would be illegal for you to shelter that revenue offshore. In this case forming a U.S. corporation is the wisest move.

I am in no way promoting tax evasion. A company should always pay the correct amount of taxes for the service and products rendered from its home jurisdiction.

Our industry is global in nature. There is no reason to pay more for income generated in other countries if that money is not repatriated.

I lived and did business in South America for several years. Why should I have to pay U.S. taxes when I never brought that income back to the U.S. and paid local taxes?

As I mentioned before, tax evasion is wrong but wise tax avoidence is virtue. If an adult webmaster makes money in several countries he would be wise to funnel it correctly to maximize returns.

http://www.fethard.biz/ everybody can wire you money and you can get an anonymous debit card and get the money in your country,many adult programs pay by fethard too.No minimum deposit and you can put the money into your acc with money order and other anonymous methods too where you don't have to go to your bank and get your cash money into the account.Also they don't ask many questions :winkwink:

hmm... looks scary, location = Montevideo, URUGUAY..

any GFY'ers use this service by chance..? http://twash.com/iku/ossifer.gif

scared me first too but I haven't heard of anyone who got ripped by them and as long as you don't plan to get millions of dollars into your account I would say your money is safe there.The bank is located in russia as far as I know but I don't really have a clue where it's located neither do I really care about that as long as my money is safe :winkwink:

alex_a, if you are from Eastern Europe (and not a US citizen) and generate your income from internet business, the best offshore account you can get is at a US bank. The cost is 0.0 $. You mail your checks to the bank and withdraw cash with a debitcard from any atm around the world. It helps if you rent a US mailbox first.
Just fly over to Florida for a week. A roundtrip will cost you less than 400 $ and you have a nice vacation. Everybody can open a US checking account, the requirments are very little compared to other offshore locations.
If you have problems in obtaining an US visa, go to Mexico and open an account there. It is free and easy, just travel expenses.

Having the same problem also, I'm from eastern eu too. The tax rate seems to be very high around here as alexa said 40% or more. I was thinking opening a swiss acct, contacted a few banks regarding this, just waiting for their legal advice. But, if anyone is doing business with a swiss bank and have a good recomandation, any comment is welcomed ! Btw alexa if you find a good solution pm me :)

The guys from flashcash hooked me up with someone to help me do this back in 2000-ish.. I forget the name of the place.. but it was very smooth.

Cost a few grand though..

Do it soon!
:thumbsup

You might want to double-check those facts.

1. Residents are required to pay tax on their world income... so the issue of where the money is earned from is not that important.

2. As to where the money goes to (offshore)... there is the issue of "control".... ie who "controls" the offshore corporation. In Canada, if the person who controls the foreign corporation is a Canadian resident, then he (and his companies) are required to pay tax in Canada.

Canada and US have very similar tax laws in many areas.... I would suspect they would be similar in this area as the IRS doesn't want people to avoid paying tax on their world income by simply having the money land in another country.

Giorgio, would you recommed me some bank(not located in the EU)
for offshore account ?

Switzland is the best. There are various options depends of the amount of money you put. To me there are the safer, I tried other offshore accounts but still the best solution.
I you can afford it I'd highly recommand numbered account.

Contact me for details, if you're interested in.
aim: olvrsmt

Bottom line is.... if you are a resident of your home country, you are obliged to pay taxes applicable in that country.

Filtering money into some offshore account to avoid taxes is not a good idea :-)

If you live in either an offshore country or a country which has a geographically based tax system (ie.. a country which only taxes profits when they are generated within that country) - you can have as many legitimate bank accounts as ya can dream of.

For "onshore" people, yes it is possible to have "offshore" accounts, tho there are variations on tax rules, depending on your country of residence. For US people, this is a problem, for others, not so much a problem. Also... it's not just a matter of "opening a bank account" - usually some corporate structure is useful/necessary.

If it's just a bank account that is needed - any offshore bank will open an account, tho they will require full ID (genuine!!! *g*) and background information - this is standard practice.

tahiti:

Swiss bankers have been lied to and conned by the US IRS in the past and there is a plus in that they are now wary of any US agency approaching them for info. However, Switzerland is tired of everyone and his dog lining up to open accounts for the purposes of tax evasion within their own countries, they make life harder, unless this is for normal business trading.

BTW.. Why would anyone want a "numbered account" these days? :-) It is not exactly "normal" and contrary to common verbal, offshore banks do not usually have such things as "numbered accounts" - they operate "normal accounts" on the basis of "know your client" and retain a high degree of confidentiality.